:welcome welcome pam! 1) .jpg or .gif 2) 72 dpi 3) < 15k 4) the background layer needs to be transparent. there should be an option in the program.
THANKS to both STMA & EDWIN! I KNEW I was in the right place! I have, very seriously, looked for these simple answers in a LOT of manuals ... probably just the wrong ones, huh? I'm a "traditional artist" forced to become a "graphic designer" forced to become a "digital artist" now forced into web design ... It's never been the DESIGN part that I have trouble with, it's the getting acclimated to new media and software. SO -- I really appreciate the help! I hope you won't mind if I stop back with more questions as my project progresses! Thanks again!
glad we could help! stop by often! :)
can we see the site and how it's coming? :) i'm glad you like the forum.
RJ -- Yeah, when I get the site up, I'll let you know. Thanks for asking! I'm STILL having a problem with my graphics, though: perfectly crisp, clean & clear EPS images, when optimized through either Illustrator or Photoshop, and saved as either a JPEG or GIF file are still ending up bitmapped or "smeary" looking ... Definitely NOT what I, as a professional designer, want to represent myself with ... Any clues? Thanks -- Pam
how big are they when you start? go 300 dpi and see how they look and see how big they make the file size. getting this part of graphics sizing down is always tough.
Hi, Edwin -- Thanks for your suggestion. Here's what happens: If I bring an image into Photoshop at 300 dpi, it's like 311k ... A very clean & crisp image, but WAY too big, huh? But listen: THAT is when I keep the image at its ORIGINAL SIZE -- something like 6 inches x 1/2 inch ... A question NOW is -- CAN I SHRINK THIS IMAGE DOWN PHYSICALLY IN PHOTOSHOP UNTIL IT'S A MANAGEABLE SIZE, and then -- RESIZE IT ON MY DREAMWEAVER PAGE? Will it maintain its small file size if I do that, or will its file size increase proportionally with the resizing? Hmmmm... I also don't know it the image will break apart when I enlarge it in Dreamweaver ... I guess I'm going to just go ahead & try it -- but would very much appreciate your (and other's!) input on this idea... (Why is this so complicated for me? Don't OTHER people make web pages all day long without these problems?!? Don't NINE YEAR OLD KIDS make websites?!? What IS my PROBLEM?!?) Thanks in advance for your help! --Pam PS -- I have a new ASPIRATION to be "NERD ENOUGH" ... someday ... !
pam, when the nerd student is ready, the nerd teacher shall appear. that is an [b:8796997fdd]ancient nerd saying[/b:8796997fdd]. you have no need to feel bad. getting these rascally images to maintain the correct size and clarity is always tough! let me know if adjusting the size in dreamweaver works. what i usually do in photoshop is i resize the .psd file before saving it. i do it by percentage. i take image, save it as a .psd. then i hit image size and go down 50% a few times until the image is small. when the .psd size is acceptable, then i save it as a .jpg. im sure this is not the best approach but its been working. hopefully a graphics guru type will enlighten us both.
resize it first in illustrator while it's still in vector format - or at least get it close, then finish it in photoshop. you can also try exporting paths from illustrator and pasting into photoshop as a 'shape' then you should be able to export cleanly!
Alright ... I am AT YOUR MERCY. I've tried all of your suggestions. And I thank each & every one of you because everything suggested has made perfect sense and each idea engendered the, "AHA! Of course!" reaction ... Because, in fact, it all seemed so clear & simple when YOU GUYS said it ... HOWEVER ... I must REALLY be doing something WRONG. NO matter what I try, crisp, clean black & white images in Illustrator end up as smeary, fuzzy black & white & GREY images in both Photoshop & Dreamweaver. Do you know the effect I'm talking about? And it apparently doesn't matter what MODE I'm using in P-Shop -- grayscale, RGB, CMYK -- it ALL ends up crappy. What I want (and EXPECT, really) is a crisp, clean, SHARP edge wherever the black of my image meets the white of my background. And all I keep getting is GREY, smeary edges!!! And if I somehow manage to get rid of the GREY, the whole image gets all PIXELLATED!!! CRAP, CRAP & MORE CRAP! This is making me crazy. These are not particularly COMPLICATED images I'm working with here! They consist of TEXT created in Illustrator with MAYBE some basic line art. I have CREATED OUTLINES on all text. It is crisp/clean/sharp in ILLUSTRATOR ... WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY BE DOING WRONG?!? I ... AM ... AT ... YOUR ... MERCY. Can anyone PLEASE tell me WHAT I NEED TO DO -- STEP BY STEP -- to make an ILLUSTRATOR EPS FILE into either a JPG or GIF that will be crisp & clean on a web page? AGAIN -- Please know that I am EXTREMELY grateful for any help you are able/willing to provide. You will undoubtedly be showered with karmic wealth. Thanks -- Pam
could you post a link to an example AI file or e-mail one to me at dave_pirjo(at)surfeu.fi (convert your text to outlines/paths first) and preferably one with text and line art. p.s. can you save it as illustrator 7 format
OK, Dave -- I just e-mailed you an Illustrator 7 AI file. Thank you SO much for taking the time to look at this!
ok, if you copy from illustrator and then open a new document in PS photoshop (i have PS6) then paste, choosing "paste as > shape layer" from the dialogue box. this way you will have a vector shape that you can resize without loss of quality (use ctr+t to resize, with shift as an option to constrain/keep proportions). Remember that it will paste it as ONE shape so if you want to be able to manipulate the elements separately then copy and past individual elements from illustrator. You may find it easier to set the text in photoshop and choose the anti-aliasing option that best suits the size of text, crisp is better for small sizes, or then you can just copy and paste the whole lot from illustrator. choose 'save for web' and greyscale as the the palette type. see http://members.surfeu.fi/dave_pirjo/test-area/examples/graphics/sample.gif as an example
Well, Dave, you are my new hero, 'cause I tried your suggestion and I'm pretty happy with the results! I have quite a bit more actual page design & site construction to do before I can even begin to research how to get this site up & viewable, but I will be sure to let you know when you'll be able to check it out! THANK YOU AGAIN! I am SO thankful I found this community! --Pam
glad it worked :)
Hey, guys -- I turned to this community a couple of months ago when i just didn't know where else to get answers. I got some really helpful advice from some of the members, and just wanted to let you all know that I have FINALLY completed the site: http://www.bushwhacken.com Hope you like it! Thanks again to Dave, Edwin & STMA for helping me over the rough spots! --Pam
Looking good. The site worked well for me.