Offset printing help: Web conversion (converting) of printed newsletters, brochures, catalogs

How to Convert a Printed Piece for the Internet

Above all else the internet is an amazing information resource. It is a wonderful way for an organization (or person) to disseminate information to a large audience at a low cost.

Historically organizations disseminated information via printed pieces. This is still true, national print sales go up each year. However many times people want to put copies of their printed pieces on the internet as well.

This article will talk about how to prepare printed pieces into a useful format for the web. It will cover how to handle photos, small documents and large documents. At the end we'll discuss how to get the finished product actually transferred to an internet site.

File formats for images
The two most popular file formats for web images are jpeg and gif. These formats represent different types of file compression methods. Images are compressed to make the file size smaller. Smaller file size means sites load faster and that is still important. While broadband internet access is on the rise it is still not universal. Many people in the U.S. and around the world access the internet using slower dial-up connections.

Here's the skinny on when to use each file type. Use a jpeg type when the image has a lot of colors, such as a color photo. Use a gif format when the image has only a few colors, such as a b/w line illustration.

Quality setting
For a jpeg file, the amount of data deleted is determined by a quality setting. Depending on the image-editing program used, quality will be expressed from 1 - 10 or from low to maximum. The image below was produced using the lowest quality setting and it shows. The difference in file size between a low and high quality image is not enough to warrant using a low quality setting. Use the highest setting.

Resolution
File size is also affected by the resolution of an image. The higher the resolution, the more data is used to represent the image. Computer monitors display everything at 72 dpi so there is no reason to use anything higher. Please note that resolution and quality levels are independent factors. If you save an image at 300 dpi but use a low quality setting, the image will come out looking poor.

What does this mean to you?
Most likely, the images that were used in a printed piece are higher resolution than you need for the web. They need to be saved at 72 dpi at the size they will be used on the web. If they are a format other than jpeg or gif, they need to be saved as one of these types. This is something you should be able to do yourself with programs commonly found on computers today.

Printed pieces to be used as images
Sometimes you want to show a printed piece as an image on the web. Let's say you want to let customers know you have a printed catalog and that they can call you for a copy. You might want to use just the cover in your pitch. In that case, the cover should be converted into a jpeg format. This is usually accomplished by exporting the cover from the page layout program in which it was created, then converting the image to a jpeg in an image-editing program. This is something that would need to be done by a desktop publisher with access to the files used to create the job. Click to see an example of a jpeg created from a point-of-sale piece.

PDF's-the golden pathway
Here's the real meat of the discussion. The best format for displaying printed pieces on the web in a usable form is PDF, or Portable Document Format. This technology is courtesy of the Adobe Corporation of Canada. You can read more about the history on this site.

PDF files are created from Adobe's Acrobat software. Original documents, created in any program, are converted to PDF files. The resulting PDF has several unique characteristics. The files are compressed so even large documents with lots of graphics can become relatively small in file size. The amount of compression is user defined. However as file size decreases, photo quality goes down as well. This decision is based on how the file will be transmitted and how it will be used.

Small file sizes have several advantages. Smaller files load faster on the web. In many cases, PDF files can be easily sent via e-mail.

You need special software in order to view PDF files. The good news it that it's free! Adobe distributes a program called Reader (formerly Acrobat Reader) that is available as a free download from their site. Many new computers come with this program preloaded.

The most useful feature of PDF files is the ability to add navigation tools to the file. A fully formatted PDF file will have a table of contents that has links to the accompanying page in the document. These hyperlinks make it easy to move about. You can also create thumbnail images of each page that act as links to the actual page. These tools are relatively easy to do but can be time consuming for large pieces.

A built-in feature of PDF files is the ability to search a document. This powerful feature enables searching for any text string within the document. This is very useful when a visitor is trying to find specific information that may be buried deep within a document.

Click here for a sample of a PDF with full navigation features. Click on the Show Navigation Pane at the top of the window. You will then be able to click on both Thumbnail and Bookmark tabs and try out those features. Navigate to the table of contents. Click on any entry on the page and you will jump to the appropriate page in the diagram. Finally, click on the binocular icon to pull up the search icon. Enter "Dunst" (without the quotes) into the search box. You will be taken to the first use of the term in the document.

What does this mean to you?
More than likely you'll want to put a copy of a printed piece onto the internet. Creating a PDF is a great tool. In order to create a PDF you need the program in which the document was created (most likely Quark Xpress or Adobe InDesign) and all the required files. More than likely the designer or desktop publisher who created the document will do it for you. They can also create the navigation features for you.

How to transfer completed files onto the internet
Most often people use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software to upload completed images onto the web. This software creates a gateway between your computer and the server that has your web site files on it. FTP software works in a similar fashion as Windows Explorer and Finder on the Mac. Many of the most popular packages are actually shareware. You can try them for free and pay a small fee if you like the software. Shown below is ws_ftp, a popular PC based FTP program. The left hand pane is your hard drive and the right hand side is the server where your files are. Transfer is simply a matter of selecting a file and clicking an arrow to move it to the other side.