Graphics and Text File Formats Used by AAAI Press
The AAAI Press and AI Magazine production departments are Macintosh based. To get the best results, provide us with graphics files in Macintosh format, preferably from one of the file formats listed below. If you have problems, or need more advice, please contact us and we'll try to help you.
Fonts
We use PostScript Type 1 fonts exclusively. If your document uses TrueType fonts, there will be slight differences in its appearance after we have converted it to PostScript.
Preferred Formats
For graphics, our preferred formats are PostScript (as long as it hasn't been generated from TeX or LaTeX) and TIFF.
For text, we prefer plain text without text-processing codes (i.e. no TeX).
Macintosh Files
If your file is not from one of the software packages below (such as Freehand), then provide us with an encapsulated PostScript file and we will be able to convert it into something we can use. (Be sure to embed all the fonts used to create the graphic.)
You can produce a PostScript file from any Mac file simply by printing it. In the destination area of the print dialogue box select "file" and in the pull-down menu, select "Embed All Fonts." You will be asked to save your file on your disk. Do so, and pass it along to us for conversion.
The software we will use to create your article or book will include:
- Adobe Photoshop (The industry standard for digital image manipulation). File formats acceptable to PhotoShop include Photoshop, Amiga IFF, BMP, Compuserv GIF, EPS, Filmstrip, JPEG, MacPaint, PCX, Pict, Pict Resource, Pixar, PixelPaint, Scitex CT, Targa, and TIFF. Note that low resolution GIF, JPEG, or Pict files will not be acceptable unless they are provided many times larger than the final desired image size. Do NOT embed your graphics files in a wordprocessing program like Microsoft Word; you will simply be making more work for yourself and for us too, and you may render your graphic unusable.
- Adobe Illustrator (Almost all EPS files will be converted to Illustrator for final output).
- Quark XPress (All text will be imported into Quark XPress for final output.) The text formats we use to import into Quark XPress include Microsoft Word, Nisus, Word Perfect, and ascii.)
Other Platforms
Postscript or TIFF are our prefered formats simply because they are platform independent. We are able to maintain the resolution of most bitmap images and are generally succesful when translating vector-based drawings. In the unlikely event that you are not able to provide us with a PostScript or TIFF version of your drawing or illustration, see the following list for some additional possibilities:
- Silicon Graphics: We can covert Image RGB files into Photoshop files. To create an RGBfile, use "Snapshot" to create a screen dump of the appropriate (i.e. the largest) area on the screen. It will be saved as a RGB file. Send it to us and let us crop the area you want used in your figure. The image resolution will only be 72 dpi, so this alternative is not recommended unless the image size is large.
- Phosphor Image files: Phosphor image files need to be saved as 8 bit TIFF files. This is a "save" option, not the default setting.
- SUN Microsystems: We can convert SUN Rasterfiles for Mac use.