My business card printer wants my artwork at least 300 dpi

[ChrisJ]

My printer sent me a message regarding the business card artwork that I
created in MS Publisher 2002, saved as a TIFF file and uploaded to him. His
response was; "Resolution must be at least 300 to 350 dpi, in CMYK color
mode."

So can that be accomplshed in Publisher? Or do I need to use something else?
Thanks. I look forward to any suugestions.

 

[Wendell]

Is your original art vector or any of your images jpegs.
A jpeg would not be a good format to send to a printer.
If you sent your type as a tif that would not produce a good printed
product.
You might make a list if the export filters and ask your printer if any
of the formats would be to his liking. All depends on what software he
is using in his work flow.

Wendell

 

[ChrisJ]

Thanks for the reply. The artwork that I created for my business card is all
text, not jpeg. I don't know what an "export filter" is. It's hard to
understand that Publisher has business card features and commercial priniting
options, yet I can't produce a simple text card in Publisher that is
acceptable to a printer. What's with that?

 

[Mike Koewler]

Maybe an ID 10 T error?

JPEG is a file format, life .tif, .png, .eps, .pdf. You can convert text
into any of these types of files, if you have the correct software. A
tif or pdf is usually the easiest and if the tif is 300 dpi or higher,
it will reproduce fine. Try using the help files and look under
exporting, commercial printing, or similar terms.

 

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the reply. The artwork that I created for my business card is all
text, not jpeg. I don't know what an "export filter" is. It's hard to
understand that Publisher has business card features and commercial priniting
options, yet I can't produce a simple text card in Publisher that is
acceptable to a printer. What's with that?

Why didn't you send the original Publisher file instead of exporting a
TIFF? The type should reproduce much better that way; just make sure
that the document is set up in CMYK or spot colour, not RGB.

If for some reason the printers don't accept Publisher files, do you
have Acrobat Distiller or an equivalent? If so, try sending them a
"press optimized" PDF, which should preserve the fonts without any
rasterization.

 

[Mike Bailey]

Chris,

Your best bet is to supply a PostScript file. Follow my instructions at
http://members.shaw.ca/mike_bailey/. Although I don’t have instructions for
Publisher 2002 or 2003 they are similar to Publisher 2000. For Publisher 2003
you can set it to print as CMYK (which the printer will probably prefer),
this you can set by clicking ‘Advanced Print Settings…’ in the Print Dialogue
box and, in the ‘Separations’ tab selecting ‘Composite CMYK’ from the
‘Output’ Dropdown.

 

[Mac Townsend]

you must be dealing with one of these $29/1000 business card outfits (or
even the "free 250 business cards" folks. These offers litter my
wastebasket.

The reason they will accept only a tiff file is that it presents NO
problems for them...and at the price, they cannot tolerate even the
slightest problem.

While small type may not come out absolutely wonderful, it does come out
pretty good...again considering the price.

Publisher seems incapable of making a CMYK tiff. But it CAN make an RGB
tiff which with other software can be changed to cmyk.

to make the RGB tiff from Publisher 2003 do this:

1. Make sure your document is sized correctly. A business card is 3.5"
x 2" and your document MUST be set correctly.

2. File > Save As file type "Tag Image File Format". The default is 150
dpi. change this by clicking the "change" button and then selecting 300
dpi.

Again, this produces an rgb tiff not cmyk (even when the document is set
to be cmyk in the Color Printing Tools) and you will need an additional
application to change it to cmyk.

other procedures can work as well, but you will need otehr software to
do the job.

 

[Mike Bailey]

Mac,

At the prices you mention these printers are probably using something like a
Cannon Z5000 or similar copier (I won't call them digital presses because
they don't register worth squat), these don't care if the image is RGB or
CMYK. I see similar ads, when someone asks me why we don't print cards for
that price I just tell them they get what they pay for.