Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 4/19/2009

Question
Hi Kevin,
I'm a novice user of Illustrator 9 and need help determining the right settings to choose when saving logos for use in various digital assets.  My most pressing issue is that a logo I created looks extremely grainy and bitmapped when you print the PDF I added it to.

These are the steps I took along the way:
1. I created the logo in Illustrator,
2. Saved for Web as a jpg with max resolution,
3. Added jpg as a header to a MS Word doc, and,
4. Converted that Word doc to a PDF.

My assumption is that I am saving the file in the wrong format for this type of use, but I have no idea what the correct format would be.  Any suggestions for how I could achieve better results?

Answer
Bill,

Try saving as an .eps file instead of a jpg. Depending on what version of Word you are using, it can accept that format. Also, if you need to export as a jpg, make sure you have checked under Effects>Document Raster Effects Settings and make sure it is high res. The other thing to check is your settings when you export the PDF from Word. Try printing the Word doc natively and compare it to the PDF.

Thanks

Kevin