Supported files for Pagemaker

[cleitch]

I need to put a map into pagemaker. I have tried using .ps, .png, .eps, .gifs. The gif and eps files show up, but they are faded. I was wondering if anyone knew of a better file to convert it to to make it appear better in pagemaker.

 

[jimoblak]

Faded? You are probably looking at the bitmap, low resolution onscreen EPS preview that is inherent in PageMaker. Printing will test the image quality.

How do these graphics appear when printed?

Stay away from GIFs in printed work.

 

[Eggles]

Any chance of saving the map as a TIF? This should print well even if you don't have a postscript printer (assuming the resolution is a decent level - dependent on the type of printer you are using. If printing to a desktop printer - and not commercial output - then 200 dpi is probably OK). If you have your PM preferences set for 'standard' graphics display, be aware that all you will get is a low-rez preview, but it should print just fine.

 

[cleitch]

The print quailty of the .gif is ok, but when I pdf it, the quality is really bad, is there any way to make the pdf look better? Because I need to put it on a webpage.

What program would be the best for making a tiff file?

 

[viol8ion]

cleitch,

Use only TIF or EPS graphics for pagemaker. To get higher rez on the TIFs, go to File>Prefernces>General and set res to high. This will slow down screen redraw, however. The pros leave the res at normal, because the images are basically just place holders so that you can see layout while not sacrificing system resources. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[cleitch]

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Eggles]

cleitch

Re: What program would be the best for making a tiff file?

Do you have access to any photo editing software? Photoshop is the best, but there are others you can use to convert your map to a TIF. How did you make the map? Or is it a scan of a map? If it's a scan, what software came with your scanner? (apart from the SW for actually making the scanner work!). Many scanners 'bundle' a photo editing program with the purchase e.g. Photoshop Elements, PhotoImpact. Got any of those? I thihnk even the freeware Irfanview can convert graphics to TIFs.

How are you making the PDF? You realise that you cannot put a PDF directly on a web page, but have to link to it from a thumbnail image?

Lots of questions for you to answer here!

 

[viol8ion]

Photoshop is the best to create a TIFF. Photoshop LE is only $99 and I find it to be easy to use and to have a better interface than full-blown Photoshop. I find myself using LE on a regular basis for simple editing jobs. The one drawback with LE is that it does not have CMYK ability, which keeps it from being a 'professional' application.

If you have CorelDraw, there is an Export to TIF ability. Same with Illustrator. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[jimoblak]

I have found that if you are suited for Photoshop LE, you might be just as well off with GIMP, which also has the lack of CMYK support. GIMP is FREE. GIMP is available for *nix at

http://www.gimp.org

and for Windows at

http://www2.arnes.si/~sopjsimo/gimp/

The gimp.org web site shows screen shots.

A Mac OSX version is available on CD somewhere (for a small fee). You might also download it if you have X running on top of OSX (downloadable with FINK).

 

[cleitch]

I have Adobe Illustartor. The maps are made from a pgpop program on unix. I made the pdfs with a pdfwriter. We have a webserver at work so there is no trouble getting it on the web. The tif and the pdf both print out fine, but I was just wondering if any one program did it better.
Thanks for the help.
cleitch