DIGITAL CAMERA AND PRINT

Digital Printing vs. Press Printing - What's Different

2006-10-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

When it comes time to print your brand identity materials, there's one overarching question for you to consider — whether to print the resulting materials on a digital printer or traditional press. There are many differences between the two processes, some of which are outlined below.

Digital Printing

Less expensive — Digital printing is a direct-to-paper printing process. As a result, it often runs about one-half of the cost of press printing.

Lose color accuracy — Digital printing is a four-color printing process. Four colors — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black — are printed in tiny dots that when visually mixed together, create various colors. This, in addition to the different set-ups and settings on the machines from press-to-press, batch-to-batch and printer-to- printer, can produce a wide range of different color results. You can never be certain what you'll get.

Lose color range — Four-color printing has limitations on the brightness, saturation, and range of colors available — when mixing colors in this way. To produce bright reds, oranges, blues, and purples, especially, press printing is a better choice.

Cost of proofing — Proofing is one way to produce accurate color. Proofing can be costly, especially when compared to the overall cost of the job. But, since the proof is created on the same equipment that the final job is printed on, it is often quite accurate.

Can be faster — Since no pre-press work or press setup is needed, running your job on a digital press can be faster, depending on how many jobs the printer has in the queue before yours. Some printers can even offer same-day service. Three days is a standard turnaround time for many of the web-based digital printing companies.

Limited paper choice — Digital presses can only accommodate a limited paper thickness, and many digital printing companies only offer smooth, white papers. Thus, if a thick business card is important to you, then digital printing is not your right choice.

Limited finishing choices — Foil stamping, metallic inks, and embossing services are usually not offered by digital printing houses. Some digital printers also do not offer die-cutting or special folding services.

Limited choice of material sizes, styles, and formats — Digital printers will offer a very specific "menu" or range of products. If you want to create innovative marketing materials, such as the brochure-style business cards that we create at elf design, then digital printing is not a choice for your project. Large formats are also not available with many digital printers, as the largest paper size they can accommodate is 11" x 17".

Press Printing

More costly — The difference in costs is mainly due to setup costs. For press printing, films must be produced, and plates may have to be produced as well, which are additional items that add to the overall cost. Additional time is involved in setting up and aligning the press, as well as washing the press. Also, there are more overruns from traditional printing, since you cannot program in a specific number of pages to be printed as you can with a digital printer. Most printers consider overruns to be billable, or they add an additional cost for that into the initial estimate. Jobs done on a press will typically run about twice the cost of digital printing.

Excellent color accuracy — The Pantone Matching System (PMS) offers great color accuracy. Pantone colors are mixed to precise, pre-set specifications, which are printed each year in their color matching guides. You can consult these books to see exactly what the final color will look like in advance. It's a lot like going to the paint store and specifying colors for your home on the paint chips they offer — you know what you'll get. So, if color accuracy is important to you, then press printing may be the best choice.

Brighter colors are available — Since the Pantone colors are mixed using inks, they can be created to be much brighter and more intense. So, if lively colors are important to your brand image, then press printing may be the way to go.

Cost of proofing — For four-color press jobs, proofing is often not too expensive when compared to the overall cost of the job. However, it can be inaccurate, depending on the type of proof run and the type of press on which your final job will be printed.

For two- or three- color jobs printed using the Pantone system, complete color proofing is often not available. However, samples of the colors are available in the Pantone books. And, inexpensive laser prints or inkjet prints can be created to view the positioning of the elements of the page. With a little imagination, you can visualize how the final job will look.

Press printing can take longer than digital — There are several additional steps involved in press printing, which are taken care of using direct-to-press, digital technology. Films and plates must be made, the press set up, run the job and then tune us needed for drying. Then cutting, folding, and other finishing must take place.

Types of paper — Choose from an entire rainbow of paper colors — fire-engine red to deep blue, sunflower yellow to pitch black. There is also a wide range of thicknesses and textures from which to choose, including specialty papers, such as vellum and metallic papers. If you are considering using nontraditional paper your card or materials, press printing is the best way to go.

Fine line screens are available — The result of this is that even under close inspection, the color will look smooth and seamless. It will also appear brighter and more intense.

Wide range of finishing techniques — All finishing options are possible with press printing. Metallic inks can be run through the press as easily as can a nonmetallic ink. Embossing, die cutting, and foil stamping can be done in traditional printing houses. You can create materials that really stand out using these techniques.

Innovative formats, shapes, and sizes are possible — Traditional press printing can accommodate a wide range of paper sizes and can result in innovative and creative finished projects. This is largely due to the "have-it-your-way" range of options, where you can specify special sizes and finishing techniques.

We hope that the above primer on the pros and cons of both digital printing and press printing helps you to decide which you will choose to produce your materials.

article by: http://www.elf-design.com, http://www.kutebook.com

Print Screen and resize the right way!

2006-09-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

Ever tried to output a screenshot at 300dpi? It can sure be a challenge to make a software product look appealing when the screenshot looks so fuzzy. With the following technique, you can maintain the integrity of your screenshot- enough for 300dpi brochures or even billboard displays. Here's how...

Step 1. Capture it!
To make a screenshot or print screen, hold CTRL and press the 'print screen' button on your keyboard. To only capture the size of the active window just press CTRL, ALT, and the 'print screen' button. Or you can use any screen
capture software at this point if you need mouse arrow as well.

Step 2. Photoshop
In Photoshop, go to File menu or press CTRL-N to make a new document, then click OK. Photoshop will automatically size the document to the screen capture. (don't resize or do anything yet)

Now Press CTRL-V to paste your screen capture.

Step 3. Chane color mode
From the menu, choose Image > Mode > Indexed Color...
If it asks to flatten layers, choose YES. Choose the default settings by clicking OK on the dialog box. 256 colors OK!

Step 4. Resize to get ready for print in high quality 244 or 288 DPI
With an index color mode you may scale in multiples without altering the integrity of the screen capture.
Choose Image > Image Size...
Have Constrain Proportions checked, and Resample Image: Bicubic checked.

Change the resolution from 72 to 144, 216, 288, or any multiple of 72. If you choose 300dpi, for instance, it may skew the type. Now reenter the Image Size dialog box and uncheck the Resample Image box. You may now choose your output resolution, for example, 300dpi, or 600dpi, while maintaining the integrity of the image.

Step 5. DONE!
Now change the color mode back to RGB (or CMYK if printing), by choosing Image > Mode > RGB Color. You may now merge your higher resolution screenshot with a boxshot, or keep it as an independent higher resolution file.
and i recommend saving file to TIFF format for best quality.

That's it. thanks to http://www.turbophoto.com/Photoshop-Tricks

How to take screen shot of a web page.

2006-07-18T01:10:00.000-07:00

I just found out how to capture web page to high resolution image files (not using usual low quality screen capture software) for my new book, and i think it would be useful since there is none of the topic to be found on Google. Believe me it took me 1 week on and off try to find it. And guess what?
.......
That's it. Just download it and try it out. Besides, this software can do much more but i'm still figuring that out right now.

how to choose a digital camera.

2006-07-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes. Which one is right for you? Would you like one to slip into a pocket or would you prefer something larger with a wide range of features. Deciding which type is right for you is the first step on the road to choosing your perfect digital camera.

I have divided up the types of digital cameras available into six different categories.

Simple Point and Shoot

These are the most basic and easy to use digital camera. They are also the cheapest. To get up and running with this type of digital camera all you really need to do is load the battery and memory card. Once you have done that it is simply a case of turning the camera on and taking pictures.

The downsides of this type of camera are often small LCD screens, fast use of batteries, shutter delay and low build quality

Suggested cameras: Canon Powershot A430, Sony DSC S600 and Panasonic DMC LS2.

High Quality Point and Shoot

The first thing that is noticeable with this type of digital camera is a big step up in build quality and a very stylish design. In terms of features it may not have any more than a simple point and shoot model. Picture quality is normally an improvement from the more basic cameras. This type of camera still remains easy to use.

These cameras tend to be considerably more expensive than the simple point and shoot models.

Suggested cameras: Canon Powershot SD700 IS (European name: IXUS 800 IS), Casio Exilim EX-Z850 and Panasonic DMC FX01.

Point and Shoot with Extra Features

In terms of build quality and design these cameras tend to resemble the simple point and shoot models with one or two improvements such as larger LCD screens. They offer manual exposure features that are likely to appeal to people who are more serious about their photography. These cameras also retain a fairly compact body size.

Suggested cameras: Canon Powershot A700, Canon Powershot A610 and Sony DSC W100.

Pocket Sized

Pocket sized digital cameras tend to be more or less slim versions of the high quality point and shoot models. This is the most convenient type of digital camera as it is easy to slip into a pocket and take anywhere with you.

In terms of picture quality they are usually not quite as good as either the high quality point and shoot models or the point and shoot with extra features cameras.

Suggested cameras: Canon Powershot SD600 (European name: IXUS 60), Sony DSC T9 and Sony DSC T30.

Super Zoom

Super zoom digital cameras are quite different. These are larger cameras with features similar to those you would expect to find on a traditional 35mm SLR camera. In terms of style and design they also have a resemblance to those cameras too. These are aimed more at people who are serious about photography. The longer zoom lens can make them far heavier than the smaller compacts.

Obviously these cameras are too big for a pocket so you need to consider how you are going to carry them around with you. A good quality camera bag is well worth considering.

Suggested cameras: Canon Powershot S3 IS, Sony DSC H2, Fuji Finepix S9000 (European name: S9500) and Fuji Finepix S5200 (European name: S5600).

Digital SLR

If you are looking for the best quality and also a high degree of flexibility then you are likely to find Digital SLR cameras rather tempting. Prices have fallen dramatically over the past couple years making them affordable to photo enthusiasts as well as professionals. Once you add on the cost of a couple of high quality lenses buying one is still a considerable investment. Therefore I would only suggest buying one if you are serious about photography or intend to spend plenty of time getting to know your camera.

Suggested entry level Digital SLR cameras: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (European name: EOS 350D) and Nikon D50

This article was provided by Andy Needham of http://www.cameras.co.uk/. Cameras.co.uk provides digital camera reviews, price comparisons and general help for buying digital cameras. There is also a special section where you can ask a question if you would like further help.

The Difference Between DPI and PPI

2006-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Most people heard the term DPI. In most cases the term is used in the wrong context to express the number of pixels in a photo, the number of dots in a print or the maximum dots per inch a printer can output. A relatively new term PPI was introduced in order to resolve this wrong usage of the term DPI. In this article we will try to explain in simple words what is DPI and what is PPI and should each be used.

PPI: stands for Pixels per Inch. PPI describes the number of pixels per inch in a photo. PPI is a function of the number of pixels the camera’s sensor supports (also known as megapixels) and the size of the photo. To calculate a photo’s PPI simply multiply the page length by its width in inches. The result is the number of square inches on the page. Now divide the number of pixels the sensor supports by the number of square inches. The result is the number of pixels per square inch. All that is left to do is to find the square root of this number. Following is a table that shows the PPI for various page sizes for a 5 megapixel camera.

page size 4X6 - 456 PPI
page size 5X7 - 377 PPI
page size 8X10 - 250 PPI
page size 11X14 - 180 PPI
page size 16X20 - 125 PPI
page size 20X30 - 91 PPI

DPI: stands for Dots per Inch. DPI is really a physical characteristic of a printer. Every printer prints dots that when put next to each other comprise a photo. Each dot has a physical size. DPI is also known as the maximum resolution that a printer is capable of. Low-end printers have lower DPI while high-end printers have higher DPI. DPI is defined as the number of dots a printer can print per inch. For example if a printer supports 1200 DPI it means that the printer can print 1200 dots per inch (on both X or Y axis). When printing it is important to make sure that the DPI is higher or equal to the PPI. If the DPI is lower than the PPI the printer will not be able to fully display the high resolution of the photo. When printing a photo that has a lower PPI than DPI the printer will use multiple dots to represent one pixel. As opposed to PPI, DPI is not relative to the page size. DPI is a fixed number for a given printer.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital photo printing.

How to print quality photo like having a new printer.

2006-07-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

.Many printers seem to give you the same problem no matter what brands or what model. As soon as you tell you PC to print a photo, it counters with a warning, telling you that image is larger than the printing area of your paper. After you see the result. you go cursing your printer.

In fact, It isn't your printer's fault. It is the software setting's fault. Many digital cameras can produce images
at a default 72 ppi (pixel per inch) which is the same as your computer monitor. For example, a 2megapixel camera cn produce a 1,600-by-1,200-pixel image at 72 ppi or about 22x17 inch image. On the other hand a 5 megapixel camera may produce a 2,560x1,920 pixel image at 72 ppi or 36x27 inch image.

But to get a decent photo print, your image needs to be at least 200 ppi. Here's how to do it:

1. Size's matter - open you photo from your favourite photo editng software and it should be in the Edit
menu/ and find Scale (resize) and change the scale x and y resolution to pixel per inch scale then change setting to 200 or up. (most magazine print can live with 266 ppi). but that isn't all

[Once you change the resolution you notice some changes from Width and Height mesurements to reflect the calculation. You have just tripled the resolution meaning you reducing your photo about one-third from original size. These new dimensions represent the maximum size at which you can print the image and still retain photo-realism for the most part, 2-megapixel photo file will yield a maximum 5x7 inch photo print.]

The higher the ppi resolution, the better the print quality. in most cases 200 ppi up for printing would be fine.

2. Limits- now you can upsize Width and Hight just a bit to interpolate pixels but don't do it too big! you will lose quality.

3. Perfect the size before print - If the measurements are larger than the paper size in printer, Type the target print size's width or hight (now the app will reconfigure the opposite side in propotion and beef up the resolution) in the corresponding field. If you get a warning from printer about image too big, down size it a bit.

4. Print- Go to page setup and choose how you print but dpi setiting should be as high as possible for best quality. And don't forget to use photo paper that's optimized for you printer.

Thanks MacAddict for the idea.