TAGGED IMAGE FILE FORMAT
FOR IMAGE TECHNOLOGY (TIFF/IT)

• standard format for exchanging rasterized (bitmapped) data
• enables high-end CEPS (color electronic prepress systems) with non-compatible proprietary data formats to share data with one another and with desktop systems
• supports color and b/w halftones, line art, and text
• stable, portable, "tamper-proof" (like a fax)
• favored by advertising agencies and publisher of ad material; supported by DDAP (Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publications)
• image-editing applications (e.g., Photoshop) will save graphics as TIFFs
• TIFFs can be imported into PostScript and PDF layouts
• TIFF files can save CMYK separations in a single file for automatic output of color seps in page-layout applications
• supports "lossless" file compression (LZW)
• does not store object-oriented (vector) graphics

ENCAPSULATED POSTSCRIPT (EPS)

• can encode vector as well as bitmapped data
• "PostScript file with a preview": cross-platform compatible; resolution-independent
• consists of PostScript code plus low-res bitmap image for monitor display and page layout
• EPS images created in vector-based apps like Illustrator and Freehand can be imported and manipulated (but not "edited" per se) by page- layout programs
• permits higher file compression ratios than TIFF through use of "lossy" (JPEG) data compression

OPEN PREPRESS INTERFACE (OPI)

• automatically replaces low-res "placeholder" images with high-res final images for output
• lets desktop workstations place, crop, and rotate the low-res placeholders instead of choking on the voluminous high-res files, which are stored on the OPI server until it's time to "swap"