4 Preflight Steps to Take Before Sending Large Format Print Files to GH Imaging

Before sending a file to GH Companies to be printed, there are some steps you should take to ensure that your file can be used for printing. These simple steps help ensure your art will be printed the way you intended it to and will also help expedite the printing process of your job.

Convert all Fonts & Text to Outlines

This is very important because if you don’t, it can cause your fonts to crash when the file is opened and be replaced with a computer’s default font.  Creating outlines guarantees your art and text will look exactly as you intended them to look. This can be achieved in Adobe Illustrator by selecting Type > Convert to Outlines (CMD + SHIFT + O mac or CTRL + SHIFT + O pc) while all the live text is selected. This changes the text into vector shapes instead of type. It will no longer be editable.

Art is CMYK

Ensure that the color of every part of your art is in CMYK color mode.  If colors are in RGB they will have to be converted which can result in an undesired change in color. This can be determined in Adobe Illustrator by selecting File > Document Color Mode and ensuring CMYK Color is checked.

Convert Strokes to Outlines

If using strokes in your design, convert your strokes to outlines.  That way, if your image needs to be resized it will still look the way you intended. This can be done in Adobe Illustrator by selecting Object > Path > Outline Stroke.

Embed All Images  

This saves the images into your file, ensuring that the computer can find it.  If not, the computer will replace the image with a blank box. This can be achieved in Adobe Illustrator by selecting the "Embed" button at the top bar of the file while the image is selected.

These simple steps will ensure that we can use your file and print your design exactly as you envision it.

The Difference Between Raster and Vector File

Every file saved on a computer has an extension after it.  A dot followed by letters that designate the file type.  It’s important to know the difference between some of the common file types.  With images and graphics, the most important distinction to know is the difference between Raster and Vector images. 

Raster Files or Bitmaps

Raster (or Bitmap) images are made up of pixels, dots of color that together form the image, similar to a mosaic. Photographs are always raster images, and most images you find online are likely to be raster too. Raster images will gradually lose quality as you scale them up, creating a low quality, pixelated appearance. 

The most common form of raster images is .jpg (or JPEG).  Most digital cameras will store images as jpegs by default, and most images found on the web are jpegs as well due to its small file size. 

PNGs and GIFs are similar to JPGs, but they also support transparency of an image.

Photoshop files, or PSDs, include the original layers of a Photoshop file to be edited, but can only be opened and edited with the Adobe Photoshop program.

Vector Files

Vector images do not use pixels.  Instead, they use math equations to determine how the image is formed.  Because of this, the image can be scaled up or down to any size without ever losing quality or becoming pixelated. 

EPS and PDF files are often used when saving vector images.  This is a great file type to use for large scale printing.

Two other ways to save a vector image are from the native file they’re created in .ai (an Adobe Illustrator file) and .cdr (a CorelDraw file).  These can be opened using Illustrator or CorelDraw as vector images and individual layers can be edited.

Keep in mind that these vector files can be opened with any image-viewing program, but will only remain vector images when opened with a vector-based program like Illustrator or CorelDraw.  Opening a vector image and saving it in a raster program (like the Mac’s Preview, Windows Image Viewer, or Photoshop) will rasterize the image.

When sending files to GH Imaging for printing, it is best to send files in a vector format to allow us to scale them to fit your printing surface without losing image quality.  Talk to your GH Sales Consultant for more information on file types and when to use them.