How to: The difference between Photographic files and Indexed

When we receive files from our clients for digital fabric printing, they come in one of two formats —  indexed or photographic.

A photographic file is generally larger and is only necessary when the image to be printed has a lot of complicated gradients, such as a photo-realistic image. Basically it means there are too many colors and could not be simplified to a manageable palette. Now, this doesn’t mean that the photographic file needs to be huge just to properly print. There’s really no need for anything above 300 dpi.

Photographic Image File

An indexed file, otherwise known as color separated, works best for clean designs that don’t have a lot of complicated gradients or photographic qualities. Sometimes an indexed file will have 5 colors in it, sometimes 15 and sometimes 50! It all depends on the type of image you are dealing with. Image files can be reduced in a flash using Photoshop and the steps described in this link.

Indexed File with 2 colors

It’s a cinch, I promise.