Lloyd Borrett's Blog
Are we there yet?
Musings on working with logos
Logos are tricky things to work with.
For artwork that is to be properly printed, it is best to use vector format logos in which the fonts have been converted to curves. The most common vector format used is Encapsulated PostScript (EPS). (Typically the vector format logos are created in a program like Adobe Illustrator or Corel DRAW, and saved into EPS format files.)
Then there will be colour, black and white, plus reverse versions required.
And within the colour area, often CMYK and PMS versions are required.
Typically, MS Office programs like Word, PowerPoint etc. handle bitmap format files better that vector format files. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) files seem to work best. Since Office XP, PowerPoint has been able to handle transparent TIF files, which means logos can be placed over other things without a solid background to the logo.
Of course the problem with bitmap file formats is that they are produced with a given number of pixels at a given dots per inch (dpi) setting to be a given height and width for printing to a particular output device.
For TIF file bitmap images to be used in Word and PowerPoint and printed to a typical inkjet or laser printer, using 100 to 150 dpi produces good results.
On the other hand, for web applications most people still typically produce GIF and/or JPEG format bitmap files. Files to be used on the web are typically produced at 72 or 96 dpi. They are typically produced from programs like Adobe PhotoShop, and put through a file size optimisation program like Adobe ImageReady.
This quickly adds up to quite a few files being needed. And many people simply just do not understand why.
Tip: Getting good quality client, prospect, partner logos.
Sometimes it is just not possible to get the logo you need in a timely manner direct from an organisation. It is often possible to get a reasonable quality logo from an organisation's web site. But sometimes the quality just isn't good enough. Thankfully there is a workaround for this. Often there will be PDF file (brochure, annual report etc.) somewhere on the organisation's website which has a logo in it. If the PDF file hasn't been protected, the page can often be opened in Adobe Illustrator and the logo extracted and saved in EPS file format. Then whatever logo file you need can be produced from that starting point.
- - - - - Posted by Lloyd Borrett at
4:21 pm
- - - - -
0 COMMENTS
 
|
