Artwork Tips from Prime Group

Artwork Tips: helpful information on preparing your files for print

We receive so many discs each and every day, the majority of which produce files which we can print from without any problems. Occasionally though we get files which do not print as intended and are not what you the customer expected.

This guide has been written to help you through the stages of designing and setting up your files for print to help try to avoid extra costs incurred by us trying to rectify your files.

COLOURS

SPOT COLOURS
When choosing different colours for your job, try to choose colours from the Pantone© colour palette if your software has it. If the job you require is to be printed in process, make sure these colours are converted to their CMYK equivalent. If your job is to be printed with a spot colour, check to make sure you have just one version of the spot colour. Some packages will have a CV or a CVC version of the same colour. A good way to check how many colours you have in your document is to print separations on your desktop printer. If you have more than the required no of sheets out of the printer you have too many colours.

RGB to CMYK
Your scanner, digital camera, computer and monitor use a combination of three colours: Red, Green and Blue (RGB) to create images.

The printing process uses four colours to print the same images: Cyan (light blue), Magenta (cerise), Yellow and Black (key colour), commonly referred to as CMYK or process colours. At some stage the production workflow all RGB images have to be converted to CMYK.

The conversion from RGB images to CMYK should be done before the file is sent to us in an image manipulation package like Photoshop. If this conversion is not done there is a danger that the standard RGB to CMYK conversion profile we use may make some of the colours appear to be washed out or dull.

BLACK IS BLACK?
You may not realise, but a lot can be done with black to help you to achieve the desired results.
To get the best from our process, black can be produced in two ways. The first method is single colour black, made from 100% black ink. This is ideal for small areas such as text.On larger areas of black solid single colour black can often appear grey or washed out. The way to achieve a dense black on large areas of black solid is to print a 40% Cyan underneath the 100% Black. This will give an even and dense colour as the second colour disguises any inconsistencies.

SET-OFF
Set-off is the marking of the underside of a sheet by the transfer of ink from the sheet on which it lays. It can occur when pressure is applied during guillotining or simply while the paper is stacked. Set-off is caused by the fact that the ink is still wet, and is most prevalent on uncoated stocks.

Set-off shouldn’t happen if you are careful about the weight of colours you pick.
We have set some guidelines to help you avoid set-off or lengthy drying times. Our recommended ink coverage limit is 225%. This means that, wherever possible, the colours you use should contain less than a total of 225% when you add together cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

PROOFING

As part of our service, you have the option for us to supply you with a colour proof. If this is mentioned in the origination section of your estimate from us then it is included. If not, for peace of mind you may wish to request a proof. The proof is produced on our high-end colour inkjet printer which has been profiled to best match our machinery.

The proof is not 100% accurate and is meant as a fairly accurate guide as to how your job will look.

IMAGES

If you are scanning photographs yourself, save them as either EPS or TIFF files as this will preserve the colour and clarity of your images. If you are scanning a previously printed item, such as a magazine photo, you will need to ‘de-screen’ the image, blurring it slightly to avoid a moiré effect.

GIF or JPEG formats compress the image and actually discard information, causing colour shifts and blurriness. Don’t use either of these file formats – they may actually print in black and white and you won’t like the results.

images When you are scanning, consider the final size your image will be used at. Always scan photographs at 300dpi at the size you are going to use them. There’s no point scanning a postage stamp at 300dpi and then blowing it up to A4 size – use your scanning software to help you calculate the output resolution.

Conversely, scanning photographs at more than 300dpi will have little or no effect on the actual printed quality and will unnecessarily increase file size and processing time.

Don’t enlarge/reduce your scanned images in your drawing/vector software (such as Illustrator) – it’s always best to use an image-editing application such as Photoshop for this task.

When converting photographs from RGB to CMYK, In the ‘edit’ menu choose ‘colour settings’. From the window that appears, choose ‘custom CMYK’ from the list in the ‘CMYK’ section of ‘working spaces’. scanning flat or black and white line art (i.e. a logo), scan this at 800 to 1200dpi for best results. Any lower, and the logo may look blurry. Pay careful attention to the CMYK makeup of any ‘black’ in the logo. The automatically created Photoshop black, for example, provides 250% ink coverage. You may need to adjust the colour settings in your application to get a black that is made from 100% black ink. Make sure that any alpha channels are removed and all layers are flattened before finally saving your image.

THE JOY OF TEXT

Some Freehand text effects are known to cause problems, so don’t use underline, shadow, strikethrough and any item from “text effects” menu. Also, Quark ‘P’, ‘B’ and ‘I’ styles aren’t reliable either. Please don’t use Mac System Fonts either (such as “Times”) as they do not contain printer information and will not print. (Use “Times New Roman” instead).

text Include all fonts that you have used. Postscript fonts come in two parts – the screen font and the printer font. We need both, so please make sure you send both. To comply with the licence agreement, you should delete the fonts from your system whilst we are processing your jobs. True Type fonts only come in one part.

If you are going “cross-platform”, ie. from PC to Mac, remember that fonts don’t convert well. Check that we’ve got the same font and provide hard copies. We’ll need you to check a proof carefully since fonts from the same place can have slight differences resulting in reflow and words disappearing.

It’s fine to convert headlines and large text to curves, paths or outlines (which means that you don’t need to supply the fonts).

PAGE SIZE

It is very important that the page size of your document is the same size as the finished, trimmed document size. If the job you are creating has ink which ‘bleeds’ off the edge of the sheet, include 3mm bleed all round on each edge.

If the software package you are using will not let you set 3mm bleed then make the page size 3mm bigger on each edge, e.g. a 55x85mm business card will need to have the page size set to 61x91mm. Please tell us at the time of ordering what the finished size should be if this is how you have set up your document.

If you have more than one item you are sending us i.e. letterheads, business cards and compliment slip, it is best to make each of the page sizes the correct size i.e. letterhead A4, compliments slip 210x99mm, business card 55x85mm.

size

ACCEPTABLE FORMATS

Please always send us the native file from your application, and make sure it is clearly labelled. To avoid confusion, it would be helpful if your disk contained only the relevant files you want printing.

We are happy to accept any of the following file formats, and disk types. We’re always updating our software and hardware, so if your application or media type is not listed, please call us.

MEDIA TYPES

CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
E-mail
ISDN
USB Key
Macintosh/PC (Windows)

SOFTWARE

Freehand up to 9.0
Quark up to 7.0
Photoshop up to CS
Illustrator up toCS
InDesign up to CS
CorelDraw up to 10
MS Word - will incur charges
MS Publisher - will incur charges
Pagemaker

PDF FILES
As long as you have set your files up correctly, there is no reason why you shouldn’t send a PDF file if you have the facilities.

To discuss your artwork requirements call Adrian on 01623 499949, alternatively use our enquiry form

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CHECKLIST

Finally please use this checklist to be sure your file is supplied correctly
Page Size/Layout
Product page size is correct.
Page includes correct bleed. (3mm)
All important elements are at least 5.5mm from the page edge.
Design is created in an application we accept.
Design is saved as the native file from the application.
Design is supplied on a media type we accept.
Only files required for this job are included and are clearly labelled.
All tints have a value of 10% or more of CMYK, and that the total ink coverage of ink in any one area is between 225% and 275% maximum.
All images are converted to CMYK, and saved as TIFF or EPS files.
Photos are scanned at 300dpi at 100%, Line-art images are scanned at 800 to 1200dpi at 100%.
TIFF and EPS files are saved without any image compression (JPEG, LZW or ASCII encoded).
Any alpha channels are removed and images are flattened.
All linked/placed TIFF or EPS files are supplied.
Picture boxes in Quark Xpress have a fill other than ‘none’.
All screen and printer fonts are supplied (including those used in EPSs).
No Multiple Master, Metric or Mac Sytem fonts are used.
No effects from the ‘text effect’ menu in Freehand are used.
A mock-up or hard copy is supplied and the design works on a functional level.
No hairlines/fine lines less than 0.25pt are used.
No corel texture or postscript fills have been used.
All OLE objects have been converted to Bitmaps.
There are no EPS files within other EPSs.
Overprint items are set correctly

Proof Checklist

Are all pages included in the proof?
Are the pages in the proper order & page numbers correct?
Are all images/photos included and in proper placement?
Are photos cropped correctly? Are all photos facing the proper direction?
Do photos & graphics have good contrast?
Are all fonts correct?
Is the text crisp & spaced properly?
Are the margins & page alignment(s) correct?
Double check all names, addresses, email & web addresses, and telephone numbers
Double check spelling & punctuation
Are there any missing characters or broken type?
Are there dust spots, printing marks, or dirt marks?
Check color placement & color consistency throughout the pages. If you have received a color accurate proof, are the colors correct?
Measure the final trim size and check folds for accuracy
Verify any finishing elements like die-cuts, embossing, foils, varnishes, etc.
Verify that bleeds extend beyond the trim marks
Confirm the weight and color of the final paper stock

To discuss your paper requirements call Adrian on 01623 499949, alternatively use our enquiry form