Graphics submission requirements:

 

Software programs that we support:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Illustrator (send all linked images and convert text to paths)
  • CorelDraw 8 (please convert text to curves and save as an Adobe Illustrator file)
  • Macromedia Freehand (send all linked images and convert text to paths)
  • QuarkXpress (please Save Page As EPS and include fonts)


    SCANNED IMAGES:     If you would like to include an image that you do not have in electronic form, we can scan the image. Scanning services are available for $50.00 per image.

    Your company logo may be incorporated into your graphic selection if provided in electronic form. Please do not submit logos or low resolution graphics (gif or jpeg) taken off the Internet. These will not yield good results when enlarged. If files have to be recreated there will be an additional design time charge. To avoid having your job delayed, please send only TIFF or EPS format graphics.

    Images can be sent on CD.
    Important! When burning your CD's make sure you make them ISO 9660 compatible.
    Consult your CD-R/CD-RW manual for more info.

    When sending fonts via e-mail always use WinZip or StuffIt to protect against corruption in transit.

If your image is scanned or created in a program such as Photoshop or other Bitmap (raster) application, it must be 100 dpi at finished size(actual printed size). For example, create your header graphic at 15.2" x 60.2"(the .2 is to compensate for the tad bit lost while trimming) at 100dpi and save as an LZW Compressed Tif file. For scanned images, if you want the final print to be 24" x 30" and you are scanning an 8" x 10" photo, scan it at 300dpi. This way when we enlarge it 300% we won't lose any image quality.

See below for the differences between bitmap and vector files.

The Quick Digital Art Lesson:

VECTOR DRAWING (Object)

Pass your mouse over the image below
to see the wireframe view of the drawing.

BITMAP IMAGE (Raster)

Click on the image below
to zoom in 1600X showing the pixels
that make up the image below.
It is a detail of the jacket.

Drawing or illustration programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and CorelDraw, all create vector art files. These programs use mathematical formulas to create shapes or objects. These shapes can be assembled to create a "drawing" as in the example above. Unlike bitmap images, these files are not resolution dependent (think DPI, here) and can be scaled up or down without any loss of image quality.

Logos and clipart are generally created in vector based drawing programs, thus enabling them to be used on everything from letterhead on up to billboards and beyond with superior image quality.

In all cases, it is best to provide us with a vector version of your company logo. Once it's in our hands we can manipulate it in one of our drawing programs listed below

Bitmap images are made up of a series of pixels.
Painting programs such as Adobe PhotoShop, Corel Photo-Paint, Metcreations Painter and JASC Paintshop Pro create bitmap or raster images. They also can convert vector drawings into bitmap files. A scanned image is also a bitmap file and more than likely saved in the TIF image format.

The pixeled image (the one you see when you click on above image) is the snowboarders jacket zoomed in 1600X.

At The Display Source, all bitmap images are output at 100 DPI at 100% of the actual printed size. In some cases 72 DPI will get by, but remember, it must be already the size you want it to be when it is printed.

So let's say we have a 3 x 5 picture of the above snowboard scene and we want it to be 24 x 40 upon printing. That's an enlargement of 800%! The resolution of the scan should be 800 DPI to compensate for blowing up the scan 8x. To reduce the file size it should be saved as a LZW Compressed TIF file.

See The Difference For Yourself:

The Vector version of your file, if there is one, is the best choice!