UGHHHH!!! Vectors!

[Barbara_Loyd@adobeforums.com]

I am creating a logo that consists of a couple shapes and some lettering. I originally made it in Photoshop 7 to get it how I wanted it to look then I decided I needed it to be a vector image. I know, it's the same old story. Anyway, I tried to trace it with the pen tool in Illustrator and I couldn't do it correctly. (I'm an Illustrator novice but I do well in Photoshop.) So I thought I'd just re-create it completely in Illustrator. Here's what I did...

I typed in the lettering...Went to the TYPE menu and chose CREATE OUTLINES
Then I went to the OBJECT menu and chose FLATTEN TRANSPARENCY. The rasterization resloution is at 200 ppi and I checkmarked "Convert All Strokes to Outline" and "Clip Complex Regions". I also have the Raster/Vector Balance at 100. I then made my shapes and went through the FLATTEN TRANSPARENCY process again.

I exported it as a .jpg with a 10 quality, CMYK model and made sure the Anti-Alias option was checked. Then I thought I'd test it out and put the .jpg into a Word doc. The lines were all jaggedy and it looked horrible. I've obviously missed something and can't figure out what it is. Can anyone please help???

[Xalinai]

[email]Barbara_Loyd@adobeforums.com[/email] wrote:

> I am creating a logo that consists of a couple shapes and some
> lettering. I originally made it in Photoshop 7 to get it how I wanted
> it to look then I decided I needed it to be a vector image. I know,
> it's the same old story. Anyway, I tried to trace it with the pen
> tool in Illustrator and I couldn't do it correctly. (I'm an
> Illustrator novice but I do well in Photoshop.) So I thought I'd just
> re-create it completely in Illustrator. Here's what I did...
>
> I typed in the lettering...Went to the TYPE menu and chose CREATE
> OUTLINES Then I went to the OBJECT menu and chose FLATTEN
> TRANSPARENCY. The rasterization resloution is at 200 ppi and I
> checkmarked "Convert All Strokes to Outline" and "Clip Complex
> Regions". I also have the Raster/Vector Balance at 100. I then made
> my shapes and went through the FLATTEN TRANSPARENCY process again.
>
> I exported it as a .jpg with a 10 quality, CMYK model and made sure
> the Anti-Alias option was checked. Then I thought I'd test it out and
> put the .jpg into a Word doc. The lines were all jaggedy and it
> looked horrible. I've obviously missed something and can't figure out
> what it is. Can anyone please help???

200dpi is not good for text and vectors at all.
CMYK JPGs for Word are not good at all.

Go for a minimum of 300dpi - if your image is more line art and big
areas of color you could go even higher.

Do use the RGB color space if you want to use the image in Word.

Michael

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Barbara,

For one thing, Worst does not like CMYK; go RGB.

Another thing is that it is much safer and simpler to go from vector to JPEG (or GIF), and just let the text remain editable text; you may avoid some pitfalls that way, and you may edit everything.

[Steven_Eyrse@adobeforums.com]

What made you deside you needed a Vector? For once you output it as a jpg or gif it no longer is a vector but a bitmap.

Steve E.

[Barbara_Loyd@adobeforums.com]

What I am wanting to do is have a logo that retains it's integrity when I scale it. It's not going to be scaled for banners or anything right now but I want it to look sharp. I don't want the jagged lines. I have tried everything I know how to get rid of them including recreating the logo again. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of the jagged lines?

PS: Jacob, I changed from CMYK to RGB. Not for sure what I was thinking. :)

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Barbara,

Are the jagged lines there when you view the resulting raster image, or when you work with vector in Illy? In the latter case you may need to get out of pixel preveiw (View) and to anti alias (Edit>Prferences>General).

[Barbara_Loyd@adobeforums.com]

They are there when I view the resulting raster image in other applications (like Word)and also when I print it out. In Illustrator it looks beautiful.

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Are you sure that the size in Illy matches the size in the final application?

If the dimensions are smaller than what you need in your final application, the JPEG image will be jagged; in that case you may enlarge it with Object>Transform>Scale to fit the final size before you export it.

You may know the final size in any unit; you may change the File>Document Setup>Artboard Units to the diesired one, and you can see the dimensions of the (selected) artwork in the Transform palette.

[Cheryl_Mitchell@adobeforums.com]

When you exported from Illy as a jpg you put it back to the bitmap format and it won't keep the smooth edges. You have to save it as an eps file (which requires a postscript printer), or export it as a wmf. These keep the vector format and can be sized (they don't seem to be quite as smooth as an eps however).

[Gethin_Coles@adobeforums.com]

you could rasterise your image before exporting it: you have a little more
control over the type of antialiasing that is used.

Getho


<Cheryl_Mitchell@adobeforums.com> wrote in message
news:3bb5489f.6@webx.la2eafNXanI...

> When you exported from Illy as a jpg you put it back to the bitmap format

and it won't keep the smooth edges. You have to save it as an eps file
(which requires a postscript printer), or export it as a wmf. These keep the
vector format and can be sized (they don't seem to be quite as smooth as an
eps however).

[Lauren Birkenbach]

Barbara,

You can easily insert an EPS or a WMF in MS Word and it will print out beautifully. Don't even rasterize the image unless you have to put it on the web. Vector files are mathematical formulas (and thus smaller too) and not pixel based so they are fully scalable and retain their sharp lines which makes this format perfect for logos.

Lauren