Support and FAQs...

Quality slides start with specialized equipment

At express Slides we use a proprietary configuration of computers, film recorders, software, and photo lab equipment to produce the finest quality slides available. Our professional floor standing film recorders have the industry's largest imaging unit and custom optics designed to produce the finest quality PowerPoint and digital camera slides. We also use professional Kodak slide film which is kept in refrigerated storage to insure consistent high quality results.

Our film recorders have a true PostScript raster image processor. Programs such as PowerPoint and Corel Draw have features that only image properly with a PostScript film recorder. We also use custom page scaling to virtually eliminate slide mount cropping.

Our film processor is a batch processor which means your slides are always developed in fresh chemistry for consistent results time after time. Plus, we have the expertise and lab test equipment of our photo lab division to insure proper chemistry control.

File Formats

We can image slides from virtually all file formats/software application. Below is a list of the most popular files that we support. If you do not see your file format or software listed give us a call or send an email. In all likelihood we can handle it as well.

PhotoShop PSD (RGB)
PowerPoint
TIFF (TIF) (RGB)
JPEG (JPG)
MS Word
MS Publisher
PostScript 3
PDF
EPS
GIF
Corel Draw - all versions up to v10 (Win)
PageMaker - version 7.0 (Win)
InDesign
Corel WordPerfect Suite
Portable Network Graphics
Kodak Photo CD
Kodak FlashPix
 

File Preperation

Express Slides uses the latest technology therefore there is little file preparation needed. For 99% of our customers it's as simple as send your files, we make the slides. Below are a few common questions we are asked. If you have any additional questions please contact us.

Digital Camera Files (TIF, JPG, PSD etc.)

File Size - When making slides, page size and dpi are not relevant. Modern film recorders (the devise that makes the slides) only use the pixel information. In most cases you will want to use a file that has a pixel count of at least 1600 on the longer side. This is approximately the resolution of a 2 mega pixel digital camera or a 5MB TIFF file. Good slides can be made of smaller files but 1600 pixel for the longer dimension is a good rule of thumb. We can make slides from TIFF files as large as 145 MB at no additional charge.

Do not resample your files! Resampling, resizing or changing the dpi of your files will degrade the image quality. At Express Slides we use the latest film recorders that are continually variable up to 8192x5462 pixels so resampling is not necessary. This feature of our film recorders will deliver vastly superior sharpness in your slides!

Slide Mount Cropping - A unique feature of Express Slides is that our slides mounts do not cover your image. No part of your image is cropped! There is no need to leave a 3% black margin around your image. Plus our slides mounts are pin-registered so your slides do not float around in the mount.

Slide Ratio - A full-frame 35mm slide has a length to width ratio of 3:2. This means the length is 1.5x the width. Digital cameras have a ration of 4:3. Does this matter? Usually not. When we image a file that does not have a 3:2 ratio the image is centered within the slide and a black margin will appear on 2 sides.

Image with 3:2 Ratio Note: Image fills the frame		Image with 4:3 Ratio (Digital Camera) Note: the black margin

PowerPoint Files
There are usually only two items to change in PowerPoint. First, in page setup, set your page size to 35mm slides. Second, when you save your presentation, use the Save As... command in the File menu and check the embed TrueType box. Because we use high end PostScript film recorders this is really about it. Go ahead, use EPS graphics, PostScript fonts, TrueType fonts, transparent GIF's our systems can handle it all.
 

File Uploading
After you place your order there will be a link in a big blue box on the "thank you" page for uploading your files. If you would like to take a look at this upload page before submitting your order click this link.