I have little (5 inches X 2.5inches) illustrated booklets 12 pages
total, that I want to upload to my web site. I want to allow people
anywhere to print them from the Internet with such quality that they
can take it to the printer and make their own copies in whatever
country they live in.

I have a fellow working on the first booklet and seems to be having
lots of probs. What is the best way to get this done? What software or
programs should be used that will have the widest application for
Internet viewers?

Hello pendleton-ga,

First off, I assume you do not have access to an original file and
must use a scan.  If the scan is not already made, be sure to use a
good scanner and retouch the output to match colors, get good
contrast, etc.

If you want individual users to be able to print out your pamphlet,
your best bet is going to be as a .pdf file (using Adobe Acrobat or a
word processor which will output to .pdf format) if your target
audience is Windows or Mac users.  Others will be best served by true
postscript.

If your goal is to have something that can be taken to an actual
printer, you should provide several formats.  Providing PageMaker,
Quark, and Corel Draw files will give you maximum coverage, as
printers tend to pick one and require their customers to use it, since
supporting multiple formats is very expensive.  Each program offers
different features, and getting each to work with a printer's drivers
and output hardware is tricky so printers are inflexible about what
formats they will accept.

Many will take "camera-ready art" which they essentially scan
themselves, but you want to avoid having your users print your scan,
take it to the printer to have it re-scanned, and then printed again. 
However, as an absolute fall-back, you might consider having
uncompressed images of each page of your pamphlet available, for
example in .tiff format.

I hope this helps, but if you need more information, don't hesitate to
request a clarification.

-Haversian

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Request for Answer Clarification by pendleton-ga on 10 Oct 2002 18:50 PDT

I know that I did mention scan, but in most cases I am making my booklet in 
Print Artist Platinum 4.0 by Sierra as I use a lot of images from there. 

How do I do it that way?

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Clarification of Answer by haversian-ga on 11 Oct 2002 03:43 PDT

I am unfamiliar with Print Artist, but most of what I said should
still apply.  Can Print Artist save to Acrobat format?  What about
Pagemaker, Quark, etc.?  If not, you should still be able to save the
output from PA to some graphics format (TIFF, PNG, JPG, etc.) and make
a file in Quark et al that consists of 12 pages with the corresponding
graphic on it.

Your budget may not allow you to purchase these various programs, and
Quark at least is pretty expensive, but Acrobat is only about $120 and
many cheaper packages will save to Acrobat format.  Also, if you can
get Print Artist to output graphics, you can use the Gimp (
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32 ) to edit them or save in a
plethora of formats.

You may be able to get demo copies of Pagemaker or Quark to save in
those formats.  Some demo software prohibits saving, and I have little
experience with Quark, but Adobe at least tends to be pretty generous
with their 30-day trials.  Alternately, if you know people with these
applications, you can ask to use them for a bit.

If you'd like me to investigate trial versions, or clarify further,
just ask.

Super answers. My web master is kind of new at this stuff. He was
about to give up the job, but your answers and suggestions saved the
day! I am so happy for him and myself. I just printed out a page that
he reworked using your ideas and it was just what I have asking for
for some time!

Man, do I like using Answers Google!!

Happy John!