Pre-Press Guidelines
We have prepared the following guide to assist you with your electronic file preparation and submission. If you have a specific problem that is not covered in this guide, or have other questions, please feel free to contact us. Please note that improperly prepared files can cause delays in manufacturing.
QUICK CHECKLIST
- All fonts are included.
- Type is legible and crisp.
- Page layout is correct.
- Margins are set.
- Artwork matches the specified dimensions.
- All linked files, images, and fonts are placed in separate folders.
- Colours in CMYK mode.
BLEEDS
A 3mm border must be added to pictures and designs bleeding to the edge. This ensures there is no white space or border showing around the artwork. It is also important to keep text at least 5-8mm away from the paper edge or the trim line to prevent accidental cropping.
COLOUR SPECIFICATIONS
Print previews are not a safe and sure measuring tool for colour accuracy. Colours on the file might be affected by monitor calibration, screen resolution and lighting, just to name a few. Many Pantone colours show a marked color shift when converted to four color process, and may have issues with transparency settings.
For one, two or three colour jobs printed in Pantone spot colours, make sure your colours are specified as spot colour and they separate correctly. You can test this by making a press ready PDF file, opening the document in Adobe Acrobat and running "preflight". You can also check colour separations in "output preview".
To achieve the desired colour result on the press, digital files must reflect accurate colour models and percentage. Please make sure all colours are in CMYK mode for colour accuracy and a better quality output when printing digitally.
IMAGE RESOLUTIONS
- All images and pictures should be 300 dpi.
- Rasterized text or logos should be 1200 dpi.
- Screen values should be between 133 lpi and 150 lpi.
PREFERRED FILE FORMAT
- Files should be 300 dpi at 100% of actual size for quality offset reproduction.
- Files should be saved and supplied in PDF format (flatten artwork, embed all fonts and set the screen value to 133 lpi.)
- 3mm bleed around document with crop/trim marks
DIGITAL PROOFS
We provide PDF files as electronic soft proofs. These digital proofs intend to show you the layout and design elements of your job, but cannot be a guarantee of colour accuracy. If colour accuracy is of extreme importance to you, please ask for a hard copy proof.
