Major Quality Problem When Printing

**Kool** · 03-26-2006, 02:44 PM

Hi mjhopperz, welcome to the forum.

You say they told you to change the resolution to 300 dpi? Did you just change the resolution in photoshop from 72 to 300 dpi? If so this really doesn't work, you would need to start at 300 dpi before you designed it.

This is a business card right? I would recommend you do this in Illustrator in vector format then resolution won't be a factor. All of those logos should be redily available in vector format try http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/ for them. Since you have a bleed be sure and extend the green bar 1/8th inch over the edge of the card. You also want to pull all of your copy in 1/8th inch from the edges to allow for cutting. As far as getting more room for all of this to fit, why have the business name twice? try putting it all on one line at the top, this should free up enough room to give everything some space.

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 02:54 PM

well its not a buisness card, its actually a design for a keychain, the left side being the front, and the right being the back. Now i did re-create the image with a resolution of 400, and the image printed clearly on my home printer, but when i sent it to staples the image came out fuzzy, the manager told me the image was scanned at 72DPI? So im guessing the problem is in which format i am saving the finished product as. If all else fails ill do it in illustrator, its just that time is a factor and im not to sure i would enjoy re-designing all of these (i have about 7 that need to be printed) in a program i am not to familiar with except for the odd time i used it in school.

Thanks agian for the help.

**Kool** · 03-26-2006, 03:05 PM

What format are you saving the finished file?

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 03:10 PM

im saving the finished file as either a .png or .tif ......but ive tried saving in basically every format? im runing out of solutions....is their a way i can create it in photoshop then export to illustrator? or will i still lose quality? the only reason i ask this is because i find it much harder to design these things in illustrator than photoshop.

But i guess if i dont find an answer i will re-create all of them in illustrator and hopefully that will end my problems with the quality of the print.

PrintDriver · 03-26-2006, 04:17 PM

Better yet, what format does Staples want it in. There must be a spec sheet for the product you are ordering...?

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 04:24 PM

they would except all they said, just nothing to big. So the problem needs to be fixed on my part.....would u just suggest using illustrator? and how would i go about setting up illustrator to create and image as a vector with a high res

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 04:54 PM

how do i go about making the new file in illustrator a vector?...and also how do i set the resolution in illustrator?....i dont know much about this program??

Thanks agian.

PrintDriver · 03-26-2006, 05:06 PM

Crazy. I went to Staples' site for custom keychains. Is this a 'Mark the World' thing?
Other than having to dust off IE to even view the site and all its misspellings...
It says they take all formats tiff, png, gif, jpg, eps and pdf.
They want 600dpi final image quality.
File size under 1MB.

You needed to have created the artwork at actual size at 600dpi in photoshop. No pushing the 'make bigger' button (checking resampling will NOT work).

You can't just place it in Illustrator and make an eps either.

It also mentions black and white only...
so maybe this is a different promo company than your local Staples is using?

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 05:10 PM

so i should create it in photoshop setting the resolution at 600....create it at actual size, which is 265 x 135

PrintDriver · 03-26-2006, 05:17 PM

All I'm saying is those are the art specs I saw on Staples "Mark the World" site.
If the graphics you are importing into your 600dpi file are only 72dpi (like those logos may be) then there is not a lot you can do about it except do as Kool suggested and download the vector art for them.

You don't need to set the resolution in Illy if you send them an .eps file of a fully vector piece of artwork. Remember to Outline your fonts.
Do you know the difference between Raster and Vector?
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/fo...hread.php?t=41

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 05:17 PM

becasue others have told me to re-create it in illustrator, but im not sure how to set the dpi at 600 in illustrator or create it as a vector.?

Just Satch · 03-26-2006, 05:35 PM

Check the link that PrintDriver provided... it explaines the difference between Raster and Vector.

Basically Illustrator is a vector program and doesn't go by dpi, you can make the graphics any size and send it to them and they will be able to print it no problem, if you make it in photoshop you have to start with a 600dpi file and either recreate the logos, or get them large enough to import without having to stretch them to fit. does that help any?

mjhopperz · 03-26-2006, 05:37 PM

so how do i make it a total vector image in illustrator, or would it be fine if i just created it in illustrator with a dpi600 and use the logos as vector images?

Just Satch · 03-26-2006, 09:00 PM

I see you haven't checked out that link PD posted, huh? Vector doesn't have dpi, it's not the same as raster... to make it toally vector you have to recreate it in Illustrator, but what you have shouldn't take very long (if you know what you're doing) otherwise, recreate it with higher dpi in photoshop - either way you'll have to recreate it.

Major Quality Problem When Printing

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