by Janet Hovorka (FamilyChartMasters)
We often produce signage for genealogy conferences, and as such, I am often on the receiving end of the graphics and logos that the various companies and conference organizers use. Sometimes it is challenging for people without a lot of graphics experience to know what is needed for various projects. Hopefully this will help.
First it is helpful to know the difference between a vector graphic and a raster graphic. Raster images are put together as a series of dots or pixels like in a Georges Seurat painting. All camera images are raster. The size of each dot is determined by the DPI or “dots per inch.” Images with more dots per inch will be bigger in memory size. When a raster image is enlarged, the dots are enlarged to fill the space and a raster image becomes blocky or blurry. Saving a raster image with a lower dots per inch (lower resolution and less memory) will forever lose a portion of the dots and enlarging the image or saving it as higher resolution won’t bring back the details in the image. .JPG, .PNG, .TIFF are all raster images and the standard software for manipulating them is Photoshop. A .PNG is the only type of raster image that will preserve a transparent background.
Vector images are more flexible and it is easier to enlarge and change a vector image. They are created with lines and points and the color is fit to each shape in the image. Vector images are typically more cartoonesque as opposed to a photo. Vector images are easy to change colors with and use with transparency backgrounds. A vector image will be crisp and clear at the size of a postage stamp or the size of a football field. It is critical that every business have a vector image of their logo for creating signage and embroidery, etc. Vector images are typically .EPS, or .SVG. The standard software for manipulating vector images is Illustrator.
You can’t trick a Raster image into being a vector by saving it in a different format, but a vector image can be rasterized into dots. PDF files can have vector or raster images in them, but they typically destroy the raster image, saving it as little pieces that aren’t retrievable outside the PDF format. Saving either as a .pdf doesn’t change the nature of the graphic.
A couple of hints:
Be aware of white space. The space around a design can help keep your design clean and make certain elements pop.
Learn the language of colors and the emotions that colors evoke. Here is a good primer that will get you started.
Likewise be cognizant of what your fonts are communicating about you. Make sure you use fonts that go together. Here’s a good primer on the main rules for fonts. Good sources for fonts are openfontlibrary.org, squirrelfont.com and dafont.com. I use wordmark.it all the time to decide which font to use in a project.
Maintain control of the fonts and colors that you use to market your company. Don’t go crazy. Keep your branding consistent by sticking to the same fonts and colors so that customers will recognize you.
And of course, be sure that you have rights to any image you need. Pulling something off the internet is really wrong and you could be sued. You can purchase vector and raster images that aren’t very expensive at sites like shutterstock.com, istockphoto.com, bigstockphoto.com and gettyimages.com. It really isn’t worth the risk to use anything else.
I’m always happy to help if you need anything with your graphics. Let me know how it goes. janet<at>familychartmasters.com
Comments
Post a Comment