rights and permission for Adobe Illustrator files

[ali99117]

hello people,
i have to get something printed but i do not trust the print company, i HAVE to send the .ai file but i was wondering if i could restrict rights on the file, so that it could only be printed - (you know, something like PDF! )

 

[apepp]

...not possible, which is why restricted pdf files were invented...

...what would be the issue with sending them a PDF?

...and what brings you to not trust the print company?

Andrew

 

[ali99117]

because it is supposed to be printed on a 1m to 3m banner
and i have (unfortunately!) made the thing on A4 size instead of taking care of size!

 

[apepp]

...so the artwork is not to scale and you want to send an illustrator file that the printer cannot use except to print out artwork that won't scale?

Andrew

 

[ali99117]

the thing is, I just want them to be able to scale it to the size of the banner and print it. They shouldn't be able to alter or reuse the file ( or any part of it)

 

[apepp]

...so if they don't need to alter the artwork except scale it to a given dimension then a correctly produced PDF file that can be scaled would suffice...

...restrictions can be applied to PDF files upon saving from illustrator, but an ai file itself cannot be restricted, there used to be a plugin for illustrator 8 but no idea if it is still around, but even that was easy to get around by saving to eps...

...even pdf files can be stripped of security for those that have the software to do it...

...in any case, i can't imagine why your print provider would need to alter your files in anyway even if you supply them the ai files > fonts > images, unless you supply inadequate artwork that is problematic to scale...

...and to save any possible font problems you ought to outline those, or supply a subset font embedded pdf file...

Andrew