Help / What File Type Do I Need?

j Paul

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Feb 23, 2004
Posts
7,299
Loc
Toledo,Ohio
My sign company did such a great design that I would like to use it on my: business cards, letterhead in Quickbooks, car, etc.etc. They will provide a copy for me, but they want to know what "file type" I need. I'm not very computer literate. Please advise me what to tell them, do I need more than one "file type"?

Thanks in advance, I know this will be a no brainer for those regular to this forumn.
thumbsup.gif
 
Ask for a jpg (prounounced J-Peg.)

It can be imported or inserted into nearly any program you'd be likely to use and could be converted into another format if needed. It's also more compact than most of the other file formats.
 
Your going to have to pick it up this morning ron. Ohh well maybe you would have beat me if it were a question about wallbuddies.
 
Both jpg and bmp are rendered bit images. They will work almost all the time, but when resizing them there is a chance you will get pixelization or loss of detail. Ask for a graphics style like eps, just in case you are doing something in a different scale. But, still get a jpg or bmp because they are the easiest and "most universal."
 
Good Morning j Paul,

In addition to the mentioned formats, ask for a 300 dpi PDF file. Both of our local newspapers will only accept PDF format for any file given to them for publication or use in generating advertising.

Assuming the graphics company is going to burn the files onto a CD, it shouldn't be a problem for them to put the file in almost every format available.
 
.jpg files as noted above use a “lossy” format to compress the file to make it smaller. Some detail in the original <u>will</> be lost.

.eps and .pdf files are Adobe formats, and while will be accepted by process bureaus as is, if you have to scale them, resize them or otherwise manipulate the images, you might be better off using a .tif format.

Once you have a .tif image, it can be easily converted into other formats like .eps or .pdf or .jpg using most image editing software.
 
Bill, tif is still a rendered format. Means it is a bit image. You probably have had luck with it because they usually make tifs very large, so the resolution is significant. For graphics one of the "instructional formats" (Adobe's are fine.) will yield better results in different situations.
 
I'd ask for an ai (adobe illustrator, a vector file where a circle is a circle) AND a jpg file (a compressed, which means smaller, bitmap - which means the circle is a group of dots). You can use jpg even in Microsoft Paint, but most of the graphic guys can use the ai file. If there are any text or objects (rather than just photos) the ai is much clearer in the end. If you have a circle, the circle will be just as sharp on a business card as it will be on a billboard, whereas the circle may look good in jpg format on a business card but as soon as its on a billboard you will get an ugly zig zagged edge.

BUT, I'd phone your business card printer & ask what format they prefer - & if its different get it too. Get at least the 2 mentioned - you will be happy ya did later.
 
Here is a list of every file format in the world, along with a brief description of each.

Ask for ALL of them, and I promise they'll be impressed.

I was going to cut-and-paste the whole list here, but framer would have my head on a platter (which I think is the .plt extension.)
 
Of course, whether you get a vector file format or a raster (bitmap) file format, when you go to send it to your label printer (pick any vendor, but this was the one that had my head on teh table!) they will have a Mac and won't be able to read the perfectly good file you put on the CD with your windows machine. (No matter how many times you try to explain it to them!
shrug.gif
) So, they will scan in one of your business cards to use! :rolleyes:
 
I agree with you Ron even though you didn't actually say what you were saying.

A jpeg will work if you want to make business cards, letterheads, brochures, and invoices on Quickbooks. You can with little trouble resize and mess with the colors a little in this format. You will be happy with the quality of the print at 100 dpi. Most business card printers require 200 dpi but can get intensive if you have a slow computer like me.

If you want to start a print shop or print currency with microprint then I would ask for the list that Ron posted just to be safe, as I have never printed currency. Im not sure what "file" to use.

When you get your file somebody on here (me) can help you resize or convert if you need something special!

"Both of our local newspapers will only accept PDF format for any file given to them for publication or use in generating advertising."

So they won't take a photo or even a drawing on a cocktail napkin with a $1000 check attached to it? Mine does. Gladly!
 
I would suggest that you get the file in whatever native format that it was created in. Conversion to any other type may result in loss of editing information in the original. I do most of my work for my web site in Photoshop and then convert the it to a .jpg for use on the site. If I need to make changes I can always go back to the original Photoshop image and make changes that I can't in the converted jpg.
 
TIFF Files are the best, they can only be saved in the quality that they were created at. Setting for JPEG files however can easily be saved at a low setting producing a less than perfect print. TIFF files are non compressed files so I don't recommend sending them over email or anything unless you know how to reduce the resolution size. I've been in printing for 10 years and I publish artwork,I see this come up often and it is very common not to know the difference between file types. Good Luck, if you have any questions I'll try to help.
 
I think my wizard will do that. Why can't I get it to cut this stupid pdf file?
 
EPS is what I'd ask for because it can be scaled up or down to any size without losing quality, and converted into any other format in the future. (even the size of a billboard).

We have a vinyl machine here that uses EPS and/or DXF(cadd) to make signs, so your sign guy probably already has it in this format.
 
Thanks to everyone for their response. Started out like there was a simple answer, but I guess there are a lot of options depending on what I need. I'll take all of the suggestions and talk it over with the sign company and my printer. I'll see how many of these suggested file formats I can get them to do for me on a CD so I can have it on file for the future.
thumbsup.gif
 
Back
Top