Printing Files Properly

In some of my tutorials and prop write ups, I include templates that can be downloaded and used for making your own props. There are a couple of tricks to printing these files properly that I will go over here.

PDF Files.
This is a great format, because it's platform independent, and you can view the files using a free plug-in from Adobe. Many modern web browsers will already have this plug-in included with the install, but if you don't have it, download it here. If for some reason that link doesn't work, go to the adobe home page and do a search for "Acrobat".

Once you download this program, you open the .pdf file like you would any other file. Go to the "File/open" menu item, and browse for the file with the ".pdf" extension. Once open, go to "file/print". When the print dialog box comes up, be sure to UNCHECK the box marked "Fit to Page". If you check this, the graphic might print in the wrong size. Here's a screen shot that highlights the box you want unchecked.

To ensure the right sizing, I sometimes include measurements on each panel. If they print wrong, try messing with your printer settings. Worst case, take it to a photocopy machine and enlarge or shrink accordingly.

EPS Files.
This is a neat format, but it is less portable than pdf. You can open these files in programs like Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and others.

I include these files in my archives because there may be people who want to edit my files for their own purposes, but are not familiar with adobe illustrator.

As I am not familiar with all of the programs that could conceivably open eps files, I will leave printing up to the user.

AI Files.
My favorite vector format, Adobe Illustrator! This is the program I use to create all of my vector graphics. If you use Illustrator, you will have the best results printing my files, and the least headache. Currently, I am working in Illustrator 7.0. My files are all saved in this format. If for some reason you require the files to be saved to an older version of Illustrator, drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.

For the most part, printing is very straightforward for Adobe Illustrator. Simply go to "file/print" and let it rip.