Questions About File Manipulation

QFM1. I printed a GIF version of my logo and it looks jagged!

QFM2. What is a vector file format?

QFM3. What is a bitmapped file format?

QFM4. I resized my logo and it looks jagged.

QFM5. How can I print my Stationery in Microsoft Word?

QFM6. I printed out the logo existing on line on my printer and the colors are different than the ones I see on the screen.

QFM7. I plan to display my logo on a web page. How can I make sure that the colors display correctly in any browser?

QFM8. I printed out the logos I found on line and I noticed some grainy colors.

QFM9. Which one of the logo formats in our package can be used for silk-screen purposes on apparel?

QFM10. I need a transparent background logo. Can you create it for me?

 

Answers

QFM1. I printed a GIF version of my logo and it looks jagged!

The GIF (graphics interfile format) files are the ones you can see on line used in web sites and are also included in your Logo Design Kit. GIF is a low resolution file format (72 dpi) and suited for Internet use only.
We don't recommend to use GIF files for quality printing.

QFM2. What is a vector file format?

Vector files contain data described as mathematical equations and are typically used to store line art and CAD (computer aided design) information. Keep in mind that a vector format logo can be resized without any loss of quality as opposed to a bitmapped image(GIF, JPG, TIF) that loses quality when resized. Vector graphics are created in programs such as: Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, and Corel Draw.

QFM3. What is a bitmapped image?

A bitmapped image is built from individual cells called pixels, which are set to a grid like a mosaic. Most digital photographs and screen captures are bitmap images. A bitmapped image can not be resized without loss of quality. Please note that resizing GIF, TIF, BMP, PCX formats will result in image degradation because these are bitmapped formats.

QFM4. I resized my logo and it looks jagged.

If you tried to resize one of these file formats: PCX, GIF, TIF, BMP, JPG  you will notice that you have a poor quality image. These file formats are bitmapped images. A bitmapped image can not be resized without damaging its quality.

QFM5. How can I print my Stationery in Microsoft Word?

Open MS Word then copy the logo from one of the .DOC files we provided in your Logo Design Kit and paste it into your layout.

QFM6. I printed out the logo existing on line on my printer and the colors are different than the ones I see on the screen

Please note first that the colors you see on the screen may look different according to the monitor used. Meanwhile there's always a difference between the printed colors and the ones you see on your screen because the colors you see on the screen are RGB colors while the colors of the printed copy are CMYK colors. In other words, the colors you see on the screen are obtained used light beams while the colors on paper are made of INK.

RGB stands for the three colors used in this system - Red, Green and Blue.

This color model is very much based on light. Imagine three different spotlights, red, blue and green, directed at the same spot on a white screen. Because each spotlight adds more light, the resulting color of two spots will be brighter than just one. Where all three spots meet, the color is at maximum brightness - white.

The RGB model is used in a television or computer monitor. The colored spots of a TV screen emit three colors, and the sum of these colors determines the impression to the eye. If the color spots shine with equal strength, the visual impression is white or gray. This is called an Additive color  model. Each color in the RGB system has a value for Red, Green and Blue. This value goes from 0 to 255, where 0 for all three colors equals black, and 255 for all equals white.

Thinking of the spotlights this is quite logical - no light, or weak light means black or dark color, and full light from all three must result in a strong white light. This means that you can get more than 16 million colors (TrueColor) because 256*256*256 = 16.777.216, but you can only get 256 shades of gray. If you only have an 8-bit output to your color monitor, this is of course academic, because you'll never be able to see more than 256 colors anyway.
         

CMYK The other important color model is called CMYK.

CMYK stands for Cyan,Magenta, Yellow and Black (K for blacK so you don't confuse it with Blue).These colors are sometimes called process colors, because you use them in four-color process printing. If you have a color printer, you know that the toner in the machine consist of these primary colors. Primary colors mean that all other colors can be created by mixing these colors together. Cyan, magenta and yellow are theoretically all you need, but to make a print look sharp and crisp you also use a black plate in the printing press. This is called a Subtractive color model, because the process ink pigments "subtracts" or absorbs certain colors and reflects others (for your eye to see).

QFM7. I plan to display my logo on a web page. How can I make sure that the colors display correctly in any browser?

Please follow this link where you will find a color picker. Select the colors you want for your logo indicating for each a letter and a number, then e-mail us these codes. The color picker includes only browser safe colors.

QFM8. I printed out the logos I have on my web page and I noticed some grainy colors.

Please note that all the existing browsers can not display all the colors of the color spectrum accurately. The browser works by trying to match the colors found on the web page with a color existing in its color chart. This effect is called dithering and what you get is a GRAINY result. This grainy look appears ONLY on the screen. Please refer to the QFM7 also for more information.

QFM9. Which one of the logo designs in our logo design kit can be used for silk-screen purposes on apparel?

The formats usually required by the embroidery companies are: tif, jpg, gif. We provide these formats in the Logo Design Kit.

QFM10. I need a transparent background logo. Can you create it for me?

The problem with the transparent background is that the image created this way is not neat, some white pixels wil show up on the border. This is a technical limitation of this type of image (GIF format). So, keep in mind the transparent background can only be created as a GIF format.
If you want, we can experiment creating a transparent background file but please note that we can not guarantee the results.

Meanwhile, there's a way to solve the problem of a logo/different backgrounds: creating a 2 layer image:
- the logo itself on the top layer
- the second layer: "your" specified background. It means that each time you are using a new/different background a new logo must be created. Unfortunately this trick doesn't work on patterned backgrounds.
If you know the color settings of your background you can send them to us and we will try to create the image you will insert in your document.