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Post by calithena on Jun 2, 2008 10:57:41 GMT -6
OK, last time people said that using jpgs for the cover is a mistake because it creates those little printer artifacts. Some questions:
- my current hi-res version of the cover art is a jpg. Can I convert that to tiff or whatever on my machine?
- The way lulu covers work is that you have to make them into jpgs for upload no matter what. This means what I'm going to be doing is going from word (with embedded graphics) to pdf to jpg, pretty much no matter what. So does this make printer artifacts inevitable (I find that hard to believe, but OK) or is there a workaround? Will starting with a tiff or whatever still make it better?
Any lulu publishers with advice here? Probably I should take this to rpg.net or the Forge but if we can solve the problem locally that would be cool.
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jrients
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 411
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Post by jrients on Jun 2, 2008 12:33:50 GMT -6
S. John Ross uses Lulu. He would know.
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busman
Level 6 Magician
Playing OD&D, once again. Since 2008!
Posts: 448
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Post by busman on Jun 2, 2008 13:10:58 GMT -6
If your jpg is of practically no compression, you shouldn't see any artifacts. The mere fact of being a jpg doesn't guarantee it will have artifacts, the compression level controls that.
If you've already got a high res no compression jpg then you should be fine to submit that, unless it's too large. Is the high res version at the correct size? If it isn't the type of resizing you use can introduce artifacts. And when you save out that new sized file, depending upon the program you are using, artifacts can be introduced as well.
If you're using Photoshop, keep the level at 12, and you should be fine. If another program, you'll want the compression to be as minimal as possible.
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Post by labsenpai on Jun 2, 2008 18:06:08 GMT -6
The creation of artifacts was one of the reasons I was concerned about art requests not having specified dimensions. JPEG images (especially sharp line art) will fuzz if scaled more than a smidge. The other file formats (I use PNG) would be preferable for printing.
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Post by calithena on Jun 2, 2008 20:14:21 GMT -6
I detected no interior artifacts in issue #1 regardless of file type and scaling. The only trouble was in the logo on the front cover, which fuzzed a little.
Can you convert jpgs to pngs or tiffs easily?
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busman
Level 6 Magician
Playing OD&D, once again. Since 2008!
Posts: 448
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Post by busman on Jun 2, 2008 21:25:38 GMT -6
I detected no interior artifacts in issue #1 regardless of file type and scaling. The only trouble was in the logo on the front cover, which fuzzed a little. Can you convert jpgs to pngs or tiffs easily? Yes. www.irfanview.comGreat program: Free, Flexible, and Powerful. Of course, if you have Photoshop or the like, then you're golden. |
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Post by Melan on Jun 2, 2008 23:41:51 GMT -6
I also recommend Irfanview; simple, versatile and free.
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Post by Haldo Bramwise on Jun 7, 2008 17:06:55 GMT -6
I have been using Openoffice Draw to put together the covers for BHP's publications. Being an amateur, I find it easy to use, it will save the document in nearly any format (jpeg, png, pdf) and it is free. I've used it for all my Lulu.com print material.
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