High res designs

[aaron.lee2006]

Hey guys. I have a client right now who needs a high res logo for print. I have never done work for print. He said he wants it as high as possible which didn't help me much. What pixel demensions do you think I should use?

Thanks in advance,
Aaron

 

[iMeowbot]

You will want to avoid using pixels and go with a vector drawing (Illustrator etc.) instead, if at all possible.

 

[aaron.lee2006]

Kk, thanks for the reply!!

 

[ezekielrage_99]

If you do end up using any bitmaps make sure they are at the highest quality you can get them. Also make them a lot bigger in rez than you need because you can scale them down in Illustrator or Freehand (the btimaps wont go all jaggy when it comes time to print).

 

[macdon401]

...the standard for print is 300 DPI....!
R

 

[fireball370]

also make sure you're using CMYK *not* RGB. If you're using illustrator, i recommend saving as EPS, but check with your client first.

 

[Blue Velvet]

...the standard for print is 300 DPI....!
R

Nope. That's for half-tones, photographs etc.

If you want sharp forms on shapes, try closer to 1200ppi. With most imagesetters resolving at 2400ppi, 300ppi is lo-res for any shape that is at a 100% tint.

As an example, try rasterising some type at 300ppi and then printing that on your laser printer... ugly.

 

[dogbone]

...i recommend saving as EPS...

I was under the impression that eps is basically crap and no one uses it anymore unless they have legacy files or are sending to a stone age rip.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I was under the impression that eps is basically crap and no one uses it anymore unless they have legacy files or are sending to a stone age rip.

Depends on whether your Quark import filters can handle PDF 1.5 or higher...

I'd always rather have an eps of a logo supplied to me rather than a PDF. Call me old-fashioned.

Some people just don't know how to put together a proper PDF.

 

[fireball370]

Depends on whether your Quark import filters can handle PDF 1.5 or higher...

I'd always rather have an eps of a logo supplied to me rather than a PDF. Call me old-fashioned.

Some people just don't know how to put together a proper PDF.

I agree. I don't know about anyone else, but I too prefer an EPS of a (vector) logo. It's so much easier to work with.

 

[Coheebuzz]

Nope. That's for half-tones, photographs etc.

If you want sharp forms on shapes, try closer to 1200ppi. With most imagesetters resolving at 2400ppi, 300ppi is lo-res for any shape that is at a 100% tint.

Are you talking about offset printing? I have never printed anything in offset so far that was higher than 300dpi, and all the printers i work with clearly ask for work in that resolution.

I'll try and send a job in a higher resolution next time and check out the results.

 

[heehee]

Nope. That's for half-tones, photographs etc.

If you want sharp forms on shapes, try closer to 1200ppi. With most imagesetters resolving at 2400ppi, 300ppi is lo-res for any shape that is at a 100% tint.

As an example, try rasterising some type at 300ppi and then printing that on your laser printer... ugly.

Pssst... dpi and ppi are two different things.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Are you talking about offset printing? I have never printed anything in offset so far that was higher than 300dpi, and all the printers i work with clearly ask for work in that resolution.

Yes, but I was clear to point out that 300-450ppi was for images depending on line frequency.

Line work has to be in a higher res than that to be clean... for logos provided to us as JPGs or TIFFs we stipulate a minimum of 600ppi.

If you take a look at Distiller's press-setting you'll see that monochrome (i.e. bitmap), not greyscale, images are set to downsample to 1200ppi.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Pssst... dpi and ppi are two different things.

Pssst... I'm quite aware what the difference is. Pixels per inch is the correct definition, dots per inch refers to the line frequency of a screen used for halftoning.

 

[aaron.lee2006]

Wow lol thanks for all of the replies you have been a huge help!

 

[Snark]

Yes, but I was clear to point out that 300-450ppi was for images depending on line frequency.

Line work has to be in a higher res than that to be clean... for logos provided to us as JPGs or TIFFs we stipulate a minimum of 600ppi.

Your place is generous; we require 800ppi.

There are times it feels like, in the wrong hands (And I'm not referring to anyone here...), Photoshop is the MS Publisher of the Mac design world. We see more sow's ears looking to be a silk purse in that than any other Mac program.

Snark

 

[aricher]

We see more sow's ears looking to be a silk purse in that than any other Mac program. Snark

Here here. I received "production ready" files from a client's agency yesterday. They placed Photpshop jpegs (180-200 dpi) into Illustrator and called it a day. Due to the low resolution and lossy file format all their packaging was pixilated and skin tones looked mottled. To compound the problem they did all their type in the same Photoshop files while they could have been done in smooth vector-based Illustrator. THEN they added 4-8 color Pantone logos in the final Illustrator layout - this was quoted as a 4C process job - Arrrrrgggghhhh. Why why why? Anyhow - I received a terse call from their designer this morning who was stammering on about how they have never had a problem printing projects at 150 dpi and that we should take our time to convert the PMS colors to CMYK for them at no charge. I let her know that our dies and spec sheets specify 4C for a reason and that she could change the colors on her own and resubmit the files or we would charge to do it. I just received the cover yr a$$ email from the client giving me the go ahead to produce this garbage once I have the new files. Just another day in the life. Oh well. Sorry for the venting.

Now, back to our story.

 

[kitki83]

Here here. I received "production ready" files from a client's agency yesterday. They placed Photpshop jpegs (180-200 dpi) into Illustrator and called it a day. Due to the low resolution and lossy file format all their packaging was pixilated and skin tones looked mottled. To compound the problem they did all their type in the same Photoshop files while they could have been done in smooth vector-based Illustrator. THEN they added 4-8 color Pantone logos in the final Illustrator layout - this was quoted as a 4C process job - Arrrrrgggghhhh. Why why why? Anyhow - I received a terse call from their designer this morning who was stammering on about how they have never had a problem printing projects at 150 dpi and that we should take our time to convert the PMS colors to CMYK for them at no charge. I let her know that our dies and spec sheets specify 4C for a reason and that she could change the colors on her own and resubmit the files or we would charge to do it. I just received the cover yr a$$ email from the client giving me the go ahead to produce this garbage once I have the new files. Just another day in the life. Oh well. Sorry for the venting.

Now, back to our story.

Wow a designer said that!!! logo at 150dpi they never had print problems.

Well my company are idiots they send me crop logos from PDF ads artwork. I mean send a CD with high res logos how hard is that. Awell you do the best with what is given to you.

 

[dogbone]

Oh well. Sorry for the venting.

Now, back to our story.

Not at all. We should have more horror stories like this. Takes me back...

btw you can be sure as dammit that if you convert the pantones you'll be using different lookup tables for sure.

 

[i.Feature]

I was under the impression that eps is basically crap and no one uses it anymore unless they have legacy files or are sending to a stone age rip.

Not true at all. And like some previous posters i would prefer a properly created .eps.

 

[dogbone]

Doesn't Quark handle .ai files? I haven't used it for years.

 

[apfhex]

Doesn't Quark handle .ai files? I haven't used it for years.

Quark doesn't handle much of anything. I think Quark users are lucky that it even handle PSDs. That said, I just tried this in QX7 with a AI file I was recently working on and it worked.

Not that I don't enjoy the design horror stories, but to give my thoughts to the OP: create the logo as vector in Illustrator if at all possible. If it MUST be raster (pixel based, in Photoshop), find out what the maximum size it will be printed at is and talk to the printer to find out what the minimum resolution should be (this depends on a number of variables). And make sure you're working in CMYK mode instead of RGB!