WMF issue in CS2? What am I doing wrong?

[MicahDB]

I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned AI user and I'm having the most difficult time producing a .WMF. I can produce the file, but it comes out looking terrible.

I'm creating a letterhead for an application that requires a .wmf file as the heading and dynamically generates the letter based on system variables. For some reason images looks horrible when I output it. AI gives me no settings when outputting the file like it does for all other images.

Any help is appreciated and as soon as possible even more appreciated.

Thanks,
Micah

The files...ai and wmf

http://staging1.themediabug.com/letterhead.ai

http://staging1.themediabug.com/letterhead.wmf

 

[apepp]

...have you tried .emf format instead?

...i hear wmf format has limited vector support...

Andrew

 

[MicahDB]

Thanks for the response, but the app in question is hard coded to only support .wmf files. I would MUCH rather use emf. Is there some setting I'm missing here? Why does this come out looking so crappy?

 

[apepp]

...to be honest wmf format isn't the best for output...

...metafile formats are not an ideal choice for commercially printed or online documents; they provide acceptable quality only when printed on low-resolution or non-PostScript printers from a Windows desktop, but is dependent on the application you are printing from...

...there are no settings to adjust in export to wmf from illustrator...

...because WMF and EMF graphics use the Windows GDI file and are intended for screen display and non-PostScript printing, there are limitations to printing them to a PostScript printer whereby EPS is the better choice...

...Windows Meta File (wmf) for the PC and PICT files for the Mac are the best formats if you need to print a file and use it for an on-screen show. Newer versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh (98, and 2001) support wmf files, and can be used with OK results. They can provide similar print quality to the .eps format, but also look reasonably good on screen. The limitation of this file format is the print quality is not as good as an .eps file and the screen version is not as good as the bitmapped version. Microsoft created the wmf file format and therefore supports it throughout their software applications best. When working in Microsoft software, you are best off using a wmf/emf, if it can produce the quality you desire...

...if your not using a microsoft application then it is likely this app you are printing from isn't great with wmf...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...can you change the printing settings?

...when printing problems occur while using the WMF/EMF format, they can sometimes be fixed by simply changing the format to "raw" in the printer Properties...

Andrew

 

[jimoblak]

I may be talking from my bum, but I have seen that the WMF export from Illustrator defines spline detail based on overall size of the artwork. If you make a small WMF graphic in Illustrator, there is little detail in the WMF vector data. If you scale your working page to 4 times the size and then scale the AI artwork to fill that page, you may have better detail in the WMF export.

 

[jimoblak]

...'4 times the size' is just a guess. All you need to do is just scale it a lot larger than what you have it as now.

...oy! Andrew's style of posting is rubbing off on me.

 

[apepp]

 

[apepp]