The first and foremost thing on your mind when creating custom certs and reports should be final filesize. On average, IndySoft sees customer certs with target sizes of anywhere from 8k to upwards of 65k. A target filesize refers to the size of the PDF when it is saved to disc. Ultimately, its up to you to decide what final filesize is acceptible for your calibration volume and storage limitations/requirements. We have incorporated compression technology for any images used in the PDF but care should be taken when placing images in your document. The number one rule of image usage in Printbuilder is to give PrintBuilder what you want out of PrintBuilder.

Here are a few simple guidelines to ensure you get the best appearance for your document while maintaining a suitable filesize for your database:

  1. Try to use JPEG images if final filesize is of paramount concern. Use the lowest compression level (highest quality) possible. Doing so strikes a good balance between image quality and filesize. Usually anything over 90% will suffice. Bitmaps can be used, but they are usually overkill.
  2. Only use images that are already sized for the target device (i.e. printer). If you are using a 6" wide image and sizing it down to 1" wide, you arent doing yourself any favors because even though you size the image down, it still retains its original 6x2" filesize. Instead, if your image should be 1" inch wide, resize it outside of PrintBuilder, save it as a JPEG, then pull it in. Please refer to the footnotes of this KB article for more information on resizing.
  3. Dont use stretch to make images larger than their original size. This only leads to image distortion. This isnt a shortcoming in Printbuilder, just the nature of raster image formats.
  4. When considering DPI, try 150dpi first. Even if you have a 300dpi printer you may get acceptible results from a 150dpi image... and your images will be half the filesize. You should never have to go over 300dpi for your images.
  5. You might notice the images look a little lower quality on screen when compared to the printout. This is because screen resolution is 72dpi, which means about every other line of the image is lost for viewing. When in doubt, use the printout as your final decision maker.
  6. With GI/CLE/TI in 2006, additional options were added for modifying the PDF rendering engine per print template. This is accomplished by right mouse clicking the template and selecting the option. Keep in mind that for optimal results you should NEVER select a PDF image format that doesnt match that on any compressed images in your document. That is to say you can go from BMP to JPG, but dont reverse them. Doing so will introduce visual artifacts in your image.
  7. The JPEG Compression slider only works if youve selected JPEG as your PDF document image type.
  8. Additional Notes on Resizing: In Graphic Design, there are basically two types of graphic formats: Vector, which uses coordinates to draw an image and Raster, which is more of a fixed final file format. The vector format is usually employed to create a logos source file and is often used by graphic design houses to create artwork. These vector formats are then rasterized to BMP, TIF, GIF or JPEG and given to the customer, usually as a high-res image at a very large filesize, suitable for commercial printing. When you resize these Rasterized image in any manner, you usually lose data and thus, image quality. The computer has to make attempts to guess what the resized image should look like and the results are often not what our eyes might expect. If your logo was created from vector art, ask your designer to size down the vector source itself to the target dimensions and THEN rasterize the output. This will ensure the higest quality image possible for placing in the cert.