Copyright 2009 - Jaguar Design
Your sign business is important to us and we know that the quality of the sign and the
final price is important to you. Behind the scenes a lot of time and effort goes into
preparing artwork for sign production and this preparation requires a good understanding
of computer generated vector graphics and the sign production work flow. We will gladly
work with artwork provided by you, the customer, but there are a few things to keep in
mind if your artwork was submitted in an effort to keep your costs down or to maintain a
common look and feel to your company brand or corporate identity.
The Difference Between Bitmap and Vector Graphics
When it comes to computer graphics
the distinction between the various
formats can get quite confusing.
Basically there are two main categories
of graphics files, vector graphics and
bitmap graphics. Bitmap graphics are
created by digital cameras, scanners
and paint or photo editing programs like
Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, or
Corel Photo Paint. Common file
extensions for bitmap files include:
* .jpg
* .bmp
* .gif
* .tif
* .png
* .pix
Bitmaps are great when photo quality is
called for but they can be problematic
when scaled to large sizes or sizes
suitable for signage. When scaled up,
bitmap graphics files can get very large
requiring a large amount of disk space
and lots of RAM which can bring lower
end computers to a virtual standstill. Picture quality also suffers when bitmaps are scaled
up with the most notable deficiency being a pronounced definition of the individual pixels
giving an overall blocky appearance to the image. Pixels representing lines can produce
a noticeable stair-stepped look to curves which may not be desirable if the sign is to
viewed from relatively short distances. Viewed from a further distance, this deficiency is
not as noticeable.
Signs produced from bitmap graphics files are generally output to large format inkjet or
thermal foil printers. Color fastness is the biggest downside to signs produced this way
although there have been big advances in this technology over the last few years.
Our sign production work flow makes strong use of computer generated vector graphics
that are output to a vinyl cutting plotter. Vector graphics provide a mathematically defined
line that the plotter knife can follow thereby making them indispensable in a modern sign
shop. Because the lines in a vector graphic are mathematically defined the computer has
no problem scaling them up or down to a very wide degree with absolutely no loss in
quality and very little change in the file size. Vector graphics are the ideal format for
everything from business cards to billboards and the preferred format for sign design
professionals.
Vector graphic computer files are generally quite small in comparison to bitmap graphics
files. They can contain embedded bitmaps in the form of fills and textures used to color
the shapes and when they do the saved file can be large. When we encounter shapes
filled with shading or similar effects we recreate the effect, in paint, on the finished sign.
Common extensions for vector files are:
* .cdr
* .ai
* .eps
* .wmf
Computer File Preparation Guide
Fonts can be a problem if your file includes a font we don't have. Although we have
thousands of dollars worth of fonts it's an all too common occurrence to have a customer
provided file contain a font we don't have. For this reason we ask that you have your
vector graphics application convert the font to curves. It's also a good idea provide the
name of the font in the event you would like us to change any of the copy or text
appearing in your sign. This can save a lot of time if we need to match up a font to make
changes or additions.
Color can be problematic for the simple reason that computers vary widely in their ability
to accurately reproduce color. The system used to get around this deficiency is the
Pantone® Matching System. When you specify a Pantone® Solid Coated color number
we can use our Pantone® Solid Coated swatch book to accurately match the color.
Another area of confusion is the difference between the way the printing industry creates
color. They use the four color process in concert with various screen densities to simulate
the Pantone® Solid Coated spot colors. In many cases the conversion is a relatively
straight forward process and the results completely acceptable but there are also many
cases where the conversion is noticeably different. For a good explanation of the
difference between spot and process colors I highly recommend the Pantone® page
covering the subject. If the color of your logo or artwork is important to you then we ask
you to provide Pantone® Solid Coated color numbers to maintain that integrity. We have
found this to be the most effective way to avoid any misunderstanding or disappointment
with the final results.
In many cases customer provided artwork will still need to be tweaked a bit to make it
acceptable to the vinyl cutting plotter. This is mainly due to the way the a plotter handles
a vector graphic as opposed to the way a printer would handle the same file. A plotter will
want to cut every line even if it's hidden behind another shape or otherwise invisible. We
are used to preparing vector graphic files for output to the plotter so this generally isn't
much of a problem and usually only adds a small amount of time to the overall production
of the sign.
Sending Us Your Vector Graphics File
Probably the single easiest way of providing your file is to send it as an e-mail
attachment. Vector graphics files are rarely over a megabyte or two so they generally
come through without a problem. When the files approach five megabytes many e-mail
programs will balk at handling them. In that case you would have to contact us so that we
can provide you with proper credentials to authenticate to our FTP Server.
If you have any questions not covered here don't hesitate to contact us. We look forward
to working with you as we strive to provide you with a quality sign you can be proud of for
years to come.
Art Submission Guidelines
