How Will My Images Look When Printed?

There is an old rule of thumb that states, “Garbage In–Garbage Out,” stressing that the quality of the output is determined by the quality of the input. In other words, if it looks bad when you send it, it will look even worse when we reproduce it on press. Below you will find some general guidelines to help you when working with clip-art and photos.

Guidelines For Selecting & Preparing Images

1. Artwork and Photos

Original Image

"Pulled from Internet"

Artwork and photos need to be of good quality. Using images in your publication from a fax, copier or “pulled” from a website on the Internet will result in poor quality reproduction. Much of the color and resolution are removed from Internet images. This allows for rapid transfer and quick screen loads on the Internet and look just fine viewed on your monitor but will not print well on press. The compression process designed to create these very small file sizes causes these images to appear fuzzy and dull when printed. Whenever possible, use original images, the better quality the original image is, the better quality the finished product will be. See examples.

2. Clipart

Original Image

"Pulled from Internet"

Electronic clip-art comes in varying degrees of quality. Much of the generic, “free” clip-art found on the internet and/or over-the-counter clip-art available from local retail chains can not be resized or color separated to still preserve its quality and integrity. LPi maintains an extensive digital library of clip-art and we highly recommend you consider use of our illustrations and clip-art from LPi’s own Art & Media Portal at www.portal.4lpi.com. Everything you need for more effective communication is here.

NOTE: If purchasing images from a stock photo site, make sure that you buy a high resolution image (at least 300 dpi).

Information on Digital Images

Digital cameras are a wonderful tool for taking and saving pictures and using them in your publication. Be aware, however, that digital photos are taken at a fixed size, resolution and color format. Keep this in mind when planning how much they will need to be enlarged or reduced. Image quality suffers with excessive scaling.

NOTE: The digital camera is designed to actually take three pictures; one in red (R), green (G) and blue (B). Then the colors are combined together and saved to the camera or picture card. Be aware that because digital photos are taken and saved in the RGB color format, they MUST be converted to either grayscale images or CMYK format for printing.

So, the lesson behind the “Garbage In–Garbage Out” rule is that it pays to ensure that something is of good quality before you use it, whether it’s clip-art, photographs or a new central heating system.