Computers have dramatically increased the presentation possibilities of your documents. Back when the typewriter was the standard office machine, proposals, letters and reports were generally just text. Computers provide the option of adding graphics . . . nontext images of drawings, clipart, charts, graphs and photographs to documents that improve your ability to make a point.

Graphics are stored in your computer in a variety of different file formats. The file format you choose determines the quality of your printed image and your ability to manipulate the image to best fit in your document. Improper use of file formats can be very costly when having your document professionally printed. So save yourself time and money while getting the results you want by keeping these fundamentals in mind.

1. How the Computer Stores an Image

Images are generally stored in one of two ways: as a bitmapped image or an object-oriented image (also known as vector or line art).

Object-oriented graphics produce better business graphics because they have smooth curves and accurate shadings and colors. You can resize them to best fit your document without degrading quality. Drawing programs most often use object-oriented (vector-based) graphics. Object-oriented graphics overcome the limitations of bitmapped graphics by storing data mathematically. Since the image is mathematically based, you can manipulate the image and still maintain quality.

The quality of a printed object-oriented graphic depends on the printing resolution of your computer printer. The higher your printer resolution, the better the printed image will be.

The simplest type of graphic is referred to as a bitmap. Painting programs typically produce bitmapped images. In the printing industry, a bitmapped image is also referred to as a raster image. A black-and-white bitmap graphic is like a black-and-white checkerboard. Each square on the board is called a pixel. The information stored in your computer indicates whether a pixel is either on (white) or off (black). Images on a color monitor are also created by turning pixels on or off. On a color monitor, each pixel will be either red, green or blue; other colors are made by using combinations of these three colors.

With only two possibilities for each pixel, a black-and-white bitmap requires very little storage space. However, when you increase the number of colors each pixel could be, the information your computer must store for each pixel increases exponentially. Thus, a full color photographic quality bitmapped image requires a significant amount of memory. Additionally, bitmap graphics conform to a fixed layout. As a result, when you alter the image by resizing, moving or rotating, the image can become distorted and the edges may become jagged.

2. File Format Options for Printing

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format. A TIFF file is a versatile bitmap image. This format is most commonly used for storing scanned images. Once again, because it is a bitmapped image, a full color TIFF file of a photograph can require significant memory. However, because a color TIFF file provides specific color information for each pixel, it is one of the most common file formats used for color separation. TIFF is your best choice when preparing a piece to be printed. It is a standard image file format and can be read by nearly all desktop publishing programs and by both Macs and PCs.

A file format that is quickly becoming widely accepted is PDF from Adobe(r) Systems. PDF (Portable Document Format) was developed by Adobe(r) to ensure compatibility between computer platforms. PDF can display vector and raster images; can be viewed on screen; and printed. For almost any software you use, PFD is the best format to send files to Insty-Prints.

3. Specialized File Formats

PICT was one of the first object-oriented graphic files created for the Macintosh. PICT2 is a further refinement of PICT graphic files. They have enhanced color and manipulation possibilities. However, color shifts can occur when moving the image from one page or program to another. As a result, PICT or PICT2 images are best used for on-screen or multimedia presentations rather than for printing. Nearly all desktop publishing programs provide for a proprietary file format. For example, in Photoshop, you can save a graphic as a Photoshop graphic that can be read only by that program. When you save a graphic in a proprietary format and later convert it to a generic version for export, some of the unique characteristics of the image may be lost. Proprietary formats require that the native application be present in order to read the file.

Compressed graphic files are merely traditional graphic files that have been made smaller and require less computer memory. As a result of the compression, these files are not well-suited for printing documents.

A GIF image is a format used by many commercial on-line services. The smaller compressed file size of a GIF is an advantage when the image must be transmitted over a modem, but the resolution is usually only appropriate for on-screen viewing. GIF format is mostly used for publishing images in HTML on the World Wide Web.

JPEG is a compressed graphic file format most suitable for on-screen use. JPEG is typically used for displaying photographic images on the World Wide Web.

4. Choose the Proper File Format

The quality of the image you'll see on paper will be determined by the type of graphic file you use. Most often, a TIFF file is your best choice when using a scanned image or photograph.

Remember, the higher your scanning resolution, the sharper the image will appear. At the same time, the higher the resolution, the larger the electronic file. EPS files are best used for files created in an illustrator or drawing program.

Creating the correct file format can be a complicated process. So consult with Insty-Prints before finalizing your file format.