Tips & Support

A vector graphic is an instruction set of lines and curves; think ‘etch-a-sketch.’ It can be scaled up or down without pixelating or reducing the quality of the image. A raster, or bitmap image is formed by a rectangular grid of small squares, known as pixels. Each pixel contains data that describes whether it is black, white, or a level of color. Bitmap graphics can appear jagged and lose detail if they are scaled larger than the resolution allows, like your ancient Atari video game system you have in the closet downstairs. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that you have at least 250 dpi (dots per inch) for grayscale and color bitmaps, and 600 dpi for black-only bitmaps. Note that dpi will decrease as you scale the image up, and increase if you scale the image down in your layout application.

Vector graphics are typically created by illustration software such as Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand.

Bitmap graphics are typically created by pixel-based image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. Additionally, bitmap graphics are generated from digital cameras and scanners.

Yes. Software such as Adobe Streamline can convert bitmap images to vector images. Vector images can be converted to bitmap images by opening them with Adobe Photoshop. Please note that converting a vector image to a bitmap image is rarely necessary, removes the resolution-independence of vector graphics, and should only be done if you have a very specific reason to convert the graphic.

A one-bit image refers to an image that is a solid color, with no shades of that color. A continuous tone image refers to photographic images, whether they are full color, black-and-white images with shades of gray (grayscale), or single-color images with shades of that color.

One-bit images require 600 pixels per inch. Full-color continuous tone images require 300 pixels per inch. Grayscale and single-color continuous tone images require 200 pixels per inch.

These guidelines are for bitmap images that are used at their actual size. If the image is enlarged in a page layout application, the requirements enlarge by the same amount. For example, enlarging a full-color continuous tone image 225% in QuarkXPress would require a resolution of 675 pixels per inch (the original requirement of 300 pixels per inch multiplied by the enlargement of 225%). It is best to avoid performing scaling in a page layout application, as these programs have no ability to change the actual pixels in an image.

Photoshop can increase the resolution of a low-resolution image, but increasing the resolution of an image scanned or created at a lower resolution only spreads the original pixel information across a greater number of pixels and rarely improves image quality.

EPS files act as a container for transferring graphic information. When an illustration software such as Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand creates an EPS file, it is a vector EPS. When a pixel-based image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop creates an EPS file, it is a bitmap EPS.

While copy-and-paste is supported by most software, you will have much more predictable results by creating a link to your graphic. The graphic then remains outside of your document and is referenced as needed. Please refer to your softwares documentation for full details about creating links to your graphics.

Documents in Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF) preserve the exact look and content of the originals, complete with fonts and graphics, and can be printed, distributed by e-mail, and shared and stored on network systems (including the internet) for others to use and view. When properly created, PDF files have proven to be an excellent method for generating quality printing.

On a Windows-based computer, fonts can be located in two different places. First, check Start Menu>Settings>Control Panels>Fonts. Additionally, you may have a folder names psfonts (typically on the C: drive).