Creating Ads in Illustrator

[Bizgirl]

I have recently been "handed" the position of graphics/production manager and need some help with Illustrator 10 & Pagemaker 6.5.
I create my publication in Pagemaker.
My ex-graphics/production manager would make ads in Pagemaker and copy & paste them into the publication. I find that Pagemaker is not very versatile in ad creation so I began using Illustrator 9. (Now I have 10)
Here's the problem: I've had no training in creating graphics or production so please bear with me! I have been creating my entire ads (art & text) in AI and exporting them as tiffs and jpegs to place in pagemaker. The quality is ok, not clean though, especially the text. Is there another format I should be using? Should I even be using AI to create these ads? Does anyone have any advice to offer a novice? Thanks soooo much!

 

[jimoblak]

Do not export TIFF or JPG: Save your Illustrator artwork as EPS with fonts embedded. PageMaker can place these EPS files.

The reason you are not seeing exceptional quality from TIFFs and JPGs is because they are made of pixels which cannot scale well.

EPS files support vector (line) art which scales to any size. You will maintain crisp text and line art in the EPS file.

PageMaker 6.5 came with a little 30-40 page brownish-covered booklet that gives an overview of desktop publishing. You can soar past your novice status with a quick read.

 

[Bizgirl]

I'll look for the booklet before I leave the office...a little homework never hurt anybody! But until then...
I saved an ad as an eps file. I didn't select or deselect the save settings. There is one that concerned me though...CMYK PostScript (checked) Then Postscript Level 2?????
Also, there was a little caution triangle that said the document contains artwork that requires flattening. Would that be the psd file that is in the ad?
I went ahead with the save and placed it in PageMaker.
It appears grainy onscreen and printed (HP Laserjet 6P/6MP).
Any suggestions?

 

[blueark]

The default save settings are usually fine. Don't worry too much about what they all mean.

Having to flatten artwork in Illustrator is usually a compatability issue. Postscript Level 2 doesn't support transparancy effects, for example, so either save as Level 3 (which may cause problems at the printing stage), or just go ahead and flatten your artwork (but make sure you have a master Illustrator file backed up somewhere).

EPS file generally create a low resolution ('grainy') preview of the file, which most page layout packages refer to when placed. It's just a bit quicker than placing the actual image data. When you print to a PostScript printer, it will refer to the original Illustrator file for the best possible print. If your printer is not PostScript (most aren't) it will just print what you see on screen. Try printing directly from Illustrator for a better idea of what it will look like, or export your file as a PDF and print from Acrobat.

 

[hohriver]

Bizgirl,

I teach Illustrator 10 at the Technical College level, and the advice you have received from BlueArk is good advice.
It kind of sounds as if you are in over your head with this new "position". I know the feeling.

My advice would be to lose PageMaker. PageMaker is an antedated dinosaur with enough bugs and quirks to drive anyone ka-razy! InDesign is Adobe's 'replacement' software for PageMaker, and has some improvements included. There is no new version of PageMaker because the code is so lengthy, superfluous, and generally messed-up that it can't be salvaged or pushed beyond what it can do in version 6.5.

If this position is important to you, and you want to get on top of vector illustration and print output, you have a lot of ground to cover and homework to perform. You may as well not waste your time trying to figure out antedated software that has been designed out of existence. Get a trial version of InDesign today and take a crack at it?

Good luck with your Illustrator endeavors.
"The learning curve is a MYTH! Learning in this industry is represented best by a right angle..."