The world of computing is a multi-faceted landscape, covering nearly every part of our day to day life. It is also a major key in the printing industry. While no one can know everything there is to know about computers, knowing some key things when you begin any project on a computer is essential. Here is some information regarding the computer's role in printing and how we work with it.

   At Printfast we use a Macintosh G5 2 Gig dual-processor with Mac OS X running on it along with a Dell loaded with Windows XP. We have all industry standard software, such as:

   The text in red is the file extension, and you'll find it on nearly all Microsoft Windows files and many, but not all, Macintosh files. It lets the computer and users know the kind of file they are dealing with..

   Now that you know what the programs are, is that all there is to it? Not at all. There are a few other considerations to be aware of.

   Fonts are special files that create the typeface that you see on your documents. These are necessarily complicated files so that they may function as your font on the computer monitor, and also your font on all your printed documents. There are thousands upon thousands of fonts out there. Not all computers have the same fonts, either. Not even all fonts that are named the same are the same. Confused? Take 'Times' and 'New Times Roman'. While they are named nearly identically, and look identical, but when you print your document out you'll find that they are not the same after all. Small changes in font information can cause huge problems. So how do we combat this challenge?

   We ask that you include a copy of your font along with your document file. Mac users can generally find their fonts in their system folder in another folder named, aptly enough, fonts. Windows users will likely find their fonts in their system folder in a folder named fonts. Easy, right? Then all you need to do is copy the font onto the disk you will be bringing us with the document file. Its always a good idea to put fonts in a folder named 'fonts' for easy location.

   Some users have a seperate folder for all of their fonts, so if you can't find the font you've used in the sytem folder, chances are it is in another folder. The OS find software works excedingly well in finding fonts.

   Images can occasionally be just a tricky as fonts. To keep it simple, here are some guidlines:

   Raster Images: These images are actually thousands to millions of pixels, each one individually set with a particular hue, saturation, and lightness that together creates the image you see on the computer screen. This is how a scanner creates an image from a photograph, by taking your image and breaking it up into thousands of little bits, and converting it into pixels which you can then manipulate with programs like Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, Canvas, and Graphic Converter.

• tif and jpg images print best, preferably tif for lineart (solid color images with no gradiation) and photos, and jpg for photos only.
• Lineart should have at least 800 ppi (pixel per inch resolution), preferably 1200, and photos should have a minimum of 300 ppi, but no larger than 600 ppi. These images should also be presized to the output size, which means if your image is going to be 2 inches wide, it should be saved in your file as 2 inches wide. To further explain, an image 2 inches wide at 300 ppi will make the image 600 pixels wide.
• Web graphics are 72 or 92 ppi, which, as you can imagine, will print at a very low resolution in poor quality.

   Vector Images: These are created by software such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. These images use mathematical calculations to draw curved and straight lines. Since the calculations are scalable, the image can be scaled infinately without any loss to quality. These files also tend to be smaller in size than their rasterized counterparts. Vector images are great for logos and simple designs that don't call for a lot of 'photorealistic' effects. They are scalable and easily manipulated for other uses.

• If you use Macromedia Freehand, please bring us the file in .eps format. This will ensure that when we open the file in Illustrator, it will be nearly identical to the Freehand file.
• If you have used Freehand or Illustrator to format text, it is a wise move to convert the text into outlines. This will circumvent any font conflicts that may occour.

    We accept the following kinds of storage media:

• CD RW
• Iomega ZIP 100 mb
• Superdisk 1.4 mb
• 3.4" floppy disk
• DVD-R

   You can also e-mail your files to us, provided they are under 10 mb.

   There are a few things to be aware of when transferring data. First thing is to make sure you have included all files related to your document, specifically images and fonts. It also does not hurt to include different formats for the same file, disk space permitting (eg, both illustrator and .eps files, or both photoshop and .tiff files) if there is any question to compatablility.
   Make sure to clearly name all files related to the project. Organization goes a long way, especially when communicating through many people.
   If there are any questions, ask. One phone call can save you a bunch of running back and forth, and the majority of problems can be avoided with minimum prep work.