

Depending on your supplier's requirements, images can be produced at either one quarter final size at 300DPI or one half final size at 300DPI. If you are producing press-ready images for large format exhibition graphics, the rules change slightly. The image on the right will print at 20cm wide, 300DPI the correct press-ready resolution. The image on the left (above) will print out at 83.33cm x 111.09cm - that's over a metre high! But the resolution will be low and therefore the image quality will be poor. In print, the image would appear bigger, but be more 'blocky' because the pixels would be much larger in size. This means that if an image appearing on a page is 20cm wide, then in Photoshop the document size should read at least 20cm (or 200mm) wide and 300DPI under Image/Image Size.īecause the resolution is directly related to the physical size of the image, if you deselect 'Resample Image' and change the resolution to 72DPI, you will see the physical size increase proportionally. Photographs and other images which are made up of pixels should be 300DPI, actual size. What resolution should a press-ready image be? Just make sure the client knows that it is just a low resolution 'positional' you might be amazed at how many clients assume that the quality of the finished product will look just like the first low resolution proof. This is when you should use a low res image comp for the initial proofs. If you're buying images for the project from an image library, you'll need to get approval from the client before actually spending the money on them. Be safe! If you can, work with images which are already press-ready. Normally this is because the document has been worked on for weeks, possibly by more than one person, and by the time it's signed off by the client, some of the placed low res images are overlooked and not substituted. If you had worked with high res from the start, once you get approval, the job is done.Īnother very good reason for using high res images from the start is this: I have lost count of the number of times a document has been sent to press containing low resolution images, saved in incorrect color modes, saved in the wrong file format. One good reason for this is that if you're making lots of changes to a low res image, once you've been given approval by the client you'll have to redo all that work when you recreate them in a high resolution image version, and you need to make sure you recreate the image in exactly the same way.

However, computer processing speeds have increased so much now that nine times out of ten you might as well work with a high resolution, press-ready image from the beginning (assuming it doesn't need pre-purchase approval). The second reason is that the images may need to be purchased, and you want to be sure that they have been approved before you commit funds and buy the high resolution versions.

One is that your workflow is faster if you use smaller files sizes. Only when the designs had been approved would you go through the project and replace the low res images with high res versions. Not so long ago it was best to use low resolution images when doing page makeup work. In our studio, before we do any page layout work we make the images press-ready.
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And if you want the comfort of knowing that all bases have been covered before sending files to the printing house, use 'preflight' software like Flightcheck. If you want to skip these image basics and just find a handy reference guide, take a look at our Image Pre-Press-Checklist which'll help you prepare an image for press. It just requires attention to detail and a basic checklist for the elements of your work: images, document colors, fonts and PDF settings. You can be this confident about your artwork. As soon as ink touches paper, money is committed, and you'd better be very confident that the artwork on the press is perfect! No one likes a reprint - someone has to pay for it. Up to the point that you create press-ready artwork, it's mostly been just your time spent on the job - not tangible ink, paper and shipping. As soon as the job is on the press, money is being spent. And by printer, I don't mean your inkjet or laser. This means that the images we use need to be press-ready before anything goes to the printer. Most of the work laid out in Quark XPress and InDesign is destined for the printing press. This is very true for graphic design, and especially for image preparation.
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Understanding the reason for a doing something helps you understand how to do it better. When creating press-ready images and artwork, it's just as important to know why you are doing it as it is to know how. Press-Ready Image Tutorial: How and Why to Create High Resolution Images
