posted
Okay, lets say I do a design in illustrator, take it over into photoshop to apply some edge effects. From photoshop, what file type should I save my art on disk to take to the edge owner to print? How does the edge apply a cut line to something out of photoshop which isnt a vector format? One of my friends,Kenneth Scott, just bought one and I hope to send him some of my business to print up. Any replies appreciated wholeheartedly!
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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If the design is in full color (cmyk) and has no hard edges (like text), BMP or TIF are the best formats to use if they are color-critical. JPG is fine if it isn't. Normally, saving the raster image at full size at 108dpi is sufficient. Saving it at 300dpi is just a waste of hard-drive space.
For the cut line, save the vector from Illustrator as either EPS, AI, or CMX.
Feel free to e-mail me or call me. I'll be happy to walk you through it.
[ July 01, 2002, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
Isn't the gerber rated at 300 dpi so why don't you save the image as 300 dpi instead of 108?
One other question and thats about the vector line for the actual cut edge. If John makes the cool effects in photoshop but wants a contour cut does he have to switch it back into AI and put a hard edge around it or can omega create a contour around the entire image from photoshop?
I know we talked the other day but this might help John and a few others too!
-------------------- Brian Diver PDQ Signs Everett, Wa
posted
A website I recommend everyone should check out is www.scantips.com . It pretty much explains everything.
In basic terms, photos printed with a 300dpi printhead only need to be 108dpi themselves. Most think that printing a 300 dpi image will provide better detail and color. Not so. All you will get is a larger file.
Most folk don't know that photos printed in magazines are really only 200 dpi. They are 200 dpi because they are being printed at 133lpi or higher. The higher lpi provides the greater detail.
Omega can generate a "decal cut" of an image with no difficulty. However, the vectors may not be as precise as some would like and would require editing or cleaning up. Personally, I prefer creating cut-paths as described in the Step-by-Step. It's more precise and cuts cleaner.
posted
Just to add to what Glenn has said. I like to draw a box around the bitmap to exactly the same size and group it with your cutlines, so that when the bitmap is imported into Graphix Advantage or Omega, you can align the vector file exactly in place with it.
posted
Hey, thanks! I pretty much get what you are saying. My friend Ken is pretty savvy , so Im sure we'll get it done. I did what you said though Glenn, and saved a cut line in ai.
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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First, let your friend get a couple of months of use and training on his Edge before you complicate his life with files from the outside world! He will need a little time to get it down just using Omega--understanding all the cuts, cut/print, print only, clear, none and so forth commands. After he gets it under control, then go to his place and have him show you what the computer is looking for and basically what is involved. Both of you will be better off!
Glen may be right about the 108 dpi issue...I haven't been to the site he recommends, but there is a rule of thumb for file size and lpi. The Edge is a 300dpi printer and can handle roughly 75 LPI. That is more or less hidden within the GerberTone command, but you can actually override the Gerbertone to see where could enter any LPI. (I don't do that unless I am wanting a special effect). Back to DPI/LPI....if you are printing at 75 LPI, you would need 150 Dpi images at the final size of output.
The reason I use 150 every time is that Gerber defaults the imported image at 300 dpi, so every 150 Dpi image is imported at exactly 1/2 the size it needs to be when printed. Knowing that, I can select the bitmap and resize it by 200%...exactly the right size with very little effort. To resize Glen's 108 Dpi, he would have to resize it by 277.77777%.
One additional note, to get 150 DPI CMYK images end up at about 10 megs per square foot. If you are designing in Illustrator, and saving all your special effects as bitmaps, be prepared for huge files if you are thinking about printing for the side of a van. If you can design so the image can remain in vector format, both of you will be much happier and still have some hair on your head and space on your hard drives. That means holding back on all the linear and radial fills in Illustrator. Even a complicated vector Illustrator file is usually less than 100k. You can fit a dozen of them on a single floppy. Again, you need to give him a chance to get their feet wet, then start with some VERY basic files to test and play with.
Good luck, Mike Jackson
-------------------- Mike Jackson Golden Era Studios Jackson Hole, Wy www.goldenstudios.com/ Posts: 390 | From: PO Box 7850 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Hi John, To bad your friend isn't running MacImprint. What I do is change my fonts to paths in Illustrator. Save them on a layer named "cut. I than copy and paste into PS and do whatever filters and tricks to the fills. Drag and drop them back into the Illustrator on a new layer. Line them up with the cut. We're all set. No tricks or issues wondering how Omega will convert the files.
-------------------- Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modzel@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1358 | From: Traverse City, MI | Registered: Nov 1998
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