Exporting to JPEG without losing quality! Urgernt!

[Sahar_M_H]

How do you export a large presentation file, A3 size, with photography vectors...etc  to a max 2 MB in illustrator CS4??

I've tried rasterizing, changing quality and resolution and all the combinations i tried the best i got the file down to was 3 MB and it's still not amazing quality, i have bleed around text and color is affected..

Please help..

[Steve Fairbairn]

This sounds like a contradiction in terms.

By saving as JPEG you are automatically losing quality – that's what JPEG compression does. It's a lossy kind of compression.

LZW tiff is not lossy but usually doesn't compress images as much as JPEG.

I'm not exactly sure what it is you are trying to do, but have you explored all possibilities in Acrobat?

For example, Smallest File Size will only compress placed images while leaving vector work unscathed.

[Sahar_M_H]

I have to save it as JPEG, it's not my choice...PDF would have been the way to go for me..

That is why i need a way to save this file as a JPEG without getting the bleed over around the text. I tried the export option in illustrator, played with the quality setting to 5 and used the baseline optimized option and i got it to 2 MB or less...but i still have bad quality on the text..

What options are you referring to with acrobat...how can i do this with acrobat?

Thanks

[Steve Fairbairn]

What options are you referring to with acrobat...how can i do this with acrobat?

I was merely referring to the compression options for making pdfs (JPEG compression for images only).

If you're stuck with making a JPEG file of the whole thing then they're not much help.

And of course text quality will be lousy – that's what JPEG does.

Why JPEG if that's not the way you want to go?

Or is it just an ill-informed person that is asking for JPEG format?

Acrobat pdf is the best format, so maybe you just explain why and see if the other person changes his mind when he understands the problem and sees the results of each method?

[Sahar_M_H]

I am submitting this presentation to a design competition... and those were their requirements...JPEG only and 2MG

so i thought i could find help here....because i know what you guys are saying, jpeg kills quality.

Will try to resize the photos i have in the presentation in photoshop first and then add them to illustrator, then i might not have to drop down the quality setting when exporting to JPEG in illustrator...might save my text from looking so terrible....

Thanks for trying to help guys..

[_scott_]

Open the Ai file in Photoshop. Save for web....

[Steve Fairbairn]

Do what Scott says.

I reckon that if they specify the physical size, the maximum file weight and the file format they can't be expecting much. They want a sort of general idea and aren't looking at fine detail. A Photoshop web save is probably the best you can do. You might try using Unsharp Mask to make things look crisper. But JPEG is bound to be a bit grotty whichever way you go.

[Scott Falkner]

You can’t fit ten gallons of water in a five gallon jug. If you need amazing quality, forget about file size. If you need under 2 MB, then expect to lose some quality.

Back up. Rather than telling us you need something so specific (raster image in a certain format with a specific size limitation) tell us what you are trying to do with it. Another format or process may work better for you.

[Luke_Jennings]

For this project, use RGB. If your images are already cmyk, see if you can find original RGB files, if they exist, and use those. RGB jpegs will be slightly smaller than CMYK, and starting with RGB will likely give you better color than converting to RGB from CMYK (save for web or convert to profile in Photoshop). I would also submit a nice PDF with the jpeg, just in case the contest rules are outdated (lets hope so).