I. PAGE LAYOUT
1. Only postscript compatible page layout applications are accepted such as:
a. Adobe Pagemaker
b. Adobe Photoshop
c. Correl Draw
d. Quark Express
e. PDF, High Resolution
Microsoft Word or Powerpoint are NOT ACCEPTABLE.
2. All Linked images must either be in bitmapped, grayscale or CMYK (w/ Pantone) modes. RGB, JPEGs, GIFS, TARGA, etc. are NOT ACCEPTABLE.
3. Colors
When you design your document, the colors you see on the screen are made up of the following three color components: red, green and blue (such color scheme is known as RGB). The monitor mixes these three colors to produce other colors. However, printers and other polygraphic equipment use another set of color components: Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow and Black (this scheme is called "CMYK"). Consider this when designing your document — avoid using colors that are too bright, because the colors on paper may not always match those you see on the screen.
CMYK Colors must be created as process colors, spot colors as pantone selected colors.
4. Default trapping must be set not more than .0.3 of a point; lighter colors must be set as spreads (+) and darker colors as chokes (-); black must be set to overprint.
5. Images rotated in small increments in the page documents will not RIP and should therefore be rotated in Photoshop.
6. Images must be linked with the page documents and fonts must be submitted along with the document.
7. Boldfaced/Italic fonts should be selected instead of clicking the B/I tool.
8. PDF and Fonts
When you export your document to PDF, all fonts are embedded automatically. Nevertheless, they may sometimes display incorrectly in the print shop (depending on the software and equipment they use). If you wish to insure yourself against such problem, save your document to the TIFF format. The quality will remain the same, and the text will look exactly as you want it to. Even better if you bring the material in both PDF and TIFF formats, and let the printing company choose which one works best for them.
II. ILLUSTRATION DOCUMENTS
1. Only postscript compatible files such as Macromedia Freehand, Adobe Illustrator, Correl Draw files are acceptable
2. Graphics saved in these documents cannot be trapped in the page application and therefore must be trapped manually by adding an outline/frame using the same color with a 0.3 thickness.
3. Placed images cannot RIP if rotated and therefore rotation must be done in the image application.
4. All placed images must be embedded.
5. Illustration documents must be saved as EPS format.
6. All type should be selected and outlined to prevent any missing font issue, otherwise, fonts should be supplied.
7. Pagination cannot be applied in illustrator document and must therefore be created and saved a file for every page and then imported to a page document.
III. IMAGE DOCUMENTS
1. Adobe Photoshop is the common application software used.
2. All bitmapped, grayscale and CMYK images must either be saved as tiffs (PC platform) or tiffs/eps (MAC platform).
3. Resolution
You may want to use photos and images obtained from a digital camera, scanner or from the Internet. Resolution is crucial for high quality of the printed picture. A picture that looks all right on the screen, may have jagged edges and appear fuzzy when printed. So, your image must be at a resolution of at least 300 dpi. To check whether your image has enough resolution, zoom in on your document until 600%. If the image looks acceptable, it will look fine when printed.
Images must have a minimum resolution of:
* 1200 dpi for bitmap, 350 dpi for greyscale CMYK for a 150 lpi output;
* 1,000 dpi for bitmap, 300 dpi for greyscale/CMYK for a 133 lpi output;
* 800 dpi for bitmap, 200 dpi for greyscale/CMYK for an 85 lpi output.
4. All images with clipping paths, images with duotones/tritons must be saved as eps format.
5. Dropdown vanishing shadows must be created using only the black channel and must not exceed 30% value.
6. All images must be rotated using this application instead of the page application.
7. Layered documents saved as Photoshop must be flattened in order to be placed in a page document.
8. Hi-res images can be rezzed down, but low-res images cannot be rezzed up (the same size pixels will show.)
9. Images cannot be saved using compression as this will greatly affect loss of detail.
10. Images taken from the web are usually low-res (72 dpi) and therefore cannot be used.
MORE TIPS
Text background
To make flyers, brochures and other printed production more attractive, designers use background images. If you have such background images behind text, make sure, that the text is readable. Don't make background too dark behind the black text.
Check spelling and punctuation
Before you send your documents to a print shop check spelling and punctuation. Some text editors can do this for you. Don't let an unfortunate misprint bring your work to nothing.
Make a hard copy of your document
Before ordering thousands copies of your document, print one to see that all is done well. This will help you to avoid mistakes. May be you will see something what you miss on the screen.
