Can Your Artwork Be Fixed?

Images used in printing have different requirements than artwork for printing. Pictures on the web are usually 72 dots per inch, or dpi versus the 300 dpi required for printing. Whether your artwork can be fixed depends on a number of factors that depend on the individual file.

Here’s an example of a file submitted by a client for printing:

Now, viewing this image in a web browser doesn’t seem to raise any red flags at first glance. But, the background is coloured and the image itself is low resolution for printing at 72 dpi.

We use various software to try to recover detail for images like this. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the original image on the left and the improved image on the right:

Notice the fuzzy details and “stair-stepping” in the lines of the art in the left image, cleaned up very nicely in the right image..

Through the magic of graphic arts, we’re able to improve the 72 dpi image as shown above. The next step was to convert it to vector art, which would make re-colouring the art simple if needed in the future and entirely remove the white areas, except in the mushroom, since that looks better with white (through this can easily be changed). Plus, the graphic can now be scaled to any size without deficit.

This series of steps yielded a very workable and printable graphic from a sub-optimal original, but what can be done is case-dependent, so it’s best to allow us to review your artwork if there are any doubts about whether it’s good to print.