MuSuLPhReAk
03-02-2010, 08:41 AM
So you want to look professional....
First off, your graphics. Logo's should be created in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. You want your clients or promoters to be able to use these graphics for different reasons.
A vector graphic means it's generated using mathematical equations and NOT pixels like regular pictures are. That means if you scale it bigger, you do not lose quality. This is excellent for print.
If you are a company that makes products like protein, creatine and you want to market it, DO NOT TAKE PICTURES. You need to hire an illustrator. They will recreate your product using a vector based program. It's what all the professional companies are doing. They create your container (or use pre-made illustrations for it) and then add your logo to it.
Here is an example. Notice that if you look closely, this is not a real picture with a camera. It's too perfect ;) This is an illustration done with a vector program.
18256
Much more professional looking than this real picture taken with a camera.
18257
This next one is actually a good picture taken with a camera but still not as perfect as the vector illustration. Edges are the hardest thing to make perfect with camera pics and are usually flattened out by different techniques. You may see it below. It is a good picture though.
18258
Now here is the kicker. You want stores to sell your products. You want your stuff to look good on their site. So...common error everyone does is slap the picture on a white background and save it as a jpg. You should NOT be doing this. This limits the store to having a picture on a white background. What if they want it on a black background? They have to either hire someone to extract your product professionally or they do it themselves and usually end up doing a mediocre job. Want to help your clients do things fast and professionally? Here is how to do it.
Ideally you would distribute your product files as a vector based .eps file. That means they can scale it as needed or slap it on a brochure/poster without losing quality. Or they can save it in the format they need, size they need and background they need and use it for their online store.
But most people (shop owners) don't know how to use .eps files. So if they are just going to use it for stores, the BEST way to go other than a .eps file is a png file. Most people aren't used to this graphic yet. It replaces the gif. Gif had a limitation of 256 colors. Don't break your head, ask your designer to save it in png-24 with a TRANSPARENT background. This means your clients that will be putting the graphic on their site, will just need to put the pic in there and whatever background is on the site will be the background of the product because it's transparent.
A little issue can arise with a black background with a black container product. But since the graphic is transparent, it is much easier to add in a background than to have to pull your product out from a background that isn't wanted. I have noticed some companies doing this already (distributing good quality large png-24 graphics). Make life easier for everyone by using what is needed by everyone.
Same for organizations, promotions and federations. Take a look at the IFBB Pro graphic
18255
This is a png graphic and transparent so it fits well on my post. Now picture it having a solid white background. I get a square box of white with the graphic in it. Breaks the flow of the post and looks dirty/amateurish. It'll also help you when you want to promote your stuff and need to insert your graphic quickly or get someone to do it.
I just wanted to put this information out there as a lot of you are not graphic professionals so knowing this info may help you in getting things done right the first time.
And lastly, if you need things done in photoshop and not sure if you will use it for web or print, design for print (300dpi). It'll be easier to downsize your graphic for web (72dpi) than the opposite. There is also a color issue between print (cmyk) and web (rgb). These are 2 different color gamut's. The RGB or Red, Green, Blue is what colors a monitor uses. So designing for web you use RGB. For print you use CMYK which is Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black.
A common problem is you will be working with your graphic designer and see a beautiful graphic in front of you on the monitor with perfect colors that you like and when you go to print it, it's not the same. Usually it'll be darker. What you see on screen and what comes out of the printer is usually different. Your graphics artist needs to calibrate his/her monitor to get it closer to what it should look like in print but I find it's never perfect.
If anyone has questions about anything in here or wants some advice, you can ask in this thread or approach me in private.
First off, your graphics. Logo's should be created in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. You want your clients or promoters to be able to use these graphics for different reasons.
A vector graphic means it's generated using mathematical equations and NOT pixels like regular pictures are. That means if you scale it bigger, you do not lose quality. This is excellent for print.
If you are a company that makes products like protein, creatine and you want to market it, DO NOT TAKE PICTURES. You need to hire an illustrator. They will recreate your product using a vector based program. It's what all the professional companies are doing. They create your container (or use pre-made illustrations for it) and then add your logo to it.
Here is an example. Notice that if you look closely, this is not a real picture with a camera. It's too perfect ;) This is an illustration done with a vector program.
18256
Much more professional looking than this real picture taken with a camera.
18257
This next one is actually a good picture taken with a camera but still not as perfect as the vector illustration. Edges are the hardest thing to make perfect with camera pics and are usually flattened out by different techniques. You may see it below. It is a good picture though.
18258
Now here is the kicker. You want stores to sell your products. You want your stuff to look good on their site. So...common error everyone does is slap the picture on a white background and save it as a jpg. You should NOT be doing this. This limits the store to having a picture on a white background. What if they want it on a black background? They have to either hire someone to extract your product professionally or they do it themselves and usually end up doing a mediocre job. Want to help your clients do things fast and professionally? Here is how to do it.
Ideally you would distribute your product files as a vector based .eps file. That means they can scale it as needed or slap it on a brochure/poster without losing quality. Or they can save it in the format they need, size they need and background they need and use it for their online store.
But most people (shop owners) don't know how to use .eps files. So if they are just going to use it for stores, the BEST way to go other than a .eps file is a png file. Most people aren't used to this graphic yet. It replaces the gif. Gif had a limitation of 256 colors. Don't break your head, ask your designer to save it in png-24 with a TRANSPARENT background. This means your clients that will be putting the graphic on their site, will just need to put the pic in there and whatever background is on the site will be the background of the product because it's transparent.
A little issue can arise with a black background with a black container product. But since the graphic is transparent, it is much easier to add in a background than to have to pull your product out from a background that isn't wanted. I have noticed some companies doing this already (distributing good quality large png-24 graphics). Make life easier for everyone by using what is needed by everyone.
Same for organizations, promotions and federations. Take a look at the IFBB Pro graphic
18255
This is a png graphic and transparent so it fits well on my post. Now picture it having a solid white background. I get a square box of white with the graphic in it. Breaks the flow of the post and looks dirty/amateurish. It'll also help you when you want to promote your stuff and need to insert your graphic quickly or get someone to do it.
I just wanted to put this information out there as a lot of you are not graphic professionals so knowing this info may help you in getting things done right the first time.
And lastly, if you need things done in photoshop and not sure if you will use it for web or print, design for print (300dpi). It'll be easier to downsize your graphic for web (72dpi) than the opposite. There is also a color issue between print (cmyk) and web (rgb). These are 2 different color gamut's. The RGB or Red, Green, Blue is what colors a monitor uses. So designing for web you use RGB. For print you use CMYK which is Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black.
A common problem is you will be working with your graphic designer and see a beautiful graphic in front of you on the monitor with perfect colors that you like and when you go to print it, it's not the same. Usually it'll be darker. What you see on screen and what comes out of the printer is usually different. Your graphics artist needs to calibrate his/her monitor to get it closer to what it should look like in print but I find it's never perfect.
If anyone has questions about anything in here or wants some advice, you can ask in this thread or approach me in private.