If you are planning on ordering any USB sticks with your logo printed on then its worth taking a few minutes to make sure you have artwork thats suitable to print from first. What you can't do is simply "grab" and image from your website or use a JPEG because if you do (and your supplier proceeds to print using it) then you're not going to be happy with the finished result.
The phrase “Garbage in, Garbage out” was commonly used in the early days by computing programmers as a mantra to remind themselves that computers will process whatever data you load into them and return a result. Whether the result it returns is correct or not depends, to a large degree, on the quality of the data presented to the computer.
The expression can be applied equally to many other walks of life including the print industry. If you print an item using low quality artwork, particularly artwork that has been digitally compressed then the printed results will be very poor.
Today most digital cameras and web pages use compressed images with the most popular format being JPEG (named after the Joint Photographic Experts Group who created the standard). JPEG images are typically compressed to a ration of 10:1, in other words as much as 90% of the image content is removed or lost during the compression process. This process is known as “lossy” and as the name implies when an original image is converted into a JPEG file many of the original elements of the image cannot be recovered. To the naked eye, particularly when viewed on a web page, there will be no perceptible difference to the image pre and post compression.
Compressed JPEG image files are ideal for web pages because they are smaller and therefore load more quickly but they are rarely suitable for print work because the printers will be unable to create sharp images, crisp lines or graduated colours.
If you try and use a JPEG image to print a memory stick then the end results are likely to be “blotchy” and “blurred” and most professional suppliers will simply reject the artwork preferring instead not to produce inferior products.
When ordering printed memory sticks its recommended that you supply artwork in one of the following formats:
If in any doubt talk to the suppliers designer or get your designer or design agency to talk directly to the suppliers designer. Its worth spending the time in the early stages of your order to get it right rather than be disappointed with the results when the printed memory sticks arrive on your desk!
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USB Christmas Gift Ideas
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To Box or Not to Box that is the Question
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