There are many things to prepare
for when thinking of a print project. The first
thing we like to make clear is that printing uses
a higher resolution than other mediums such as
websites. A computer monitor sees only 72 dots
per inch so websites don't go higher than that
when using graphics. In printing the higher the
dots per inch the better the print will look.
In high quality printing it is fairly standard
to be over 300 dots per inch. Newspaper type printing
falls around half of that (approximately 150 dots
per inch or lower).
The second thing we like to
prepare you for is that there are different color
models. Websites and monitors see in RGB (Red,
Green and Blue) while the printing process uses
a CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) model
of color.
While the two platforms (PC
and Macintosh) are fairly interchangeable anymore,
there is some file formats that work a bit differently
on the two. When we are going to add your logo
to your website, business cards or anything we
will first ask for an .EPS file. The Encapsulated
Postscript file is a graphic that is in vector
format (made with paths and not dependant on dots
per inch) while things like .JPG or .TIF are made
in raster format (made with pixels and constrained
by dots per inch).
Adobe
Acrobat
Used to share files across offices or through
the internet/email transmissions. It has become
a reliable format for electronic document exchange
that preserves document integrity so files can
be viewed and printed on a variety of platforms.
Pantone
color matching
This is a good overview about color matching. A common problem with printing is that once on press you may encounter issues with the color you thought you should get. This is the system that printers use to match colors. |
