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My partner draws cartoons (there are several examples on our web-site) which
we use for PowerPoint presentations among other things.
For line art (which is what you're talking about here), we use .GIF format,
since you can display it on the web and in PowerPoint and it's pretty lean
in terms of file size.
We generally draw 'actual size', but have found that line art generally
scales pretty well in any case, so I tend not to worry about it. I keep
_expecting_ to run into problems, but it hasn't happened yet. For example,
the cartoons in our 'usability toolkit' area are all scaled from larger
sizes (they're about 50% actual size, from memory). So for the PowerPoint
presentation, I'd measure the printed area, and try to get the cartoon drawn
to that size.
One obvious limitation to size is what your scanner can handle, so the
suggestion of 8.5 x 11 inches is sensible.
We scan at 72dpi (dots per inch) for screen presentation, since any more is
a waste of disk space for screen display. If you were printing a manual or
training materials, you'd probably scan at 300dpi.
For presenting on the web, we do a few tricks in PhotoShop to get file size
to an absolute minimum. (If anyone's interested I can post the step-by-step,
which is fairly short.)
As to 'line width' - we just use whatever produces the right effect and
don't worry about it. I've found that occasionally if lines are very thin
they may 'grey' out, so it's best to use a very black marker. We use markers
rather than drawing pens - I imagine if we started using very fine lines
we'd have drop-out occurring.
I should also point out that I'm _not_ an expert; all I can tell you is what
works for us & our clients.
In any case, I'd recommend you get your artist to produce one sample, and
play with that before proceeding.
- Gerry
_____________________
Gerry Gaffney
Information & Design
PO Box 1255
Windsor VIC 3181
Australia
_____________________
----- Original Message -----
From: Allison, Nancy <Nancy -dot- Allison -at- TFN -dot- COM>
To: <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Sent: Thursday, 15 July 1999 5:29
Subject: Help! Cartoons for PowerPoint presentation (long)
> I'm going to give a talk in August at a conference. To add a little
interest
> and humor, I've hired an artist to draw some topical cartoons.
>
> I've never done this before. I need to advise the artist on what size the
> originals should be, what line width, etc. I will be scanning the art into
> the computer -- the artist does not have a computer and will be working on
> paper. I've already said that the cartoons need to be simple -- no fine
> lines or lots of little details. But I'm sure there's more practical info
I
> can give her.
>
> My presentation will be in a PowerPoint file, which will be shown on a
> screen at the head of the room (typical conference presentation). I've
never
> done that, either!
>
> So, the cartoons need to be:
>
> --drawn with a line width that ultimately will be visible when projected
up
> on a screen, as part of a PowerPoint slide, in a conference room
>
> --scanned from paper into digital format
>
> --saved in an appropriate file format (JPEG? BMP? What?)
>
> --imported into a PowerPoint file
>
> --displayed visibly in a conference room
>
>
>
> And I've never done ANY of this before. Help! Questions:
>
> ----Can anybody advise me of how to do any of these steps?
>
> ----What line width should I tell the artist to use?
>
> ----I've suggested the original cartoons be drawn on 8.5 x 11" paper. Does
> that sound right?
>
> ----At what resolution should I scan them into the computer?
>
> ----What file format is best to save them in?
>
> ----At what resolution should I import them into PowerPoint?
>
> ----Does the term "anti-aliasing" have some relevance to any of this? Is
> there something I can do to make the cartoons look as good as possible
> online?
>
> ----Is there some technical question of glaring importance that I'm too
> clueless to ask?
>
> Thanks very, very much!
>
> --Nancy
>
>
>
From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
>
>
>
