Which is the best image format to use for your control panel?

[transfan]

I'm taking my 300dpi CPO to the printer's.  It's a raster file in .psd right now.  Is there any consensus on file format?

I'm leaning towards a gigantic .tif or .png,   .jpg seems to be not so good.

Thoughts?

[bkenobi]

Raw formats (no compression) are always the best choice.  If you go with a compressed format, you will have to boost the resolution so high that it eliminates the disk space benefits from going with jpg anyway.

Actually, the best choice is to go with a vector source (non-rastered) since that will look perfect no matter what size you print it.  Of course, that can be difficult depending on the image.

[ragnar]

I agree with what bkenobi (Ben Kenobi in star wars?) said.  Your best option is vector if your printer supports it.  Second best is lossless (BMP, etc).  Any lossy formats would be a mistake for this, especially in the age of inexpensive memory (1 gig USB sticks, etc).

If it were me, I'd just do a 300 DPI BMP (or other lossless format file) since there is no question as to where things will land once printed.  I'd call and ask the printer what is the best choice.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

TIFF is not bad either as it supports lossess compression. As does PNG.

[bkenobi]

I didn't realize there were compression options in TIFF and PNG.  Interesting!

[transfan]

going to go with a .tif file, no compression, save layers as a copy.  60mb vs. .png 10mb

I guess from reading here and online it really doesn't matter as long as it's not lossy compression

[EwJ]

I'm taking my 300dpi CPO to the printer's.  It's a raster file in .psd right now.  Is there any consensus on file format?

I'm leaning towards a gigantic .tif or .png,   .jpg seems to be not so good.

Thoughts?

Contact the place you are taking it to and ask what their preferred file format is.

[Blanka]

I didn't realize there were compression options in TIFF and PNG.  Interesting!

And even better, those compression options are more effective for CP's than JPEG compression too. Because of the big one colour area's, LZW is much more efficient as lossy JPEG. With TIF LZW you can achieve the filesize of JPEG at 50-60%, but with total lossless compression.

But hey, there is always vector EPS/PDF. Even smaller, and resolution independent. A high quality panel overlay is only 50-100Kb in PDF, total flawless and prints good at 2540dpi too

[JustMichael]

With 16GB USB sticks and writable dvds, size and compression don't really mean that much anymore.  File type doesn't matter much either.  I would contact whatever printer(s) you plan on using first and ask them what file types, max dpi, color space, they accept images in.  If they ask what is "color space" go ahead and convert your image to sRGB.  Most printers can print this color space without a problem.

[ragnar]

Wouldn't the file have the color space in it that it was saved in?  And if so, couldn't the printer covnert it as needed for their needs?

[releasedtruth]

They can change color space, yes, but you will no longer have accurate reproduction compared to your expectations. We often design in RGB, then convert to CYMK for offset and adjust. For anything printed on a solvent printer or to substrate, we always use RGB, either sRGB or Adobe. I would go sRGB to avoid any color mishaps.

[Blanka]

size and compression don't really mean that much anymore.  File type doesn't matter much either. 

Black letters and vector lines in EPS and PDF are tack sharp when printed. I have yet to see the first 300dpi PS bitmap to match that quality. I'm splitting hairs I know.

Another thing that can be controlled much better in PDF/EPS is overprint and ink patterns. For example, an sRGB bright yellow can turn into 95%Y, 2%M, 1%C on conversion to CMYK, where 100%Y would look much nicer. Same with blacks. Sometimes you want 100% black, sometimes you want rich black (60,60,60,100 or so). With overprint you can control registration problems.