File size, compression and quality?
David Artman:
Out of curiosity, why not use ZIP compression on the art, and make it whatever format you want (ex: BMP or TIF)? It's lossless compression which will still get a lot done for your sheet, as it's got long strips of identical color, making "white space" compression efficient.
As for home printing, I'd suggest 600dpi. If you're going for pro printing, I'd up it to something between 1200 and 2400 dpi (ask your web press provider for their screen lines, to calculate the best maximum).
As for file size... what, you want cake with that, too? It's the age-old adage, rewrit:
Accurate, On Time, Under Budget: Pick Two
(Small File Size, High Quality Art, No Use of Layers: Pick Two)
David
btrc:
Good questions/comments. Answers (sort of):
1) Acrobat does not support transparency as far as I know. So, I can't have an image layer and a text layer. That was a good idea, though. Also, the text layers on the image interact with the background texture, so I'm not sure separate layers would look that good. I have to live with no text effects for the user-modified bits, but they really do help the "look" for the ornamentation on the rest of the sheet. And, the background image has to be -in- the final pdf. I can't just use an external file reference.
2) The file you see is simply a pdf that has a bunch of Acrobat form fields and buttons on top of it for the user-adjustable bits. I can adjust the underlying pdf image without adjusting the overlying form fields. This lets me experiment with different compression/resolution settings without having to redo the program coding, but it is not really "layers" in the sense of photoshop layers. The two layers do not interact in any way. The background image has to be a pdf, rather than a png or other format. Now, I can save as a pdf in photoshop with options that preserve the fonts and vector data. I've done so and it looks freaking gorgeous. But it also takes up tens of megabytes of space, since much of the original image has vector effects (all those fancy shapes with gradients, etc.). But, that does give me an idea. I'll have to go into the original image, flatten out all the vector effects except for the fonts and try to save it as a "font-preserved" pdf and see what the size looks like.
3) The image saved as a zip compressed pdf is significantly larger than a jpeg compressed one. Mainly because the sheet has so much detail, there are no big image blocks where a large file savings can be had. Even the big white dial has a subtle texture to it. I'm probably stuck with a lossy compression scheme.
4) Since all the coding for the character generation is Acrobat-dependent, I have to use Acrobat rather than some other program. If it were just a question of file quality, I'd have any number of options. But this has to work in Acrobat, so I'm stuck with a either zipped or jpeg pdf as my file type.
FYI, the source image is a 350 megabyte Photoshop document that takes up well over a gig of memory when opened. For instance, each one of those brass pieces is an effect that takes six layers to accomplish, the wood background is a single 600dpi color image, and I have an entire subset of layers just for those little nails holding the brass plates to the wood. So, getting the file as small as I have is a major accomplishment. I just want more...;)
Sorry if it sounds like I'm just shooting down a bunch of good suggestions. I'm just constrained by the fact I sell pdf downloads, so everything has to be the right shape peg to fit into that hole.
Greg
BTRC
P.S. If you've played with the questions page to make a character using that sheet, consider it as a possible model for your games. I managed to make character generation a (hopefully) intriguing Q & A process, automated it and made it work with what is essentially a point-based rpg (EABA). But, there is no reason it couldn't work with other types of rpg, and the algorithms I used could be done manually in a conventionally printed rpg (answer a dozen questions about your PC, and the answers make the man...). It's kind of cool to say "this is who I am", and then see the character that comes from the answers to your questions. I'm still tweaking the parameters, but I like the overall results so far.
And if anyone reading this is into downloaded games, I'd be happy to give you pointers for creating your own Q & A system. The coding isn't that much of pain once you figure out what you're doing.
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