Re: Do I want it?

[David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Over the years, I've done considerable work in the marketing
communications space as well as in technical docs.

Let us look at a *very* common scenario: you walk in to a new job and
are presented with resource files including *many* graphics. Among
them, it is not always clear what the original application might have
been. However, if you can open and manipulate them in the ways you
need to, then the original application is superfluous.

As for Autocad, it is becoming increasingly the case that other
applications can open and manipulate both the .dwg and the .dxf
versions of files, or else can import them for use.

I would truly be interested in seeing a VP/Marketing who would use a
graphic file from a documentation effort in an ad. Not to say it has
never been done or might not be done again--but it is extremely rare.

The question is by no means only hard drive space...it is also the
processing time and effort for using a truly high-res image in
software. For instance, offset printing original images may be in
excess of 2,000 dpi and have a color depth of perhaps 48 bits. (This
may be, for instance, the output file from a drum scanner). This kind
of file is *very* cumbersome to manipulate in apps like
Photoshop--which requires three times the largest image size either in
RAM or in virtual RAM. Making even small changes in such an image can
take considerable time.

I realize that few on this list will be familiar with images of this
magnitude--but the original formulation was "as much resolution as
possible"...and even 2,000 dpi is not as "large as possible."

For offset purposes, an image that is twice the printing resolution is
sufficient; however, if you are preparing images for offset printing,
it is quite often best to determine the output resolution and set the
image to *exactly* an even multiple of it. This speeds the process
dramatically, yet it is an often overlooked matter on the part of the
neophyte to the printing world. (By "even multiple" in this statement,
I include exact decimal fractions such as 2.5).

Beyond double the printing resolution, however, the gains become miniscule.

Regarding color depth, it is very unlikely that a tech writer will
confront much about color model differences that come into play with
images for high-quality offset printing such as are quite common in
the marketing and advertising field. Fortunately, the color model is
less significant in most tech pubs work, so even when documentation is
to be printed the exact shade of a given color may be subject to
considerable variation without objection.

David


> Also, I would side with Joe on creating the original images
> using the maximum resolution and color depth.  You can always
> reduce these to create the final insertion graphic, and if someone
> comes along later and wants to repurpose the image for an entirely
> different end use, it's always better to have a higher quality image
> in archive to work from.  HD space is cheap compared to the
> work required to recreate higher quality versions of existing
> content when some executive VP from Marketing comes along
> and wants to use an image you inserted into a manual at 320x240
> in a full-page magazine ad; having that HQ version you can pull
> out like a rabbit from a hat when others around you are in a panic
> can be priceless.
> 
> Gene Kim-Eng

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