Converting text to a high quality Graphic

[Sonny]

Hi All!

I'm new to the forums :) and looking for help.

I'm in the process of re-drawing my business logo, that consists of merely text.

The problem is that the text isn't always of high definition whenever zoomed upon or used on a website as a GIF file.

I have Adobe CS2 on my imac.

I'm sure the principle is simple, but I can't get my head around it :( . Any help would be great :rolleyes: .

[Mynock]

Vectorized EPS in Illustrator. Convert to outlines when done. Also seek a professional if you want it to look professional.

[budafist]

Logos are created in vector based programs such as Illustrator. Place your low res logo into Illustrator and redraw using the pen tool.

If you need any tips on using Illustrator or have any queries, post away!

[Ovaltine]

If it's just text, it may be possible to simply type it and then outline the text.
That's assuming you can find the proper font.

[budafist]

If it's just text, it may be possible to simply type it and then outline the text.
That's assuming you can find the proper font.

True, try identifont (http://www.identifont.com/) or what the font (http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/) to find the font if the logo is just text.

[Sonny]

Thanks for your replies :) .
I've already typed the text in Illustrator, but the edges look pixelated.

Thanks Budafist, I think i'll attemp to redraw using the pen tool - it makes sense.

[Craig B]

The edges should never look pixelated if you type text (unless you're using a font with a screen font and a printers font) ... do you mean it looks pixelated after you export it? How are you exporting it?

[Mynock]

It could be your preview mode. You might be on the lowest setting. Does it luck pixelated in illustrator or other programs?

[Craig B]

Good call Mynock.

[Sonny]

I'm typing the text and saving it as a GIF (Save for Web) using Illustrator.
When opening the saved file with Illustrator or Preview, the outline is pixelated when zoomed upon :confused: .

[CkretAjint]

A GIF is a flat raster image, not vector. Also, "Save for web" drops it down to 72 dpi, that is not a high-res image. You will never get high res that way. Just save it as a .eps and use it that way.

[Craig B]

What Ckret said.

[Sonny]

I've tried it and it worked - real high quality ;) .

The saved text should be without a background, which i've only achieved by saving s a GIF. The .eps appears to have a white background.

I'm half way there - yay :cool: .

[CkretAjint]

ummm... no.

As long as your entire image is vector line art and not a raster image within Illustrator (unless with a clipping mask) it will have no background when saved correctly.

Don't "Export" (makes a raster image with the selected dpi) or "Save For Web" (makes a raster image at 72 dpi) as an eps. Go to "Save As", then select .eps (not .ai) and save it that way. You will save a 100% vector image editable backgroundless .eps and be completely there, not half-way to the WRONG way.

[urstwile]

Where is this file being used, ultimately? If it's being used for print, then yeah, do what CKret said. However, I'm wondering if you're going to be using this on the web, in which case, you'll need GIF or PNG for a transparent background.

[GraphixNPrint]

what urst said, but highlight all your text using the selection tool, then transform>scale to the size you need.... now you can save for web without pixelation. Keep the ORIGINAL eps for whenever you need to resize it in the future.

[PrintDriver]

And if you are seeing a white box on an EPS when placed in InDesign, change your screen preview to High.

[Sonny]

I tried what Ckret said and it worked fine :) .

The file will ulitimately be used on a website, needs a transparent background.

A copy of the file will be used in a Bill-Poster advert, hence needs to be of high quality.

Does anyone know how to convert .eps into .jpg ?

Thanks

[CkretAjint]

You would use "export" and export it as a JPG at 300 dpi. But I would use a .tif. or .eps. Your colors will be much better and the output will be much smoother. JPGs aren't all that great.

[GraphixNPrint]

If you created it in Illy, click File>Save For The Web and select Gif or PNG since you want transparent

EDIT: I just saw the jpg part .... what Ckret said above ^

[longboy]

Sonny-JPGs don't support transparency, in case the ya didn't know. PNGs and GIFs are the transparent graphics formats for the web-

[Tea]

Do we have a thread for file types and their best uses for the various formats (print, web, transparent backgrounds,etc.)?


Some of the info here seems like it could be quite valuable to organize and post as a sticky. I did a search and looked through the resources stickies, but nothing popped out as one just for what file type is best for what.

I would do that (unless it is already posted somewhere), but I'm afraid I'd be terribly ill-suited for the job.

[urstwile]

That's a good idea, Tea. Not that I'm volunteering. :D

[PrintDriver]

A thread like that could cause an argument...
Not that I'm volunteering either. I'm the one who will provide the arguments.
:D

[budafist]

I'll start

jpg
Industry standard for printing. Preferably set to colour mode RGB if printed using offset method. Ideal for vinyl cutting, dieforms, embroidery and all forms of specialised output. Not ideal for web. Jpgs are easily scalable and are the preferred file type for all printers.

Did I do ok?

[urstwile]

:eek:

[GraphixNPrint]

beautifly said Buda! Now I am gonna take that taco back ;)

[budafist]

Nooo!!! Not the taco!!! I already ate it so you'll have to stomach pump me!

[hewligan]

Well, I'm feeling thick-skinned today, so here's a start:

ai
Native Adobe Illustrator format. Contains vector data. May be placed into Adobe Indesign, depending on your workflow (check with your printer!)

eps
Encapsulated Postscript - a vector format. Supported by most graphics applications. Generally the most reliable way to place vector graphics into your layout programs.
There is also the option of saving as eps from photoshop. This embeds a raster graphic image in the eps file. Useful when using clipping paths.

indd
Native format for Adobe Indesign.

gif
Graphic Interchange Format - a raster format commonly used for web graphics. Uses 8-bit indexed colour, so may only include up to 256 colours, and uses LZW compression, which is non-lossy. This means it's best suited for flat coloured images such as logos, but is not suitable for continuous tone images such as photographs. Also supports 1-bit transparency. 1-bit transparency sometimes gives you jagged edges on images, but the gif format is the only file format with transparency that is reliably supported in all web browsers.

jpg
Joint Photographic Experts Group - a raster image format. Commonly used for continuous tone images on the web. Uses lossy compression, so file sizes can be very small, but this is achieved through loss of image quality.
Also commonly used by many digital cameras, and often used when emailing photographs.
When using jpegs, you'll usually need to decide on a suitable compromise between image quality and file size.

pdf
Portable Document Format - the native format of Adobe Acrobat. A vector format, though pdf files frequently include raster graphic images. Used for handing off files to most printers these days, as well as client proofs and complex, downloadable web documents.
Both photoshop and illustrator can produce editable pdf documents. These contain native application data with the pdf file, and are intended for placing into layout applications such as Indesign and Quark (check with your printer before using!). These editable pdf documents are not suitable for client proofs or web download, as the native application data will make the file much larger than necessary.

png
Portable Network Graphic - a raster image format intended for use on the web. Uses non-lossy compression, which means that it is better suited to flat coloured images, however it does support both 8-bit and RGB colour modes. Also supports 8-bit transparency, giving you smooth edges on web graphics (unlike gif). However, png has limited, and difficult to use transparency for Internet Explorer 6 and below, so use with caution.

psd
Native photoshop format - a raster image format, though it may also contain some vector data. May be placed into layout applications such as Adobe Indesign (but check with your printer first!).

tif
Tagged Image File Format - a raster image format intended for print work. Most reliable way of placing raster images into layout applications, though it does not support some of the features of other formats.

[budafist]

I think Hewlie deserves my taco once GraphixNPrint has pumped it from my stomach.

[hewligan]

I think Hewlie deserves my taco once GraphixNPrint has pumped it from my stomach.

Uh, thanks, but you can keep it...

[budafist]

You sure? I didn't even chew it. Would almost be good as new :)

[urstwile]

Nicely done, Hewligan! :)

[PrintDriver]

You worded that nicely Hewligan. No arguments from me today.
You did forget .psb
which is a Photoshop Large Document format (or Photoshop Bloated as we call it). Just don't use it and you'll be fine. :D

[hewligan]

Thanks all.

You worded that nicely Hewligan. No arguments from me today.

That gives me a warm glow inside :D Or maybe that's just the weather...

You did forget .psb
which is a Photoshop Large Document format (or Photoshop Bloated as we call it). Just don't use it and you'll be fine. :D

There's actually a few other formats that probably ought to go in, but I've either not used them at all, or haven't touched them for years.

I can't even remember what the extension for a Quark file is.

[Kool]

You did forget the grandfather of all the raster images though, good old .bmp :D

[hewligan]

You did forget the grandfather of all the raster images though, good old .bmp :D

Well, I dunno about grandfather. As far as I can tell, bmp was introduced with Windows 3.0 in about 1990, whereas several of those other formats were introduced in the 80's. Still...

bmp
Native raster image format of Microsoft Windows. Generally shouldn't be used for anything. May be helpful in getting images into word documents if the client insists on that sort of thing.

wmf/emf
Windows metafile/enhanced metafile - native vector image formats of Microsoft Windows. Generally shouldn't be used for anything. May be helpful in getting artwork into word documents if the client insists on that sort of thing.

[urstwile]

PSB is also the format that grouped smart objects in Photoshop are saved as. Incredibly handy actually when you go to edit a grouped smart object that's been duped several times within a Photoshop file, but that's within Photoshop. I don't know that I'd ever send a PSB file to a printer.

I know I'm probably risking the entry of the Whut kittie with the above entry. :D

[hewligan]

Whut? :D

I'm actually really not sure what you mean there, Urst. I just tried creating a photoshop file with grouped smart objects in it, and it saved as a psd quite happily. Where's the psb?

[urstwile]

Try editing the grouped smart object, and that's the file format that comes up.

Better yet, before you edit the grouped smart object, dupe it a few times and position it. Then edit the first grouped smart object, save it, close it, and your edits appear on all the objects that are referencing the first one.

[PrintDriver]

You need to enable .psb and I'm not going to tell you how. :D

<it's fairly simple but you didn't hear it from me...>

[Kool]

Well, I dunno about grandfather. As far as I can tell, bmp was introduced with Windows 3.0 in about 1990, whereas several of those other formats were introduced in the 80's. Still...

Yep your right, I was thinking it was the original raster format, but I'm often wrong.

[urstwile]

You need to enable .psb and I'm not going to tell you how. :D

<it's fairly simple but you didn't hear it from me...>
I know how, PD. :p

[hewligan]

Try editing the grouped smart object, and that's the file format that comes up.

Better yet, before you edit the grouped smart object, dupe it a few times and position it. Then edit the first grouped smart object, save it, close it, and your edits appear on all the objects that are referencing the first one.

Okay, now I see what you mean...

And, PD, I do know how to enable PSB, but I never have because I didn't need to. But this works the way Urst describes anyway. Which means that a psd with a grouped smart object inside it has a PSB embedded in it even if you have PSB support disabled...

Which proves, once again, that Adobe hates printers :D

[urstwile]

Well, I'd probably never send the file that way to a printer. In fact, I don't really use it that much except for web comps. The grouped smart object thing came in really handy for a recent situation where a group had to be repeated several times across the layout, and then later had to have changes made to the group. I only had to edit it once and the change populated all the other related layers.

[Sonny]

Thanks you guys for the help :-) .

It all helped and i've now generated EXACTLY what I wanted, and grown extra confidence with Illustrator.

:D

[urstwile]

Two birds with one stone! Congrats. :)