Save as pdf?

[Cassel]

I am doing some graphics for work and the project was sent to the printer. They are asking for a pdf file with bleed added.
Well, I am pretty sure i can figure out the bleed, but I can't find a way to save as pdf. Is there a way to save as pdf with PSP??

[LeviFiction]

Technically, no you can't. You can save to an EPS which will flatten the result and while not exactly the same as PDF it's pretty close. Your best option, however, is to print to PDF with a PDF printer, or export to another format that can be read by a different program that will save out PDF.

[Kathy_9]

Another thought that may or may not help you. If it's a flat file like jpg or png I can right click the image and select convert to pdf with Foxit reader from the context menu.

[Cassel]

Thanks. I think i have a "pdf printer" on my computer. I'll check for that.
In the mean time, i asked what other format they could use (i thought the jpg was simple enough to use!)

[JoeB]

Thanks. I think i have a "pdf printer" on my computer. I'll check for that.
In the mean time, i asked what other format they could use (i thought the jpg was simple enough to use!)

First, .jpg is not a format that commercial print shops prefer to receive because of it being lossy and therefore also containing artifacts. Generally professional print shops prefer graphics for reproduction to be in a lossless format like .tif or .psd, although of course .png would work as well.

That said, I'm not convinced that the .jpg format of the graphic is necessarily the main reason for the request for PDF. It may be that they are really wanting the crop marks and bleed that Adobe Acrobat has options for providing. They will likely clarify that one way or the other after reading your request for other preferable formats.

[Cassel]

As i have never worked in a printshop, I am not sure what they need or don't need as far as quality (vs artifacts as Joe mentioned). I see that PSP can save in tif format. How is that format? Anyone with experience using that?

[JoeB]

As i have never worked in a printshop, I am not sure what they need or don't need as far as quality (vs artifacts as Joe mentioned). I see that PSP can save in tif format. How is that format? Anyone with experience using that?

Maybe I'm not getting your question properly Cassel, so please excuse if I'm being too obvious here. By "format" I was just speaking of the file type - e.g., .jpg, .gif, .pspimage, etc. So .tif if just another file type, but unlike .jpg it saves the image losslessly (i.e., it doesn't compress it in a way that loses some of the image data) while saving as .jpg always loses some of the image data. File types such as .psd (Adobe Photoshop format) or .png files and .tif don't lose image data when saved in those formats, so don't introduce artifacts or noisy type stuff into the image. Of course saving as .pspimage is also a lossless format, but print shops can't read those image files because they don't use PSP as their image readers or editors. So they require much more universal file types, and prefer to receive graphics in a lossless format.

If I misunderstood your question, please feel free to let me know.

[hartpaul]

Hi Cassel,
I have been using this program for over 5 years
http://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

Whenever you print using any program you have your printer choices an also PDF Creator comes up as a choice as well.
Sometimes when I see a tutorial or a web page I want a recors of I can use the Browser File > Print > PDF creator to make a record of it.
Very useful program.

[Cassel]

Joe, you understood very well. I am not a graphic artist or working in graphics but at the office, i am the one person who has the most experience with graphics (and i have PSP!) so whenever there is a project to be created, i am the one designated. However, I have NO experience with printers so when they ask questions or send requests, even though i am the most experienced of all the ones at the office, it is still a bit over my head so that is why I am referring to you guys, who might have some information i will use.

The first time we dealt with a print shop, i was asked to include the crop lines, but jpg was fine.
The second project, i only sent the jpg and it was fine.
This third project, i am asked for the pdf with bleed.
(obviously, those were three different companies!)

So, thank you for your help. I will be able to speak more intelligently with the printer tomorrow.

[JoeB]

If you would like more information about setting bleed and crop marks, type the words add bleed and crop marks to pdf into Google search and you'll get lots of links that can provide useful info.

[Cassel]

Thanks. I know about the bleed and crop marks. I just find funny that out of the three projects, I was asked three different types of file.

[JoeB]

Thanks. I know about the bleed and crop marks. I just find funny that out of the three projects, I was asked three different types of file.

I'm a little surprised at that myself. A contract I had with a client for many years included my having to source commercial printers for graphic reproduction, which meant that every couple of years I was negotiating with at least several different commercial print shops to get the best price for the projects. While all of them might have had preferences for how the graphics should be submitted, none of them ever suggested that .jpg was a format to consider. Of course, I never suggested it because of being aware of its lossy compression, and perhaps they might have accepted that if I said that was all I could provide. But I would suggest that when you do deal with them you let them know that your graphics will be in .tif format and I'm sure all of them will just accept that as a given without comment.

Because it appears that you aren't dealing with the print shops on a "hands on" basis (i.e., you won't be sitting down with their staff where you and they are actually viewing examples of the graphics and discussing and demonstrating how you expect the final output to look) then I would expect most good shops to want the crop and bleed areas documented with the graphics submission so that they know exactly how you want the final product to look after printing and trimming. PDF is simply one well accepted way of providing that information, but crop and bleed areas can also be marked in some graphic programs but I don't know which ones.

However, all of the above is often contingent on what is being submitted and the need for very specific cropping as well as the need for a specific quality of the final output. Doing a reproduction of an art work, for example, requires much more attention to detail and color accuracy than does a bunch of photographs taken on vacation and not meant for commercial sale.

[Cassel]

The "issue" is that I am asked to work on the graphics, but I am not the one finding the printer, or sending the files, or negotiating the format or the prices. Someone else does, but then, that someone else does not know anything about printing (other than their budget), so when the printer asks them for something specific, they are stumped and forward me the request, which seems different all the time. When I am asked for graphics for a specific project, I guess I am kind of a freelancer (although it is taken from my day job) and we have email exchanges for "add this color", "change this word", "move this image", etc. until they have something they like. Then they go and check with other departments for their input. At that point, I am no longer involved, except if they find some other edits, OR when the printer asks them for something I didn't send them.

In the end, it always works out, but I am always surprised by that next thing they ask for!

[JoeB]

Your description of the working environment to do these projects does make things more complicated, so I completely understand the problems you must encounter. I was lucky in that I sourced the artworks, did the photography when scans weren't possible, created - in PSP - the images that would eventually be printed and designed the layouts, and sourced and dealt with the print shops. Being a one man band definitely made the project much simpler to complete. But on the other hand, if there was a screwup somewhere along the way then guess who had to accept responsibility for each step of the process!