Graphics Programs

These programs are strongly recommended for graphics creation:

* All text must be converted to outlines.
** Export EPS with either fonts included, or text as outlines.

Other professional graphics programs may be used, but are only suitable if they support Pantone colors and can export to EPS. However, we may not be able to edit the files.

Avoid low-end drawing programs, such as those included with word processors and Publisher, because they produce art that renders poorly at high resolution, and they lack adequate color support.

Graphics Formats top of page

Acceptable formats (see Digital Artwork Guidelines for resolution information):

• TIFF (1-bit, 8-bit grayscale, 24-bit RGB*, 32-bit CMYK)
• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
• JPEG (highest quality setting, provided the image is saved as a JPEG only as the last step;repetitive saves as a JPEG seriously degrages the image)

*RGB images will be converted to CMYK. Color shifts are possible.

Note: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is the only portable format for graphics that supports spot colors, such as Pantone. TIFF images cannot be separated as spot color; they can only be separated as process color (CMYK).

Photoshop 5.0 and later versions support spot color channels. These images must be saved in DCS 2.0 format. (DCS files are actually a subset of the EPS format.)

Special Note about Illustrator Transparency: Transparent effects in Adobe Illustrator are not recommended for commercial print applications. All transparent effects must be converted to bitmaps before they can be output for printing. If your design calls for transparent effects, it is highly recommended that you use Photoshop to achieve the desired effects. Transparent effects can only be printed in process color. If you plan to use PMS colors for printing, do not use any transparency. For more information, read the "Flattening Guide" that comes with Adobe Illustrator.

THESE FORMATS ARE UNDESIRABLE due to quality concerns:

• Windows Metafile (WMF)
• Windows Bitmap (BMP)
• Tiff-Indexed Color
• GIF
• PICT (Macintosh)
• WordArt, Wordperfect Graphics (WPG) and other non-standard graphics formats

These files will not necessarily fail to print. However, they are not intended for high-resolution imaging. They cannot be separated as spot color, unless we reformat them as EPS (this can be a very time-consuming process).

Windows Metafile (.wmf) is a common format on the PC for vector (drawn) graphics. While it works well for correspondece, presentation, and other office and personal uses, this format is vastly inferior to EPS. Metafiles do not produce the tightly controlled Bezier curves that EPS does, nor does it support Pantone colors. Unfortunately, EPS files do not print well on non-PostScript printers, and sometimes transparent areas look opaque on the monitor when they are placed in a page layout program (or vice versa). However, there is a big difference in final output quality. So if you have a choice, always export vector graphics as EPS.

Web Graphics top of page

For best results, do not use low-resolution web graphics for printed material. Properly formatted web graphics, like GIFs, are very compact and download quickly. High-quality printing does not have the concern about small file size (well, within reason). Also, the PostScript rendering technology that we use supports vector graphics and high-resolution bitmaps. Vector graphics are occassionally used on the Web (Macromedia Flash is one format), but there is not a uniform standard—yet.

If you are going to use the same graphics for print and Web, start with the print versions first. Most professional graphics programs allow you to export to a low-resolution image for Web use; you can not go in the reverse direction.

Text top of page

Text that will be formatted by Grunwald Printing can be submitted as single-column text, without graphics, in these formats:

• Microsoft Word 2000 (or prior)
• Wordperfect 6 (or prior)
• RTF (Rich Text Format)
• ASCII text, or text only, without line breaks

Tables and heavily formatted text may need to be reworked extensively to fit into our production workflow.

Printed hard copy must accompany all text files so we can make sure the files translate properly.