dpi issues & file size 2

[mono570]

Hi there...
Utilizing Quark Xpress 4.01, I've almost finished a 100 page book which contains many color and Grayscale images. Most of the images are in .tiff format @ 300dpi. As it stands now, the completed Quark document is too large to burn onto one disk so I cannot bring my work to the commercial printer. With respect to the experts, what should I do? Shall I downsize all the images to 200 dpi to decrease overall Quark file size or is there another way to split the Quark document so I can burn onto 2 disks?
Thanks for the help.
Ashley

 

[Pixelchik]

I'm assuming you are tring to burn onto a CD. Have you tried to zip it (or StuffIt) and then burn the zip file to cd?

 

[mono570]

No, I haven't tried this yet...I don't have a zip utility on this computer. Don't think management will pay for a zip utility for the Mac I'm using...Is there another way?

 

[jimoblak]

Are your TIFFs saved with LZW compression? If not - resave them all with this compression. LZW compression is lossless so your image quality remains. Most everything can handle LZW compression as it has been around for about 20 years.

 

[jimoblak]

Whoa - I just re-read your post. These images should be linked but not embedded in Quark. Your file size problem is exactly why you should not embed images.

Link - Don't embed.

 

[mono570]

Link images rather than embed???
The document I'm working on is a 100 page animation manual. Each page has an average of 4 images, some large color photo's and others are grayscale lineart and shaded drawings.
I didn't cut and paste images into picture box...Instead, I utilized the "Get Picture" command in the file menu to place my images within the picture box.
Does the "Get Picture" command embedd images or link images? Keep in mind...there's close to 400 images contained in the completed Quark document. I think that's why Quark file is so large. Am I correct?
Don't worry...I'm still very young & teachable;I know nothing about anything!

 

[Pixelchik]

You can get a FREE MacZip utility from this website at Download.com

http://download.com.com/3000-2254-5040047.html?legacy=cnet

 

[mono570]

Thanks Pixilchik...That did the trick!

 

[blueark]

Edit > Preferences > Application... change Color TIFFs to 8-bit and reimport them (or at least as many as is practical). Alternatively, resave them as EPS files (an action in Photoshop should automate this). Either of these methods will reduce you Quark document considerably.

The reason it's so big is because the document also contains the previews for all your images. Reducing this preview to 8-bit reduces the appearance on screen (although the final printed quality remains the same), but it takes up far less space in your document. The main disadvantage in your case is that it doesn't affect images that are already in your document, so you have to reimport them.

EPS files contain their own previews, so if you use this format, it won't bloat your Quark document by any significant amount. However, not everyone likes using EPS files, as they sometimes need to be treated with care. Some applications, for example, include unwanted information in EPS files, such as unsuitable color transfers and so on. If you're careful, though, they should be ok.

 

[blueark]

By the way, decreasing the images to 200dpi won't affect the Quark document size, because it will create a 72dpi preview anyway. That's all that gets stored in your document. You could reduce the physical size of your files by 50% and double the resolution (eg. 3"x3" at 600dpi instead of 6"x6" @ 300dpi). This will require resizing the images in Quark, but the previews will be smaller and the print quality will remain the same. The only downside is that it may take a little more time to print.

 

[jimoblak]

Please forgive me for the embed/link post earlier. The only option is to dumb down previews as blueark states (I've been living in the InDesign world too much lately).

If necessary, you can split the Quark document in two by making a copy of your original file and deleting half of the pages - - then resave. Repeat this for the other half of your document.