Adobe Photoshop to Illustrator to Quark

[moandog]

I have a jpg that needs some resizing and converting from RGB to CMYK. Can anyone tell me the best approach for accomplishing the above without losing resolution, color, etc? I would then like to bring this image into Illustrator to use with other images as a background image. Any suggestions?

[vectorgfxqueen]

You can do it in Illustrator or you can do it in photoshop. Neither looks great to me....a jpeg is inherently rought....anyway in photoshop co go Image - mode - check cmy k, then image - image size- size they way you want and make sure you put the resolution at 150 or 200.

In Illustrator, go to file - document color mode - choose cmyk. The using left arrow, click on image and resize by pulling a corner, holding shift at the same time.
Or, go to object - transform - scale and go up or down from the 100...say you want it half size, put in 50 or half again as large, put in 150...it is hit or miss for me, just keep doing it till it looks right.

good luck..peace

PA GRAPHICS
Jacksonville, Fl.

take your pick: "I've gotta rock'n'roll heart" (Eric Clapton) or
"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without!" (Cecil B. DeMille)
Peace!

[PrintDriver]

Aw man, Don't do what Vectorgfx is telling you in a literal sense.
You can resize in Photoshop but make sure you UNCHECK resample image. That way the resolution will go up and down appropriately with the image size. DO NOT just change the image size and resolution to whatever you want in Photoshop.
That is called interpolating, making Photoshop guess what color to make all those new pixels you may be adding in - it is absolute crap.

If you resize in Illustrator make sure you check the resolution to see if the image can withstand being enlarged.
What is the resolution and size of the Jpg file in Photoshop to begin with?
How big are you going?

How many times has it been re-saved as a jpg? Every time it has been resaved it has been recompressed and loses more image data.

As for changing color modes, if you just swap to CMYK with out some kind of profile you will have to muck around with your color curves to restore your original color. Sometimes the difference is minimal.

Output resolution for 4-color offset is 300dpi at actual size. (Don't interpolate!)
How are you printing your piece.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[vectorgfxqueen]

PrintDriver..thanks I learned something. I opened a jpeg in Photoshop, resized it, unchecked resample and saved. Then I went to mode, switched to cmyk and found that mucking with the curves was not necessary. The jpeg looked really good and printed out clear and sharp.

I am weak in Photoshop, hence the vector name....but, I need to develop those skills....aw, man, I hope someone asks me an Illustrator questions that I actually know the answer to....

PA GRAPHICS
Jacksonville, Fl.

take your pick: "I've gotta rock'n'roll heart" (Eric Clapton) or
"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without!" (Cecil B. DeMille)
Peace!

[vectorgfxqueen]

PrintDriver, I want to put a picture in the signature space, how do I do that? By the way, this is my first time on a forum, I think this is going to be cool.

PA GRAPHICS
Jacksonville, Fl.

take your pick: "I've gotta rock'n'roll heart" (Eric Clapton) or
"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without!" (Cecil B. DeMille)
Peace!

[D-Zine]

Hey vector....welcome to the GDF! Yer in Jax?? I'm in Savannah so not far from you really. Got a few friend in Jax too. Stick around this place, you'll love it. Warning: it CAN be addictive! :o)

http://coastalcarousel.com/GDF/metatag3.jpg

Who says doodling isn't constructive?!

[PrintDriver]

It all depends where the jpg came from.
If it started life as a 6' x 6' 300dpi tif and stayed a 6' x 6' dpi jpg you will most likely be ok on one or two resaves. But you will never make a 60' x 60' print that you can get up close and personal with. The resolution will only be 30dpi. I could do this on a certain kind of large format printer and make it look decent but from 5 feet away.

'rezzing up' an image never really works. You can always make something smaller but we have yet to find a piece of software that allows you to go bigger without losing sharpness or contrast.

Sorry to be so harsh. I am a preflighter and spend hours on the phone trying to get images fixed or replaced that a designer has interpolated.

Let me start over...
Welcome to the GDF MoanDog and Vectorgfx! Don't let mean old PrintDriver scare you away. We're actually a friendly crowd.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[PrintDriver]

As for the sig there is a thread running in the Resource section right now that is helping someone thru the same question. It's call Signature. Check it out.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[vectorgfxqueen]

Thanks mimimod, I feel welcome....I am actually a south florida person (west palm beach) and not too into Jacksonville yet.. I have dreamed for years about checking out Savanah and just finished a book called Savanah blues....what's it like: I see it southern bell relaxed, a little dreamy...do manners still count, or has that gone with the wind?

...and printdriver, gracious you are.....'course you had my heart palpitating and me thinking I would do better somewhere else. However, a deep breath and the ubiquitous Fear Facing Factor got me here....and looks like 'tis a good thing. I constantly have irritating little questions about Illustrator that the 'help' section just confuses. Anyway, Peace....

PA GRAPHICS
Jacksonville, Fl.

take your pick: "I've gotta rock'n'roll heart" (Eric Clapton) or
"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without!" (Cecil B. DeMille)
Peace!

[vectorgfxqueen]

printdriver, what is a preflighter?

PA GRAPHICS
Jacksonville, Fl.

take your pick: "I've gotta rock'n'roll heart" (Eric Clapton) or
"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without!" (Cecil B. DeMille)
Peace!

[PrintDriver]

I'm the guy who takes designer files and checks em out before they are sent to be ripped (output). Things that get checked inlcude fonts, color, image resolution, transparency, word wrap, bleeds, crops, doc set-ups, and does it fit in the place it's going.

I work in large format, not offset, so I deal with a lot of different kinds of print media, printers, print vendors and do a lot of custom print work, mainly doing exhibits, trade show stuff and corporate theater.

But the guy at your print vendor is also a preflighter. Anyone who checks files for output is usually called that, among other things...
LOL.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[PrintDriver]

MoanDog- sorry we hijacked your thread.
You mentioned Quark in you topic header. Are you placing this jpg file in Quark?
You will want to resave as a .tif or .eps in Photoshop depending on how it is being output.
Jpg files shouldn't really be used when printing. They are web things.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[Kool]

Welcome to the forum, vectorgfxqueen & moandog.

http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/KoolsSig.gif

'I used to be with it. But then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me.' Abraham Simpson

[D-Zine]

Vector - ROFL @ Manners! Man the way TV portrays us southerners just cracks me up! Allthough we DO love sweet tea and yes grits too...LOL! I'm a southern bell but most ppl down here call us Georgia Peaches! :o) Savannah is beautiful..every end of town is like your somewhere else. What you read about I am sure is downtown. It's beautiful and so much to see and do. I love it here. I moved here when I was 18 to go to SCAD and just kinda stayed here. I guess its really like anyother city but Savannah just has this quaint little feeling about it. Hard to explain - you have to come check it out to know what I'm talking about! I had a friend that lived in Jax and he moved back here but I use to go there to see him all the time. I guess I like the smaller cities bc Jax is just too big for me and the traffic is unbelieveable! How long have you been there?

Opps...sorry ppl...I derailed the thread a little ;o)

http://coastalcarousel.com/GDF/metatag3.jpg

Who says doodling isn't constructive?!

Hey D-Zine I went to AW/Long John Silver and sat in the Savannah Boat seat.

So you mention Savannah so much I need to see pics of this place your stating to spark my curiosity.

http://www.cbcamerica.com/images/webshots/banner-design.jpg
'Adventure, Excitement, A Jedi craves not these things.'
'Anger...fear...aggression. The dark side of the Force are they.'

[D-Zine]

Benjo - you sat in the Savannah boat scene at Long John Silvers...ROFLMFAO!!! Ahh hahha! Too funny!! :o)
I will have to try to get some pics to post of the area. Downtown is what everyone hears about..its just...unique. I lived down there for like 8 years but moved to southside. Downtown tends to get really loud on the weekends with city market and river street...they have alot of bars and clubs and nothing shuts down till 3am. I moved out on southside bc its quiet and the night life isn't big there..hahaha!! Damn..I think that's a sign of getting old! I will be 29 in May..LOL!

Anyways...I will try to get some pics in a few weeks at SCADs Sidewalk Arts Festival for everyone to see!

http://coastalcarousel.com/GDF/metatag3.jpg

Who says doodling isn't constructive?!

[Eggles]

Printdriver

In addition to your excellent advice to the original poster, can I ask you why you said this?

'You will want to resave as a .tif or .eps in Photoshop depending on how it is being output.'

If this image started out as a JPG, then why suggest saving as an EPS? It's never going to be a vector file, so why bother wrapping a raster file in an EPS coat? Save it as a TIF and be done with it. Shouldn't have anything to do with how it is being output. In fact if the same file saved as a TIF is compared to an EPS, the TIF will be a lot smaller and take less time to Rip. But the image quality will be identical.

[PrintDriver]

Eggles-
If the image is going into InDesign or Quark and the file is staying at 100% for output then a tif or eps is ok.

I work in large format, files going to 1200% sometimes more...
You are outputting your document at a larger size (and this is especially relevant to Quark and it's limited page size) you need to 'encapsulate' the image. Here's why.

When Quark sees a .tif image in it's file, it outputs only enough information to the rip program for an image at 100% of file size. It does not know that the rip is outputting at, say 1200%, so the image will appear bitmapped.

If the image in the Quark file is an .eps, all of the information is sent to the rip regardless of size.

I don't know the real reason behind this. All I know is, it works. That's why I always ask a thread poster how their image is being output.

InDesign isn't so much of a problem as most people can work at actual size in it. It isn't till you start getting into mural size stuff that rip output percentage gets to be an issue.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

[PrintDriver]

Sorry, I was a bit unclear...
Quark will only send enough RESOLUTION information to print the image at 100% if it's a tif. So if I'm going up 1200%, the resolution of my .tif in Quark may be over 2400dpi, but Quark will only send the resolution info for a 200dpi image to the rip. The rip then tries to output 200dpi at 1200%. That's why it bitmaps. Encapsulating it as an eps sends all 2400dpi.
I still don't know why it works.

Specialization is for insects...

R.H.

Post Edited (PrintDriver) : 5/8/2004 3:19:22 PM GMT