design for print?

[salvador marley]

I've only ever done logos for web use and never for print - always in photoshop. My new client wants the logo I am making to be available for his business cards and I come here with a few questions.

It will be four or three colours only. No photographic imagery.

1. Should I make it in photoshop or illustrator?

2. If I do make it in photoshop, when I open the new file, what is the best resolution to use for print?

3. When I use the colours what is the cmyk colour pallete? Is that used for print as opposed to rgb?

In fact I'm just open to any advice as i'm a novice when it comes to print based design.

Thanks guys.

[λ]

Illustrator is probably best because if it's a vector you can resize it freely without loss of fidelity. If you made it in photoshop, then you'd probably want it to be 320dpi (dots per inch).

[salvador marley]

Thanks. Ok if it's made in illustrator, what should i save it as so it doesn't become a bitmap and it remains vector? it will have to be available to the printer.

Cheers

[ramo_integ]

i use photoshop then recreate it in flash sometimes (so i can get an .EPS version of the logo)... i'm sure using illustrator would be alot simpler.. (so if you use photoshop your going to have to recreate it over again in illustrator or flash to give the client a .eps version) if the client doesn't ask for an .eps version, then you can use photoshop and send a high quality (300dpi) .jpeg..i think photoshop says (300ppi)

#1. business cards are usually (2x3.5in) you need to make sure your canvas is .25 (quarter of an inch)bigger on both sides.. so you would end up with (2.5x4) (this is usually done for bleeding)...

#2 it would be the same for brochures...flyers etc.. to be extra safe i would suggest adding another .125 of an inch (which is about as thick as a 1px solid line)on it because when you send it off to print you might end up getting it cut too far in so you want to always make sure they have enough space to not make an error...

#3 www.psprint.com prices are very reasonable... 250 business cards fo $25.00 full color, 2 sided..check them out..

#4 i'm new to print myself but it took me alot of asking around and trial and error to figure a few of those things out... so hopefully that helped you save some time..

if there is anything else i left out ..hopefully someone who knows more than me will add on to it :)

[salvador marley]

Thanks ramo. Interesting points. I will keep those things in mind.

:)

[ramo_integ]

you welcome marley... i made a mistake i put (2x3.5) it should be (3.5x2) so it's wxh...not hxw...

[salvador marley]

ok :thumb:

[Tommy_S]

Definitely, make your logo in Adobe Illustrator. It'll be easy to redesign it, if something goes wrong. And of course, the quality, but since, Illustrator is a vector program, you needn't worry about it. And you can save the file as .ai (that's Illustrator's native format), since such file can be opened by many printing companies.

[salvador marley]

Tommy thanks. Ok then, when i open up illustrator should i set my dimensions to what 3.5 by 2 inches as ramo says or doesnt it matter? The logo must be able to be resized when needed for letter heads, business cards and of course i will need to open it photoshop to place it in the masthead of the web site and then convert it to a jpg. Whats the best way to do that?

Thanks and sorry about my dumb questions - print is new to me.

[simplistik]

Well definately use Illustrator, if PS 300dpi.

As for CMYK, don't use just ANY CMYK values you need to use Pantone colors. Window>Swatches Library>Pantone Process Coated or Uncoated. BUT your document mode does need to be CMYK.

As for the card size it needs to be at least 3.625 x 2.125 reason being is you HAVE to allow for bleed.

As for making the document size the same as the cards... no you don't have to do it. You will though need to make a guide about that size, you can make a box shape the card size and press cmd+5 (ctrl+5) and it will turn it into a guide. Just design with in that guide. The reason document size doesn't normally matter is because the printers will have to adjust your card anyway to fit into their templates. I dunno about those online print things though, I go through professional printers.

As for importing into PS, you can just copy and paste or open it up directly in PS.

EDIT:
Also, just to save your butt, .ai is fine... but .eps is more universal and will still retain it's vector capabilities. Some "print" companies I've heard use Corel Draw or something along that nature which doesn't support .ai.

[salvador marley]

Thanks simplistic. ;)