Sending out an image file

Being a 'one man marketing department' is fun, but not without its drawbacks.

Often I need some simple art to send out; today it is for a trade-show booth banner. I know what I want and I've already laid it out in Fireworks. I'm not an artist, but for some things I'm good enough to get by. Its not worth calling out the 'big guns' at the ad agency to do it for me.

But the printer needs it in a certain format. While Fireworks' PNG format is supposed to be widely available, most people are unaware of it, or unsure if it will upload correctly. And I don't blame them. I can 'save as' other file formats. But its hard to be sure that what I send out is what the recipient can use.

For today's graphic, a 'vector' type file is preferrable, so that it can scale to a large banner. But there is color bit-map associated with it. And I'm supposed to identify the PMS colors in the graphic...apparently no one trusts what is embedded in the file regarding color anyway.

In the past I was once called to meetings with five people to primarily settle on file-format issues, and three of those people were pros. Is it always this hard for electronic art? Is there an easier way to ensure graphic files can be handed off with confidence?