Question about Photoshop

[evader]

Just wondering if there is a way to use a design from photoshop for printing purposes? I know photoshop is more of a web based program but I have some text designed in photoshop (with some effects on it) that I would like to use in a magazine ad I am putting together in Corel Draw. The problem is when I import the .psd file into Corel it loses all of it's effects, when I import the .jpg into Corel it just looks awful.

Is there a way to import it into Corel so the text will be crisp and clear with all the effects intact or would I be better off designing the entire ad in photoshop? If I do that will photoshop print as well as corel does?

Thanks for any help and/or tips you can provide me with!

 

[Royal Palm Graphics]

Hhmmm…Generally whenever I import any images into Corel from Photoshop I make sure that the image is flattened first (all layers flattened and set to “Normal“), if not than things can get messy. I also make sure that I save the file separately as RGB and not CMYK. Also make sure that your color management is turned on in Corel or your images start looking like they came from Mars.

Before you do anything further, try printing a page out from Photoshop and one out in Corel and compare notes that way to see if there’s that much of a difference, preferably on a color laser printer if you have one available. If you need to make any color or contrast adjustments that do it in Corel as Corel doesn’t recognize adjustments made in another program as well. Hope this gets you a little closer.

 

[Fred Weiss]

I would differ with you on Photoshop being a "web based program" and not for print. It is very widely used for print purposes.

The issues that come up most often with files we receive that were created in Photoshop are:

1. Pixel dimensions set too low. For good paper print quality you need to have a pixel dimension of at least 300 ppi for the output size wanted. So if you are wanting to print an 8.5" x 11" page, the PS file should be created at 2550 x 3300 pixels. I emphasize created. Simply enlarging a file created at lower dimensions doesn't get it.

2. Files not saved in the appropriate color mode for the format. JPG files are best saved in RGB color mode. If they are saved in CMYK color modes, many applications will misinterpret their color.

3. Photoshop PSD files are best kept for Photoshop as master images. Files for use in other applications can then be created using the Save As command. Other formats generated from the master should have the layers flattened. Repetitive saving of the same file in a format such as a JPG will result in loss of quality due to the compression routine it uses. Use TIF for CMYK and JPG for RGB.

 

[tokepo]

Fred is right, in that Photoshop is probably the leading design software for the print world.

I work exclusively in PS, so I'm not sure about the import issue. I do know that you do have to make sure it is flat to carry over any of the styles or effects that you have applied through PS. If you have one layer of text and then you have applied your effects and styles, you need to create a new layer then merge the text layer with the new layer and this will flatten all of the effects you placed on the text layer, then save this file out as the import file for Corel. Anytime you are creating anything in PS you should make the original, at 300 dpi this will ensure a great print every time. I don't know much about Corel, but PS can for sure produce the printed results that any designer would be happy with. I hope this helps a little.

tony

 

[evader]

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Fred, would you recommend I continue to create the ad in Corel while using the tips you provided regarding the pixel dimension and saving in the appropriate colour mode for the text that was created in photoshop or should I create the entire ad in photoshop?

I personally have never used photoshop files for any print work that I have done in the past...but this ad calls for some of the text to have some bevel effects and such from photoshop so I'm sort of learning as I go.

Thanks for the help

 

[evader]

Thanks Tony. I think we posted at the same time so I didn't see your post before my last reply.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Talk to whomever you are going to have do the printing as to their preference. You can do some in PS and some in Corel and then export/import in either direction.

My guess is that your printer will prefer a PSD with the layers preserved or a CMYK TIF.

 

[idsign]

I am novice when in comes to Photoshop. I guess if it ultimately outputs bitmaps and vector graphics then it is design software.

I still prefer to design from a blank frame in Corel and VMP. I am trying to get down and dirty with Flexi in anticipation of an eco-sol printer. When that day comes, I will put both VMP and Flexi through the paces to see which one is better for RIP printing and driving the contour cutting. May be a hassle though because cutter is older Summa with O-Pos. Let ya know.

I think creating type in PS is a hassle compared to creating type in Corel. I save type as .eps and open it in PS. Then I give it the 3D and lighting effects with PS Elements.

PS is awesome for working in layers, especially semi-opaque layers. Corel has gone through so many gyrations with layers and now object managers. Kinda frustrates me but I am no Einstein when it comes to learning software.

Corel to PDF and HTML is wonderful.

Barry

 

[Bobby H]

For sharp text, you can't beat vector based artwork. If I need rasterized fades or shadows in the background I'll use some raster art for that, but I'll try hard to keep the text itself as infinitely sharp vector based art.

Photoshop is an absolutely great program that fits into just about every kind of graphics production. Print, web, film, video, large format design, etc., it works for it all. Lot of 3D artists "post-process" much of their work in Photoshop. Adobe just announced the May release of PhotoshopCS2 as part of the Create Suite 2 package. I'm looking forward to it.

Still, I see Photoshop misused for a lot of purposes. First, it is NOT a logo design tool. Vector drawing apps are infinitely better suited for it. That's mainly over the professional rule that any logo should work under a single ink color (or "plate") and have its original in scaleable vector form. It is totally and irresponsibly backwards to originate a logo in Photoshop and then have to trace it together in Illustrator, Freehand or Corel. I can copy/paste Postscript paths from AI or FH into Photoshop easily and quickly create rasterized effects whenever I need such effects.

 

[Steve C.]

I too am a novice at Photoshop. I had some trouble with jpg files not coming over clear. When I save them as tif files they look great.

 

[bohica1981]

Try exporting the file as an .eps and convert text to curves. Then try importing it into coreldraw!

 

[idsign]

(technical point)

The later versions of CorelDraw do not import .eps but actually open them emulating
Adobe products. That figures since Corel has always wanted to be an Adobe product.
When I 'try' to import .eps into Corel 11, it is a rectangle without an image.

Barry

 

[skjeflo]

idsign,


Try that same import but import using the PS, PRN, EPS - Postscript Interpreted filter instead of the plain EPS filter. Most EPS file will work just fine this way. Been doing it this way from version 8 through to 12 now.

I have no clue why Corel even has the plain EPS import. It doesn't work on anything that a signmaker might want to have, at least in my experience.

Mark

 

[Bobby H]

Corel is a program for more than just sign makers. Though I defer to Illustrator and Freehand for a good number of vector art purposes, the superior object creation tools and other features still make CorelDRAW an indepensible application, IMHO.

The standard EPS import filter in CorelDRAW works in the same manner as EPS filters in page layout programs like QuarkXpress, PageMaker, etc. It merely places the file. The Postscript Interpreted filter actually brings in the vectors. In that respect, I think Corel's setup is just fine.

The only EPS import filter that really gets on my nerves is the one in Macromedia Freehand. Now that's an idiotic filter. The first problem is that it works in very much the same manner as Corel's "place only" EPS filter. You just get a non-editable bounding box with a TIFF header for display if that was included with the file. The problem with this is Freehand has this as its only EPS import filter. There is no option to import and extract vectors from EPS files --unless the EPS file was exported from Freehand. And then that really makes no sense. Why would anyone use Freehand to export an EPS file to only import it back into Freehand.

Sure, Freehand can import Adobe Illustrator .ai files. But some applications are better at exporting vectors in EPS than AI. This is certainly the case for CorelDRAW. If I need to get paths I created from Corel into Illustrator or Photoshop, I always export in EPS. The artwork exports more smoothly and with a much higher degree of accuracy. Corel's AI export filter has problems. Thus, it is useless to send Corel-exported AI files to Freehand.

It's no wonder why Freehand is fading fast in a very distant third place behind Corel and Illustrator. I wouldn't be surprised if Canvas overtook Freehand for third. Macromedia probably wouldn't care anyway. They've done relatively little to improve Freehand over the last six years. And they let Fontographer literally die.

 

[Techman]

Quote... Corel has always wanted to be an Adobe product unquote...

I have never head that one before... I've observed Corel being called a desk top publisher,, . which is isn't. Corel is a program for producing vector art , Corel's desktop publisher is Corel Ventura..

 

[Bobby H]

Actually, over the last few years, is it Adobe products like Illustrator that have tried to act more like CorelDRAW. Adobe adopted Corel's selection style and its shape tool. Still, Illustrator doesn't have nearly as fast screen refresh rates as Corel. Place a high resolution bitmap image or something like that and it bogs down. Corel isn't nearly as bad.

Because of those things, I do most of my vector object creation work within CorelDRAW. I'm withholding judgment on Illustrator CS2. If it works sufficiently fast on my new notebook computer I may use it more often for the actual object creation chores. Afterall, Corel has its own share of bugs. For now, I'm still getting my work done faster within it.

 

[Greg]

Various versions of CorelDraw (since 3.0 when I started using it) have tried to be many different things. Has anyone ever produced anything with Corel R.A.V.E.?

Its been called a desktop publisher, a web site program, etc. Unfortunately for Corel, other programs do all that stuff better.

For vector graphic creation, I have found nothing better than Corel Draw. I have Illustrator and Freehand also and just can't (or haven't) taken the time to learn how those two programs work. The same goes for Corel Paint. I also have Photoshop (love that page curl effect) but for day-to-day raster files I'll take Corel Paint any day.

As usual, its all about what you "grew up with".