Flexi Error Message

[mark in tx]

I am trying to open a tiff saved in photoshop. The tiff is 2.3 gigs.

Flexi gives the following message; " Advanced Color Map (*.xml *.xml)"
and will not open the file.

Any ideas on what is going wrong, or what I need to do to fix it?

 

[Replicator]

1. try changing from .tiff to .tif
2. try saving in different format eps, pdf even jpg
3. try opening the tiff in another program to see if it's corrupt

 

[Shovelhead]

It's a web based .XML error.....

it's trying to talk to the Flexi server.

 

[mark in tx]

Thanks, I'm trying to save it as a pdf now.

 

[BobbyFosson]

Flexi will struggle opening a file of that size... Try opening it from the Production Manager rather than importing into Flexi and then sending to PM.

Agree with other suggestions...

 

[Replicator]

Flexi will struggle opening a file of that size... Try opening it from the Production Manager rather than importing into Flexi and then sending to PM.

Agree with other suggestions...

Plus if he converts to PDF
that should decrease file size
by a significant amount !

 

[mark in tx]

On a hunch, I looked at the file properties in photoshop and it was saved at 1200 dpi.
I lowered that to 900, and it is opening without a problem now.
That also reduced it to a little over a gig in size.

 

[Replicator]

150dpi should be fine for printing . . . 300dpi would be well above the needed dpi !

 

[mark in tx]

The enlarged print is for a pro photographer, so they want excellent clarity.
It is going to be 6'x10'.

 

[Replicator]

Again . . . 150 to 300dpi should be good enough !

 

[Fred Weiss]

Again . . . 150 to 300dpi should be good enough !

I think your statement may confuse some. The size of a file is expressed in pixel dimensions or pixels per inch. It would be correct to say that 150 ppi at full size will result in a good printed image. However, your statement makes no reference to file size ... just that 150 to 300 dpi should be good enough. But if the image is only 600 x 1000 pixels it is doubtful that it will be appropriate to use for a 6' x 10' print regardless of what the dpi is set at. The source image for a 6 x 10 print if one accepts 150 ppi as a good working number would then be 9,000 x 15,000 pixels ... a considerable difference.

 

[Replicator]

You're right Fred, I ass.u.me.d that everyone would

understand that the image would need to be actual size and printed at that

resolution . . . Hope I didn't cause anyone any confusion !

 

[mark in tx]

Just to clear things up, the file was designed by the customer, and they followed my instructions, which in retrospect were incorrect and left way too much room for misunderstanding..
I told them that for the 6x10 print to output at 300 dpi, they needed to proportionally increase the resolution as they reduced the working space of the file.
What resulted was they divided the output size by four, then multiplied the resolution by four.
Which led to a 1.5 by 2.5 foot workspace at 1200 dpi.
Thus landing me a 4.5 gig file in my lap.
After figuring out what really happened yesterday, I fixed the file at no extra charge and am working on fixing my instructions.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[Color Dude]

WOW 4.5 gig...If you just build the file to size at 150dpi your files usually never see more than a 500Mb in size. People often use smaller size files and then try to save at a higher dpi thinking they can enlarge it because they think saving it as a 600dpi file will provide room for expansion. Big Mistake. I always build the file to size and keep the dpi low. I dont think I have ever printed a file over 500Mb and that was a huge file 10'x30' billboard.

Great explanation Fred.

Just a quick question for those of you who do use .tiff files, when saving .tiffs from photoshop, how many of you use LZW compression when saving the file?

 

[thewood]

Color Dude, I couldn't agree more regarding designing at full size. Regarding tifs, I export all psds as flattened tifs with no compression (Adobe RGB embedded). Once upon a time, I used LZW compression. However, since i was usually importing these tifs into Flexi prior to printing, I quit doing that. The LZW files are smaller, but they would re-expand (it seemed) once imported into Flexi. Not only that, but Flexi would take an unusually longer amount of time to open these compressed tifs in relation to the same uncompressed file. What are your experiences with PS, Flexi, tifs and compression?