The Best Export Format for Professional Printing

[BYRON]

I normanally do not work with the printing trade but I was asked to design an ad for a brochure. The printer just said to send it to him electronically. I am not sure what format to use for export --- jpeg, gif, etc.

What is the best format to use for professional printing.

Thanks, Ron

[steve.ledger]

Ask the printer to be specific - it will save you time.
However, in my experience they want 300dpi (they mean ppi) minimum for brochures/magazines and prefer TIF or PDF/X.

[Albacore]

Would totally agree with Steve here if it is to be sent electronically through email then the obvious way is to use PDF X/1 at least. If it is a Z folded A4 brochure or smaller you could if you wanted to lower the DPI down to 200. If you are uploading it to a site that is slightly different many want EPS but exporting this format from Xara it can lead to problems.

[gwpriester]

Ask your printer is always the best place to start.

TIFF is usually the preferred bitmap file type but most printers today prefer a PDF/X file. This can contain both bitmap and raster objects.

There is an excellent free web-based service for e-mailing large files called YouSendIt.com You can send one file at a time up to 100MB. The recipient of the file receives an e-mail with a link to download the file.

[BYRON]

WOW! Thanks Sleger,Albacor and Priester for the great response time!

I appreciate your expertise and help. Keep up the good work.

Ron

[Jimi King]

My printer now expects PDF/X or they charge extra for converting it. Xtreme 4 is quite good at exporting in this format (which ensures all colours are output as CMYK).

Oh and never less than 300dpi for anything under A3 in size.

[steve.ledger]

This can contain both bitmap and raster objects.

I think you mean't to type raster and vector Gary