FILE PREPARATION ('print-ready’) We want you to be thoroughly satisfied with the printing you receive from us. But we cannot always accomplish that without your help. Quality printing requires quality document files . . . that is, files that have been created, assembled and saved properly. So to assist you in providing us with ‘print-ready’ electronic files, below we offer a few guidelines to keep in mind while creating your document. Files conforming to these guidelines will greatly reduce the likelihood of delays, errors, additional charges, and disappointing results. So please review carefully, double check your files before sending, and contact us 888-665-5511 if you have any questions, problems, or need additional information. General Advise Using the right tool for the job is always advisable, but it is especially important when creating documents intended for reproduction in print. Your document layout and text should be created in a ‘page layout program’ such as QuarkXPress, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, etc. Photographs should be scanned or imported, altered, sized and saved in a 'graphics program’ such as Adobe PhotoShop. Art and graphics are best created or imported, altered, sized and saved in programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. Once photos and graphic images have been refined into finished form, they are transported from the 'graphics programs' and placed in your page layout program document (*note - please do not embed your photos). Simply using one program to ‘do it all’ can create a myriad of problems when it comes time to convert a ‘digital’ file to a ‘rasterized' (offset printing) file. DOCUMENT FILE FORMATS Generally, we are able to print your orders from either your 'Native' files (all program files originally used to create your document), or a high-resolution PDF. When 'Native' files are submitted, you must also include all fonts and images (photo's*, logos, art, etc.) used to create the document, along with the compiled document saved as a pdf, tiff, or eps (which serves as a content proof for us). 'Native' files allow us the ability to make any alterations and/or corrections to your job quickly and efficiently (if needed). However, file size can sometimes become an issue when sending 'Native' files online. Therefore, when saved correctly, it's often best to send us your document in a high-resolution PDF format. In most programs, this can be accomplished by using "Distiller" and checking the "Press Quality" option. However, if you have questions on how to save your document as a high-resolution PDF, simply call us at 888-665-5511 and ask to speak with one of our prepress specialists. NATIVE FILE PROGRAMS SUPPORTED We support current versions of the following application programs in either Windows or Mac platforms: QuarkXPress Adobe PageMaker Adobe InDesign Microsoft Publisher Adobe PhotoShop * Adobe Illustrator Macromedia Freehand *not recommended for creating documents with large amounts of text (remember - use the right tool for the job) Document files created in application programs other than those listed above must be submitted as a high-resolution PDF, or if necessary, in either a high-resolution TIFF or EPS format. * Please make sure your software is capable of providing a high resolution output before creating documents intended for offset printing reproduction. IMAGE REQUIREMENTS IMAGE FILE FORMATS Graphic images (photographs, artwork, etc.) should be saved in either a TIFF or EPS format. File formats such as JPG and GIF are predominantly used in web applications and generally will not meet the ‘resolution’ requirements for printing. However, JPG images from a digital camera or a professional photographer are typically a higher caliber than JPG’s found on the web, and therefore will generally reproduce well on a printing press (assuming, of course, the pixel resolution is high enough). RESOLUTION Always consider your images in terms of the actual size they will be used in your document. Image resolution should be 300 dpi at the actual printed size. Image quality begins to drop significantly below 250 dpi, but will not increase appreciably above 300 dpi. So it is not advisable to enlarge 300 dpi images in your layout document by more than 120%, or reduce image size by more than 30%. You must also be aware that unless you have purchased online stock photography, images pulled from the web are generally only 72 dpi and are therefore unusable for printing applications. COLOR The process for creating color electronically is entirely different than the process used in offset printing. The digital world revolves around three colors: Red, Green, and Blue (RGB). But the printing industry is based on four colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). Therefore, in order to print a digital file, all RGB images must be converted to CMYK. Most application programs allow the option to work in either color system. However, you should know that RGB can yield a broader spectrum of color, which means that it is possible to create colors in RGB which have no true conversion in CMYK. We therefore highly recommend that you make all RGB to CMYK conversions before sending your files to us. That way, if you’re not happy with the way a particular color translates, you can change it. But when the task of converting is left to us, we do not know your tastes and can only print whatever colors result from a standard conversion. Also keep in mind that the same document, when viewed on two different monitors, might very well look noticeably different. That’s because monitors vary in terms of age, quality, and calibration. You should therefore expect some subtle changes in appearance when your document is printed as compared to when it's viewed on your monitor. Remember: low-resolution images and/or RGB images which have not been converted to CMYK will almost always lead to unhappy results. BLEEDS AND COPY AREA An image which is intended to extend to the very edge of the sheet is referred to as a ‘bleed’. When creating bleeds it is necessary to expand the image an extra 1/8” beyond the actual finished size of the document. The job is then printed on an oversized sheet and trimmed to final size. ‘Copy area’ is the space on your document in which all of the text will appear. As a general rule we advise that all copy area be kept a minimum of 1/8” from the edge of the sheet (and usually 1/4” or more is better). If for no other reason (and there are some), copy too close to the edge just looks like a mistake! ADDITIONAL PREP TIPS Designs which incorporate large solid black areas or large, bold, black headline type (36 point or larger) should be created in ‘Rich Black’. This is accomplished by using 30% cyan plus 30% magenta as an underlay to 100% black. Rich Black prevents large black areas from having a ‘grayish’ appearance. However, Rich Black should never be used for standard “body copy” (type size below 36 point). When submitting native files, you can avoid having to send all fonts used in your document by converting all type to ‘paths’ or ‘outlines’. This option is available in many graphics oriented programs such as Illustrator, PhotoShop, and InDesign. Just remember that this conversion will limit our ability to make changes/corrections to your document, so double-check your files before you forward them to us! Certain design techniques require a thorough understanding of the offset printing process in order to be used successfully. Designs incorporating two or more elements which become ‘married together’ in a fashion where images touch, overlap, or are layered one on top of another, should probably be avoided by anyone lacking experience in creating documents specifically intended for offset printing reproduction. The problem is that even though the document may look perfect on your monitor, and will even print correctly on your desktop printer, that does not necessarily make it a file that will easily convert to an offset printing application! However, if it's a required element in your document and you're not sure how to make it happen, we'll be happy to help! Call one of our prepress specialists at 888-665-5511. FILE INTEGRITY It is important for you to maintain a copy of the original files supplied to printforcolor.com. While great care is taken in the processing of files, we cannot unconditionally guarantee against accidental damage to your supplied media, or for the accuracy of furnished input or final output. Until printforcolor.com has the opportunity to review and evaluate your electronic files, we are unable to make claims or promises regarding printforcolor.com's ability to produce the job ordered from the files submitted. Alterations to supplied electronic files will only be made with your expressed authorization, and only after you have agreed to any additional charges that may be incurred. As a matter of course, printforcolor.com does not store electronic files for future reprints. Once a job has shipped, your files will be deleted from our system. However, if you want us to store you files for future reprints, click the appropriate box on our web site when submitting your original order (your Credit Card will be charged an additional $10.00 fee for each job printforcolor.com is instructed to store and archive). Otherwise, a new electronic file must accompany every order submitted. Also, for your own protection, you should always keep a copy of your original file, even if you have instructed us to store and archive that same file.
888-665-5511 |