The complete guide to creating press ready print files even the best designers break out in a cold sweat when it comes time to send a project to a printer. This document provides an overview of file formats supported in illustrator. When youre creating a book in adobe illustrator, its important to start with the right settings so your project prints exactly the way you expect. It is just a matter of learning the tricks of the trade so you can take advantage of your. Learn all about printing adobe illustrator documents. Graphic file formats supplied with your logo package. File prep guidelines for small format printing honblue. How to choose the right image file format for print. Tiff tagged image file format is suitable for any type of bitmap pixelbased images destined for print because this format uses that industrys cmyk color standard. For information about specific formats and their use, see illustrator help. Select the autorotate check box in the print dialog box to set auto rotation for illustrator documents. Follow these tips to get your files ready for the printer.
Its happy being imported into illustrator, indesign, microsoft word, and even some text editorsalmost any application that accepts images. In illustrator, all the artboards in a document can automatically rotate to print to the chosen media size. Aug 20, 2016 quick tip on how to downscale and set up design files for large format printing such as windows, vehicles and other environmental elements. Apr 02, 2014 if you need to blindly send an image out into the world, tiff tagged image file format is one of the most widely supported image file formats. It is widely supported as an export format, but due to the complexity of the full format specification, not all programs that claim to support eps are able to import all variants of it. There are lots of programs that can save out eps files, such as adobe illustrator, photoshop and indesign, even coreldraw. Choose filesave, filesave as to save an existing file with a new name, or filesave a copy to create a duplicate copy of a file. How to prepare illustrator files for offset printing. Best graphic design file formats for printing spectrum. The export command offers 15 additional file formats, including ai and eps, compatible with earlier versions of illustrator. How to export artwork in illustrator adobe support. Illustrators file formats understanding and choosing file. The most important format we provide is the eps file.
For example, consider a document with both landscape width. An image format is commonly a bitmap or rasterbased image, and a file format is one that can contain other information, like text or vectors. Vector or bitmap and is also dependent on whether you have just the image, or if the art is already separated and ready for film or image output. All files must be at least 300 ppi or vector format. If you are wondering what type of file and format is needed for screen printing, no matter what kind of design you have for custom t shirts, then this is will help. However, save the file from within illustrator instead of exporting it from indesign. Heres a guide to exactly what each of these files formats are, what to use them for, and how to open them. Every photo you find online or in print is a raster image. How to prepare a vector file for print in illustrator. Print data format can be selected and outputted from eps pdf. Its thought to be the best graphic format choice when you are printing illustrations in. For example, use an adobe illustrator eps or ai file vs a jpg image. Your working files indd, psd, cdr, ai are file formats. Png files can be used for almost any digital purpose.
The file format is fully editable and is for use by professioanl designers and printers. For example, you can choose to print only the type objects in a document in order to. Illustrator cs can open files in more than two dozen formats, in more than 50 different versions. Large format printing everything you need to know display. Its a reliable format that tends to be selfcontained, so its ready for action. The best free alternatives to adobe illustrator 2020 techradar. Everything you need to know about logo file types looka. Encapsulated postscript file adobe illustrator file eps language file format can contain both vector and bitmap graphics. This is a very accessible format because of its versatility. Exporting, saving, and printing from adobe illustrator. Cf221225 when a printer prints data with id and a cutting plotter detects the id, it can cut automatically by the function. Honblue prefers printready pdfs for several reasons.
The ai file extension is widely used in printing for its impressive zooming ability where even in the maximum enlargement all details stay untouched. The eps format created by adobe illustrator is a graphics file format that is great for designers who need to create large billboards, or need to make a dry large graphic for some other printing need. If you are creating your file in adobe illustrator or another vectorbased software, just size your image to the size you want it to print. Those tools work with any program that is able to print. If the image has been created using paths in a program such as adobe illustrator or macromedia freehand, it is a resolutionindependent vector image and can be scaled to. Unless the file is saved with pdf compatibility, you can only view an ai with the appropriate adobe software. The file formats we provide you with at the end of your logo project should cover most uses you will have for your logo. Ai file format which is a strict subset of eps command and used by adobe illustrator application. Wmf format is supported by almost all windows drawing and layout programs. Apr, 2018 if you are wondering what type of file and format is needed for screen printing, no matter what kind of design you have for custom t shirts, then this is will help. May 09, 2018 file preparation for large format graphics. Files saved in this format will be optimized for physical printing. Jun 02, 2014 3d printing is huge, and its potential to take your creativity in new directions is real. This file format is great for large banners and signs.
Quick tip on how to downscale and set up design files for large format printing such as windows, vehicles and other environmental elements. Recommended for large format printing adobe illustrator artwork ai is a proprietary file format developed by adobe systems for representing singlepage vectorbased drawings. To get the highest print quality, it is best to save your files as tiff files. Here are the 10 most common types of image files and when to use them. As opposed to the open standard formats above, ai is a proprietary file format by adobe. These can not be used as image files online png, jpg or svgs do this job. This is the format that the printing press needs your document to be in so it prints the pages out and. Illustrator converts embedded images to cmyksomething we do not want. If you are creating your file in adobe illustrator or another vectorbased software, just size your image to the size you want it. Current adobe illustrator ai file format is essentially an eps file format. New features in photoshop cc help you output a viable 3d object that doesnt collapse, whether its printed on desktop models or larger machines at services like shapeways.
Pdf will ensure the highest quality image format for printing. How to prepare files for output to a large format printer. Exporting, saving, and printing from adobe illustrator dummies. The industrystandard vector graphics software is used by millions of designers and artists to create everything from gorgeous web and mobile graphics to logos, icons, book illustrations, product packaging, and billboards. Eps is an old format that can be opened with a lot of free software, whether. Pdf is also a very popular file format for printing images. An eps file is the industry standard vector file format, as it can be used by the widest range of software, including adobe, corel and affinity. For a document created in illustrator, autorotate is enabled by default. How to prepare an image for screen printing file format. This format is for use with adobe illustrator and is your master editable vector file. It is considered the best choice of graphics format for high resolution printing of illustrations.
However, what you will find is that working on large trade show graphics can be, in many cases, simpler than most projects. Most printers will not recognize psd files, so youll need to convert them to tiff or jpeg beforehand. Pdf files use different command language but also contain instructions how to render graphics information. Designing and setup for large format printing youtube. This is a great question and requires looking at what type of art you want to reprint. You may submit photoshop, illustrator and indesign files, although these file types are more expensive to process and may increase your project timeline. Also, there are some generic file formats that can include this different type of objects inside. Generally ai files contains a singlepage vector drawing. Using bitmap artwork can have a negative impact on foil stamping, making it look blocky and. Nov 02, 2017 a file can be identified by its extension.
Pdf file format go to output color conversion choose no conversion profile inclusion policy choose don t include profile go to advance preset choose high resolution. Designing graphic files for large format printing can be intimidating for those who normally work on small sized layouts such as brochures, catalogs, magazines and so on. Such programs as adobe photoshop and illustrator are able to export images directly to pdf so that you may prepare your file for printing. Use the tweaked pdfx4 joboptions for photoshop files as well.
Pdf file format go to output color conversion choose no conversion. Eps stands for encapsulated postscript and its one of the vector formats created for printing with imagesetters and postscript printers. Logo files guide for designers w free cheat sheet just. We utilize proprietary pdf automation software which converts many other file types into a pdf that is suitable for printing. Pdf is what we recommend for both image and vector based designs as both vector quality and image compressions can be managed more efficiently. Most vectors start out as an eps encapsulated postscript file, but they need to be converted to a raster format before printing.
Creating your book template in adobe illustrator printninja. When you open the file in photoshop simply specify the desired resolution and size in metric units. Image file format definitions eps file type and ai. Now, save the illustrator file using the pdfx4 joboptions settings with the same tweaks i advised for indesign. Adobe illustrator and recent versions of coreldraw have very good support for reading and writing eps. Navigate to a location for the file and enter a filename. In the format dropdown, choose one of the available formats ai, eps, or pdf. Creating a new document open a new document filenew.
Final form documents contain only information necessary for printing and certain editing. Before you upload file s to us, open the eps or pdf file you just saved. The work you do in an illustrator file is nondestructive, so conversion to the. As suggested in the breakdown of programs, vector files, which are produced using illustrator are the best format to use on largescale graphics. The best way to edit and create vector files is in the illustrator environment start exploring it with the adobe help center. Its thought to be the best graphic format choice when you are printing illustrations in high resolution. Although we can print from any file format, it is best to supply us with the native file format, which in this case is a. May 23, 2017 adobe illustrator artwork vector transparent best for print. Tiff also preserves layers, alpha transparency, and other special features when saved from photoshop. When you are done with the design, save the file in eps or pdf format.
Ai file is a vectorbased file format reserved uniquely for adobe illustrator. How to set up illustrator files for printing adobe support. The complete guide to creating press ready print files. Illustrator uses the save as command to create ai illustrator, eps, pdf, and svg files. Theyre also useful if you need digital images with transparency, such. If your file is not 300 ppi, you cannot just increase the resolution of the file. Support for reading and editing pdf files is much more limited. Eps files could be easily converted to other vector formats including cdr, ps, ai, svg, and others. That said, apparel printers particularly like receiving artwork in this format.
Binary exports the image data as binary code, which is more compact than ascii but may not be compatible with all systems. Meanwhile, the best image format for printing vectors is probably pdf. High resolution jpeg files are acceptable if they meet the resolution standard. See it yourself by checking what file format is preferred by your printer. Optional if you chose adobe postscript file as the printer, select a data format option to specify how illustrator sends the image data from your computer to a printer. Optimal settings to create printready pdfs adobe content. It is the standard interchange format in the print industry. Twitter and facebook posts are not covered under the terms of creative commons. Eps file what is it and which programs can open it. Ps file format which is superset of eps and contains full postscript program ai file format which is a strict subset of eps command and used by adobe illustrator application. Before you upload files to us, open the eps or pdf file you just saved. Adobe illustrator artwork ai is a proprietary file format developed by adobe systems for representing singlepage vectorbased drawings in either the eps or pdf formats. The ai file is the original, editable working file of the designer. There are a ton of moving parts, checklists and details to keep in mind when it comes to getting your project ready for commercial printing.
In what file format do you send an image for tshirt printing. With printninja, youll have a prepress expert to help make sure your files are printready, but the best way to make sure this process goes smoothly is to start with the correct file setup. One more advantage of pdf is that photoshop and illustrator can export directly to pdf, so it is easy to start a design and prepare it for printing. Vector graphics are a scalable, resolutionindependent format. Eps short for encapsulated postscript is a vector format designed for printing to postscript printers and imagesetters. Once youve resized the vector in illustrator, photoshop, or another editing software, you can export the image as a pdf. Eps files are created and edited in illustration programs such as. This is called upsampling and will result in a blurry image. Adobe illustrator is the industry standard for creating artwork from scratch and therefore. Illustrators file formats understanding and choosing. Changes egcept egtracting u enable copying at text. If you need to blindly send an image out into the world, tiff tagged image file format is one of the most widely supported image file formats.
Apr 24, 2019 recommended for large format printing adobe illustrator artwork ai is a proprietary file format developed by adobe systems for representing singlepage vectorbased drawings. Eps is an old format that can be opened with a lot of free software, whether you are a mac or pc user, mentioned above. Modern plotters will print a file for outdoor advertising, saved from 24 ppi, in a good quality. Eps files are created and edited in illustration programs such as adobe illustrator or coreldraw. For the offset printing, you need at least 300 ppi this is a default setting needed for laser printing, while wide format does not need large ppi.