File Types Files types we accept Corel 9 or 10, Freehand 9 or 10, Illustrator, PDF, EPS, PSD, JPG, Tiff Dimensions Business Cards 90mm x 55mm Rack Cards DLE 98mm X 210mm A6 103mm x 148mm A5 148mm x 210mm A4 210mm x 297mm What is Bleed? Bleed means print to the edge of the paper. Because print machines cannot print to the edge of the paper, we have to print past the finished size of the image so that when it is cut, colour goes to the cut edge. All files can be sent via email to support@ezyprintsolutions.co.nz PDF files About Adobe PDF Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) is standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. Adobe PDF is a universal file format that, when correctly created, preserves the exact look and feel of any source document, including all of the fonts, formatting, colours, and graphics, regardless of the application and platform used to create it (PC / Macintosh / UNIX). Convert your document from its source application to PDF, its content will be captured and the file size compressed allowing for easy electronic transmission, yet with all the detail necessary for a clear print copy (depending on the settings used during distilling). Adobe PDF files can then be opened and printed with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software. How to create a PDF Purchase and install the latest full version of Adobe Acrobat compatible with your computer system. This is the ideal way to create PDF files from any application on your system. The full version of Acrobat contains an application called Acrobat Distiller. The most reliable method for creating PDF files is to first generate a PostScript file ('Print to file' checkbox) from your original creating application, then process this to a PDF through Acrobat Distiller. Importantly, when using Distiller, ensure 'High Quality', 'Print' or 'PrintOptimised' is selected in the 'Default Settings', 'Conversion Settings' or 'Job Options' (depending on your Distiller version - 6/5/4 respectively) menu. These options deliver high quality resolution for any graphics, and embed all fonts present in your document. The second option for creating PDFs is by selecting File > Print, and choosing Acrobat Distiller as your printer name. Click on the Properties tab, select the appropriate options, and alter the settings as mentioned above. Once the PDF has been created it should open automatically for you to proof before distribution. From Microsoft Office applications like Word, Powerpoint and Excel you can use the Convert to Adobe PDF button in your toolbar, or under the Acrobat menu. Again, select the appropriate Distiller settings before proceeding. In many instances this will be an adequate method of PDF creation, h’owever should you find your PDFs are larger than you'd like, it's possible to alter some of the Distiller settings to discard unnecessary information and compress the file further. Some applications, such as FreeHand, Illustrator, InDesign, PageMaker or CorelDraw allow you to directly export as a PDF from your source creating application, although you may experience problems using this function. Another option is the free software Pdf995. Click on the following link and visit their site to download. Users of this software have reported good results creating PDFs. www.pdf995.com File compression Quick Guide to File Compression If you have owned your computer for a year or more, you have probably run into the problem of large files, and hard-drive space. The salesman's promise, "You'll never use all the space on this computer!", sounds more and more like so much advertising. Once you actually start to use the computer for more than just the occasional game of solitaire, all of the programs, video games, and assorted emails begin to stack up. Before you know it you may start getting warning messages like, "Hard-drive space is running low. Do you want to clean up some files on your computer?" Or perhaps you've run into a situation where you've spent hours working on a report containing lots of graphics, and charts, and some spreadsheets. You go to copy the report to a disk or send it as an email attachment, only to find that it has morphed into a 15 meg monster of a file. The best way to combat these kinds of file space problems is to utilize a simple compression program. The function of a compression program is to take large files and make them smaller without changing, or losing any information in the file. It does this by using a complex set of algorithms and equations that take the bits of information in the file, reduce the size, and then remember how to put the files back together. Since a file is made up of 1000's of bits of information it can be reduced from 1000's down to 100's without losing information because an algorithm can predict where those other bits WILL go when the file is uncompressed later. Now of course, like everything in the computer world, there are many different compression programs out there to choose from. Even though each program uses different algorithms for their compression, they all compress files about the same. A typical compression rate for a 100k Word document containing all text is about 60%-90% of the original file size. With this in mind, choosing your own favorite compression utility is usually a matter of personal taste, and ease of use. One of the most common, and user-friendly programs is called PKZIP. This program is freely available from www.PKware.com. It's user interface combines functionality, with ease of use by putting the compression terminology into easy to understand terms. Another highly used compression utility is called RAR. The RAR compression format is an extremely good one for packing together large programs into one very small file. One of the best features about this particular program is it's ability to take extremely large files, and spread them out over several smaller files which can be stored on individual floppy disks. This program is also free to the public at www.RARsoft.com. A third extremely popular shareware compressing agent is called ARJ, and can be found at www.ARJsoft.com. This program has all the same abilities as RAR, and PKZIP, but just in a different format, and file extension. With the various compression utilities out there, it's nice to have more than one around so that you can open other people's files. You can only unzip a file with a .zip extension using PKZIP. A file with the .arj extension can only be opened with ARJ, and the .rar extension consequently can only be opened with the RAR program. Most files on the internet come compressed in one of these three above formats, and some sites even have 3 differently compressed copies for you to choose from all in the place. The world of compression is an important one, simply for the fact that it allows us a little bit of control over the size of our computers, and the time which we spend downloading one another's files. So when those files come up that just seem bigger than you can handle, pull out your favorite compression program, and cut it down to size. Raster Images vs. Vector Graphics Computer graphics can be created as either raster or vector images. Raster graphics are bitmaps. A bitmap is a grid of individual pixels that collectively compose an image. Raster graphics render images as a collection of countless tiny squares. Each square, or pixel, is coded in a specific hue or shade. Individually, these pixels are worthless. Together, they’re worth a thousand words. Raster graphics are best used for non-line art images; specifically digitized photographs, scanned artwork or detailed graphics. Non-line art images are best represented in raster form because these typically include subtle chromatic gradations, undefined lines and shapes, and complex composition. However, because raster images are pixel-based, they suffer a malady called image degradation. Just like photographic images that get blurry and imprecise when blown up, a raster image gets jagged and rough. Why? Ultimately, when you look close enough, you can begin to see the individual pixels that comprise the image. Hence, your raster-based image of Wayne Newton, magnified to 1000%, becomes bitmapped before you can isolate that ravenous glint in his eye. Although raster images can be scaled down more easily, smaller versions often appear less crisp or "softer" than the original. To maximize the quality of a raster image, you must keep in mind that the raster format is resolution-specific — meaning that raster images are defined and displayed at one specific resolution. Resolution in raster graphics is measured in dpi, or dots per inch. The higher the dpi, the better the resolution. Remember also that the resolution you actually observe on any output device is not a function of the file's own internal specifications, but the output capacity of the device itself. Thus, high resolution images should only be used if your equipment has the capability to display them at high resolution. Better resolution, however, comes at a price. Just as raster files are significantly larger than comparable vector files, high resolution raster files are significantly larger than low resolution raster files. Overall, as compared to vector graphics, raster graphics are less economical, slower to display and print, less versatile and more unwieldy to work with. Remember though that some images, like photographs, are still best displayed in raster format. Common raster formats include TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PCX and BMP files. Despite its shortcomings, raster format is still the Web standard - within a few years, however, vector graphics will likely surpass raster graphics in both prevalence and popularity. Unlike pixel-based raster images, vector graphics are based on mathematical formulas that define geometric primitives such as polygons, lines, curves, circles and rectangles. Because vector graphics are composed of true geometric primitives, they are best used to represent more structured images, like line art graphics with flat, uniform colors. Most created images (as opposed to natural images) meet these specifications, including logos, letterhead, and fonts. Inherently, vector-based graphics are more malleable than raster images - thus, they are much more versatile, flexible and easy to use. The most obvious advantage of vector images over raster graphics is that vector images are quickly and perfectly scalable. There is no upper or lower limit for sizing vector images. Just as the rules of mathematics apply identically to computations involving two-digit numbers or two-hundred-digit numbers, the formulas that govern the rendering of vector images apply identically to graphics of any size. Further, unlike raster graphics, vector images are not resolution-dependent. Vector images have no fixed intrinsic resolution, rather they display at the resolution capability of whatever output device (monitor, printer) is rendering them. Also, because vector graphics need not memorize the contents of millions of tiny pixels, these files tend to be considerably smaller than their raster counterparts. Overall, vector graphics are more efficient and versatile. Common vector formats include AI, EPS, CGM, WMF and PICT (Mac).