Prizm Forums / Digital Imaging Workshop - Members Only Forum / Digital Imaging 101 - The Basics.

Collecting Information

ZTech — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:03:43 GMT

Collecting Information is another aspect important to a smooth & successful marketing visuals production and implementation. Information collection involves two major areas: Application and Production.

Application Information

Application Information is related to “Where” and “How” the marketing visuals will be displayed. Common application information important to the successful implementation of marketing visuals including, but not limited to:

Indoor or Outdoor?

This is the first and probably the most important application information you need to know. It directly affects the type of printing process and substrate needed for the project. Displays used for outdoor applications usually need to withstand the sun’s scorching U.V., the rain, and possible extreme hot & cold temperature. Outdoor applications require U.V. and moisture resistant ink and substrate. Imagine if your image’s skin tone turn pale after one month when it supposed to last for at least one year!

Campaign Duration

General rule of thumb is to choose material and substrates that will outlast the duration of the marketing campaign. Not all outdoor inks and substrates are created equal! Usually the more weather-resistant the ink and substrate are, the higher they cost. Does it make sense to use a substrate that will last 3 years outdoor when your marketing campaign only lasts 3 months? For indoor and one time use, foam board without lamination is probably all you need. On the other hand, if it’s an outdoor sign that needs to last as long as possible, It probably needs to use U.V. resistant ink (such as U.V. curable inks) to print on 6mm EPVC or even DiBond and top coat it with U.V. inhibiting laminating film.

Available Space

The available space determines how big the visuals can and should be. Obviously, if you are trying to cover the entire available space, the size of the visual will be equal to the available space. But if you are not trying to cover the entire space, then the size and proportion of the visuals should be effectively and aesthetically fit the available space. For example, it probably wouldn’t look too nice to put a 12” wide x 84” high graphic in a 144” wide x 86” high space.

To Be Continued........

File Naming Convention

ZTech — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:46:50 GMT

Naming a file sounds very basic but the importance of it cannot be ignored. In the old days when 99.99% of publishing related tasks were done on Apple computers with OS 9.x or less, the file names can be made up of just about any characters on the key boards. With the introduction of OSX.x and since most RIPs are PC based, certain characters in a file name can cause processing errors and other issues with file type recognition.

Recommended Naming Conventions

To make your life simple, follow the list of Do’s and Don’ts basics of file naming system.

Don’t use empty spaces in file or folder names. If desire, use Underscore (_) to replace empty space. Even though it’s OK to use it at workstation level, but because there are may chance that the files and folder may be used thru Internet, empty space can cause a lot of problems.

Don’t use special characters such as ,, ., #, @, (, ), /, \, ‘, “, $, %, &, *, …etc. They can cause the file name to be cut off by certain servers & back up software and causing file linking problems.

Don’t use anything foreign language other than English to name a file or folder. In an English operation system, characters such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean may not be recognized by the software. If characters other than English are used, we might not be able to tell which file to print and/or it might cause broken links of placed images.

Do use a combination of upper and lower case in long file and folder names. Cap every words in the file name. For example, instead of mediaselectionguide.pdf, use MediaSelectionGuide.pdf. Isn’t it easier to read?

Do use the underscore ( _ ) to replace an empty space. For example, Media_Selection_Guide.pdf.

Do use the file extension. For example, XXXX.eps, XXXX.ai, XXXX.qxd, XXXX.psd.

Communication Standards

ZTech — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:41:52 GMT

Size/Dimension

Communicating the size or dimension of a display can be confusing or misleading and can be very costly. Here is a standard way to communicate size/dimension effectively and efficiently.

Start with the display’s intended viewing orientation.
Communicate in Final Size, not file size;
Describe size/dimension as Width x Height, NOT Width x Length or Height x Length;
Communicate the Width (Horizontal or Left/Right Direction) FIRST, then the Height (Vertical or Top/Bottom or Up/Down Direction) NEXT. It doesn’t matter if the width is the longer side or the shorter size.

For example, let’s say a client tells us he needs a banner that’s 48” x 120” or 48” Wide by 120” Long and it needs pole pockets on top and bottom. Can you tell which side of the banner he/she want the pole pockets to be on?

As you can see from the above example, further clarification is needed to determine the orientation of the banner and which sides needs the pole pocket. Communicate size/dimension with the above 4 guidelines will facilitate the communication process and avoid unnecessary mistakes.

By communicating the size/dimension using the above 4 guidelines, let’s say the client state the size and option this way: “120” x 48” with pole pocket on top and bottom”. This way, we all know that 120” is the Width (Horizontal, Left/Right Direction) and 48" is the Height (Vertical, Top/Bottom Direction) and the pole pocket is on the 120" sides (Top and Bottom of the banner). And we will know the Orientation of the banner is in Landscape layout. See "Orientation" below for further information on this topic.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Orientation

Orientation describes the direction of the longer side of a display or sign based on its intended viewing direction.

Portrait - A display is said to be in Portrait orientation when its Height is longer than its Width.

Landscape – A display is said to be in Landscape orientation when its Width is longer than its Height.