The best format for high
quality printing is PDF (Portable Document Format) with all fonts converted
to curves (outlines).
You can download a PDF writer from cutepdf.com - it's free.
If you don't have a PDF
writer we can accept native files from most professional graphics packages
(both Macintosh and PC). We'll process them to make them CMYK 'print-ready'
and send you a proof for checking. These files need to be checked very
carefully for processing errors before printing.
If you are running Windows
and using any modern Microsoft software then just send us your documents and we'll
do the rest. If you're using older software (pre 95) then that's more
difficult. But don't worry, if you supply something we can't read we'll do
our best to sort it out.
NEVER enlarge images in your artwork - this can seriously degrade quality. For good
reproduction scan/create your images at the size you intend to print them (or do as graphics professionals do, scan oversize and do any retouching and
airbrushing before reducing them to the required printed size).
Create/scan your images at 300dpi and save them as TIF,
PSD or EPS formats.
JPG (or JPEG) files are fine as long as you use minimum
compression and you don't alter and save the images too many times (you lose
quality each time you save).
BMP and PCX formats are ok, but tend to produce very large
files.
PNG files are good quality - but they don't contain a colour profile so they have to be converted prior to printing.
Internet images: GIF format can only cope with 250 colours so they give inferior
results when printed - and most JPG images on the internet use extreme
compression which can cause colour shifts and blurriness.
Since JPG and
GIF are the most common image formats on the web, it follows therefore that
it's not a good idea to simply lift an image from someone's website - and
it's almost certainly an infringement of copyright. |
