Not 300dpi = fail

cormie

Hi,
I'm looking to get a custom docket book printed and I sent a printer the following file: http://www.vantasks.ie/a5remit.pdf but they said it failed a LIthographic basic test because some parts are 72dpi and not the standard 300dpi.

I made the file in OpenOffice writer (the tables etc) and then the logo and the contact details at the top were simply copied from a photoshop file into the openoffice file and I then exported the whole lot to a pdf.

Anyway, I was told this by the printer:

When I say it failed - meaning 'parts of it are only 72dpi' instead of the industry standard of 300dpi.
Now we can print anything - but if you were to instruct us to proceed we would requires a sign off on final quality (ie text will not be clean and sharp)
(Incidentally this would be the same off any lithographic press in any printers - and it makes no difference what it looks like on screen or indeed how it prints on your printer - all that is not relevant when accessing the quality of a file for lithographic print.)

And then they sent a reconstructed one and said this:

a) It is original High Res Artwork (converted to a PDF just for proofing to you) (and we can tweak any of it as you/we wish.
b) It is using correct 'spot' pantone ink colours - this is most important as 'RGB' cannot separate out to spot colours - Your file could have only been printed FULL COLOUR - much much more expensive as RGD can be converted to cmyk full colour - but rgb does not separate out to spot colours which is what you need to keep costs under control.
c) The layout accommodates the number in two places (note we just dropped in a scan of a pink sheet to indicate the approx size of the numbers for proofing purposes)
d) We stand over the quality of the actual print 100% (as opposed to you being disappointed in any way)
e) An integral part of the re-creation of this file - required us to re-draw your logo too - this means that should you need an industry standard professional file for your logo - we can supply you with it.
f) This professional separated artwork file created by us will cost just €40+vat to use. (our normal charge for a form layout is €75)
(note the file attached is NOT the artwork file itself it is just a medium -res proof of it for proofing / approval purposes)

And they supplied me with the attached file.


Is there any way I can make my own artwork compatible because I actually sent a quote request to about 11 different companies and don't want them all saying the same thing. I'd like to be able to supply the correct artwork. How can I change the linked to file so it's ok? Will I just draw the whole thing in photoshop instead of openoffice or what?

Any feedback appreciated

Hank_Scorpio

Anything copied into Word or MS application or OPEN OFFICE will reduce the quality of the image to 72 dpi. Not desirable for printing.

You mentioned photoshop there, can you tell me what other applications you have available to you?

Do you have InDesign, Quark, Illustrator? Do you have Publisher or Ventura?

cormie

Thanks for the reply. I never knew that about openoffice. Jebus. Is there any way to set it so it doesn't reduce the quality? Do you reckon it's the photoshop paste causing the problem or would the tables and the text be causing the problem too? Is there any way I can just set it to 300DPI and then it'll be ok? And will I have to change RGB stuff too?

rockbeer

There is a lot to understand before you start producing print ready artwork that a printer can work with. Some of the issues are mentioned in the printers reply you quote. It would probably be worth your while to read up on some dtp tutorials before you go any further. Many of your questions wil be answered, you will save people here a lot of typing, and you can always ask again about anything you still don't understand.

There are a bunch of tutorials here and here

For more information than you probably want, download and read this

If you need free dtp software try scribus

cormie

Thanks for the reply. I don't understand though, I'm pretty sure I just sent a basic photoshopped file before for my business cards when they got done. What's the difference here? And then when I got the graphics put on my van, the printer then had to change the graphics to vector, redraw them, so could I not just put the vectors together with a few tables and text? I don't want to have to pay for things to be redrawn every time I want to get something printed

rockbeer

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I don't understand though, I'm pretty sure I just sent a basic photoshopped file before for my business cards when they got done. What's the difference here?

No difference at all - you could do up your invoice artwork in photoshop too. Nothing wrong with that, except that photoshop isn't as friendly for text handling as dedicated dtp software. And the text might be fractionally less crisp, but not so much that it'd be a problem for this purpose. Just make sure your page has suitable margins and bleeds (ask your printer), and use the correct colour model and resolution. You should also bear in mind that unless your screen is properly calibrated the colours you see on screen may bear little relation to what the printer gives you back. That won't be the printer's fault. (To avoid that risk you should use colour charts.)

cormie wrote: »

And then when I got the graphics put on my van, the printer then had to change the graphics to vector, redraw them, so could I not just put the vectors together with a few tables and text? I don't want to have to pay for things to be redrawn every time I want to get something printed

But that's the reality I'm afraid - a van is a totally different application to a business card, requiring scaleable vector graphics due to the large size and the specific software and large-format hardware plotters used by vinyl lettering shops. That's why I suggest you do some reading, because to understand the answers to your questions you first have to understand the difference between vector and pixel-based images, colour models and their uses, file formats, etc. etc. It sounds as though you think people are trying to rip you off. They're not, they just understand things about layout, design and print that you don't.

The thing is, if you learn and understand the background information, and get hold of suitable software, you'll grasp how you can fairly easily set your artwork up in such a way that you can switch between these different formats, meaning it can be applied to all these different applications. But if you let it continue to be a mystery, it'll just continue to frustrate and confuse you - and you'll just have to pay whatever designers and printers charge to do this stuff for you.