design for print question.

[mal pacino]

I've only ever done logos for web use and never for print - always in photoshop. My new client wants the logo I am making to be available for his business cards and I come here with a few questions.

It will be four or three colours only. No photographic imagery.

1. Should I make it in photoshop or illustrator?

2. If I do make it in photoshop, when I open the new file, what is the best resolution to use for print?

3. When I use the colours what is the cmyk colour pallete? Is that used for print as opposed to rgb?

In fact I'm just open to any advice as i'm a novice when it comes to print based design.

Thanks guys.

[FlashKid105]

I think you'll be fine with using either program. It all comes down to which program you have the most experience with. I'm not exactly sure as to which resolution would be best as I've never dealt with these things before. However, keep in mind that for print, it's always best to use the CMYK color scheme. If you use RGB, you'll have problems with colors looking way off. So yeah, CMYK is always used for print.

[mal pacino]

thanks flash

[tonytryout]

one of our designers does print work in Photoshop sometimes and he mentioned that he always use 300 for resolution.

Be warned though the file size can get huge.

[CDP-Design]

if its a logo ur designing it should always be designed in vector, then if it ever need to have effects added to it for advertising or something similar the vector image cane be imported into photoshop to work on. Vector is scaleable raster isnt eg vector is the best option as you dont need to produce ur logo at 20inchesx20inches or something ridiculous just to ensure it will always have clarity.

Think i rambled on a bit there - use illustrator it can always be imported into photoshop and vector is better than raster for logo design there we go.

[littleMatt]

Yeah CMYK or Spot colours always! RGB is for projected light – Monitors, TV screens etc. CMYK is for reflected light – Anything printed.

The good thing about Spot colours is you can use shades of one spot colour in your design, so it doesn’t look one colour, but as far as Mr Printer is concerned it is... Could save you £’s on printing.

And yeah like CDP said, illustrator all day long!!

[mal pacino]

Illustrator it is then ladies, Thanks