Searching for Xara friendly printing company in U.S.A.

[mg.architect]

Hi all,
I have created some business cards for myself using Xara Xtreme. My local printer wanted Adobe files, we tried that, didn't work, then tried the pdf route which appeared to work except that, once I viewed the proof, the widths of text and logo had changed, which was not acceptable to me. I want an exact reproduction of what I create.

So, from time to time I see comments here that lead me to conclude that there must be Xara friendly printers located somewhere in the United States. Can anyone provide a company name you have experience with that is willing to print my cards using Xara files?

I would like to obtain a printing quote from them. This isn't a big order but I do expect it to be executed correctly.

Thanks much,

mg

[amoore]

I can't give you any recommendations, but I'm curious as to how the pdf was created. I never send a commercial printer anything but a pdf. So long as I've set them up properly for the intended output, my pdfs have been trouble free since I started using Jaws PDFCreator. Some of the free or very cheap pdf generators are ok for general office use, but they're really not designed for professional printing.

That's not to say that pdfs can't have problems and limitations. However, what you describe should not be one of them. It's also possible that staff at your local printer's did something wrong (see below).

As Xara's pdf filter evolves, I expect that Xara pdfs will be reliable also. So far, I've had some problems with transparencies and with live effects, but other Xara pdfs I've generated have been excellent.

BTW, sending a pdf is generally safer than sending a native file from any app. Even with pdfs, the operator may decide to "fix it" for you. ("She can't possibly want the form to start that high on the page. Let's just ignore her setup and center it." )

[Big Frank]

Check out Vista Print. I have not used them in USA but I have used them in both France and UK and have found them to be more than adequate for modest needs like business cards.

[mg.architect]

Thanks for the quick replies.

amoore: The pdf was created in Xara Xtreme. First, all text was converted to shapes and then file>export>pdf. Prevoiusly, I sent the printer the font file without converting the text but that failed also.

BF: I went to that site, looks good, but they want the files converted to pdf or ai. I've already wasted a bunch of time doing that (for a failed attempt) and am not keen on 'going there' again :-)

[Big Frank]

That's odd. I uploaded high-res JPGs to the UK site to create our business cards and it all went smoothly. The entire operation was automated, no human intervention that I could see.

[mg.architect]

BF: I'll call them to get the specifics. Their site overwhelms a newbie. They charge for both the upload and a proof in addition to the printing charge.

I exported a jpg out of Xara Xtreme at the 100% setting. Hope it works.

Thanks for the suggestion.

mg

[Big Frank]

I telephoned a printing company in the home-town of our UK office to get a competitive quote and he asked who else I had tried and I told him 'Vista Print' and he said "we cannot compete with them". And their estimate came out almost twice as much as Vista's for full-colour, 120gm, two-sided, one-face glossy business cards. When the cards arrived they didn't set the world on fire but all I wanted was businesscards and that's what I got.

The most important thing I always find when delivering work to printers is to never include any text as fonts. That's why what printers get from me is either a PDF, an AI, an EPS or an image file. But I never embed fonts. And even then they can get it wrong!

[mg.architect]

BF: Does that mean I need to convert my text to a shape before
I export it as a jpeg?

mg

[David O'Neil]

BF: Does that mean I need to convert my text to a shape before
I export it as a jpeg?

No. JPG's know nothing about fonts, and your text is *automatically* converted to the equivalent of raster data in a JPG. Only AI, EPS, PDFs, and a few others (to my knowledge) are capable of embedding fonts, and it is those in which you would need to have converted your text to shapes. Oh - if you share a XAR file, and don't use a common font, it is also advisable to convert the text to shapes.

[mg.architect]

David: Thanks for the input.

However, if jpg's work so easily why all the fuss with .ai and .pdf exports? Why not just export Xara files as .jpg and be done with it?