What is a comp?
On the Ultimate Symbol site, a comp or compositing image is a low-resolution, digitally watermarked file that you can use as a draft. You can download the image, place it in your publishing or design program, and judge whether it works for your project or not.

What is a digital watermark?
Like the marks papermakers impress into their products so that they can be identified, in a similar way images on the Ultimate Symbol site bear an electronic mark (blue line) to identify them as comps. The blue line serves as a reminder to you that the comp file will need to be replaced with the final purchased image before you publish your work electronically or in print.

Downloading a comp file
Mac OS: Click and hold your mouse button down over the comp image until a pop-up menu appears. Choose "Save This Link As..." or "Download Link To Disk..." from the pop-up menu. A dialog box will appear. Choose where you would like the file saved, then click the "Save" button.

Windows: Right-click over the comp image until a pop-up menu appears. Choose "Save This Link As..." or "Save Target As..." from the pop-up menu. A dialog box will appear. Choose where you would like the file saved, then click the "Save" button.

Tip: For easy retrieval, it is probably simplest to create a new folder on your Desktop (e.g., name it "Comps") and save the comps you will be using to that folder. Then, when you go to select the comp image file from the application's file dialog box, you can find it quickly.

Using a comp with your publishing or graphics program
Comps may be brought into most programs that support JPEG file formats. If your program can handle the memory requirements and you need to output a better quality print, however, convert the file to a TIFF before printing. (Note: As a general rule, use small image files with products such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.)

Many programs allow you to select an image file icon and, while holding the mouse down, to drag it over the program's icon to launch the program and open the image within it. Alternatively, you can open the program you will be using and either create a new file or open an existing one in which to place or insert the image. For more details about what to do once you have done this, follow the relevant instructions provided below for the most popular graphics and publishing programs. If you experience difficulty following these instructions, check your application's user manual for more information.

Adobe Illustrator
Choose File>Place. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box and click Open. The image is placed into the file and may now be repositioned, scaled, or cropped.

Adobe PageMaker
Choose File>Place. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box and click OK. The cursor changes to indicate that you are placing a graphic image. Click on the document to place the image. The image may now be repositioned, scaled, or cropped.

Adobe PageMill
Choose Insert>Object>Image or click the Insert Object button in the toolbar. The comp image appears in an image window and may now be repositioned or scaled.

Adobe Photoshop
Choose File>Open. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box and click Open. The image will open in a window, where it may be edited, cropped or modified.

CorelDRAW!
Choose File>Import. In the file dialog box choose List Files of Type>JPG. Select the comp image you want to import and click OK. The image may now be repositioned, scaled, rotated or cropped.

Macromedia Freehand
Choose File>Place. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box. (In Windows, first choose List Files of Type:>JPG, then select.) Click Open ("Place" for Windows). The cursor changes to indicate that you are placing a graphic image. Click on the FreeHand document to place the image. The image may now be edited, cropped or modified.

Microsoft Word
Choose Insert>Picture>From File. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box and click Insert. The image will open in your document and may be edited, cropped or modified.

Microsoft PowerPoint
Choose Insert>Picture>From File. Select the comp image you are going to be using from the file dialog box and click Insert. The image will open in your document and may be edited, cropped or modified.

Quark XPress
Create a picture box with one of the picture box creation tools in your Quark XPress document. Select the content tool and click on the picture box. Choose File>Get Picture. Select the image you are going to be using from the file dialog box (in Windows, first choose List Files of Type:>JPG, then select) and click Open (OK for Windows). The image is inserted into the picture box and may now be scaled, cropped or positioned within the picture box.