ARTWORK: The key to Quality Printing
The key to all good printing is down to the quality of the artwork. If the artwork is low quality or a napkin sketch then your print can only be as good as it, right? Not always, here at Gee Embroidery and Print we always advise the best way to get the most out of your images or logo's. We put quality first and by doing this we offer a number of artwork redrawing services.
Software Myths
There is no such thing as secret imaging software that will happily convert any image you throw at it to the highest quality, there are some software packages that do some basic converting and there are tools and techniques that will help you improve your images but the bottom line is if you want to get the full potential out of low resolution images or logo's then they will need to be redrawn.
Redrawn I hear you say, huh! That looks fine to me... Well it might look fine on your computer screen, on your letterhead or business card, so why will it not look good when printed. There are a number of varying factors that we need to establish basically. It all depends on how big you want the final print, if you supplied an image that has been taken from a website and required that image to be printed the full width of a T shirt, then there would most likely be a lot of pixelation involved in the process. To get the most out of any design, we first request the original 'logo / image designers' files that have been created to vector standard. If this is not available then we would offer you our artwork redrawing services. For photo's we recommend at least 300dpi, if you are unsure we can check this for you.
What is a Vector?
A vector is another name for an image simply put, think of it as a platinum image. A vector image can be scaled down to the size of a stamp or as big as a football pitch without losing any quality at all. Vector files normally end in .eps .ai .cdr or even .pdf. Vector files are required by Sign Makers too as this aids their sign cutting software and cad cutting hardware. Vector files are normally created in software programs like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw.
Can you Vector Photos?
It would all depend on what you wanted as a final result. Generally speaking vectors are used for logos, crests, badges, signs and simplistic looking images. A photo may contain 16 million colours and varying shades which although can be recreated as a vector, most of the time it wouldn't be a viable proposition. The time it would take to redraw a photo would cost more than if the photo was to be re-taken at a higher resolution. All vector redraws are costed based on time, the more complex the image, the dearer the conversion.
My Photo is only Low Quality
If you only have low quality photo's to work with then there is not a lot we can do. There are tools to slightly enhance and sharpen images but once you break past the image size you will start to get pixelation. You will need to find a higher quality photo or have it re-taken to the highest possible size you can. You can always downscale a photo without losing quality but you can't successfully upscale, so its better to have it too big than too small.
How long does a vector redraw take?
This solely depends on the size and complexity of the image. For instance if we were to redraw the Japanese flag, it would take no time at all. But then if we redrew the Barcelona FC badge we could be talking an hour or 2. As things get more complex and with gradients introduced, it can take upto and exceeding 8 hours. Not every vector artist will redraw the same either. When printing with 2 or 3 colour heat applied vinyl, you need to draw the vector in a certain order so that it can be layered properly in the printing stage. Vector drawing for printing takes a little bit more thought than regular vectoring, it's what we're good at.
How much does it cost?
We offer vector redraw services from £20. This is the basic rate we charge, for this you will receive the vectored file by email that can be used by any printer, graphic designer or sign maker as you wish. For more complex vectors we would have to quote, all prices are quoted upon sight of artwork and the price maybe subsidised slightly by the total size of the order placed. For larger orders, the charge may be waived completely.
Example
Below is an example of a recent artwork redraw we completed. Look at the left image, looks to me like it was originally drawn by hand and coloured in with pencil. You can see how low quality the imagery is and how patchy it looks. Now look to the right image, this is now in vector form and see how much sharper it actually is. Ask yourself which one you would feel more confident wearing printed on a tee. It not only enhances logo's by redrawing them but it sells your image to your customers too.
