Electronic Files

• Prepress is primarily Macintosh based. We accept files created with the following applications:
  QuarkXPress • Illustrator • Photoshop •  InDesign • Acrobat
   
• In addition, we are also equipped to handle PC files. We support the following programs on the PC platform:
  QuarkXPress • Photoshop • PageMaker •  Acrobat
   
• Prepress is equipped to receive electronic files on the following types media:
  Floppy Disk • 100MB Zip Disk • CD-ROM
   
• We can also receive files by modem, E-mail and FTP. 
  Please contact your sales rep. for further details.

• All fonts used within final documents, and within art placed into final documents, must be supplied.
  We recommend Adobe PostScript fonts for the most reliable output. PostScript fonts are comprised of a screen font (the bitmapped part of the font—usually in a suitcase) and the printer font (the PostScript part of the font). Both parts of all variations of the fonts (typestyles) must be supplied for proper output. Fonts used within EPS picture files must be supplied, unless outlines were created for this text within an illustration program. Even though Prepress has a font library, the exact font used to create the document insures text will output as expected. Since missing fonts is a common problem, and manually collecting fonts can be difficult, we suggest using a program with an automatic font collection feature (like FlightCheck or PreFlight Designer).
   
• Do not stylize a font with a bold or italic attribute—only use the actual font for a desired effect. 
  Some programs provide a feature which allows you to apply a bold or italic attribute to the plain version of a font. If the bold or italic version of the font is available, it may print correctly from a laser printer, but the style is often lost during film output.

• Page size should match size of printed piece before folding.
   
• Folds should work properly.
  The sizes of panels & the alignment of objects to folds should be carefully measured. Panels folding into other panels should be slightly smaller to prevent the panels from binding against each other. For example, with a standard tri-fold pamphlet, the sizes of the three panels of an 11" wide sheet should fold to 3 11 /16", 3 11 /16", and 3 5 /8". Folds should be specified with dashed crop marks near the edge of the page to specify the exact panel sizes.
   
• 1/8" of image should extend beyond page boundaries for bleeds.
   
• Links to any imported images must be established, and updated to the most recent versions of these images.
   
• Colors have to be correctly specified as CMYK or spot depending on the inks to be used on press.
  Since colors used within an imaging program are imported into the layout program along with the image, planning the use of color is necessary at the start of a project (see specifics under Images section). In addition to imported colors, the color palette of the final document must be correctly edited in order to separate the document into only the desired colors.
   
• Four-color—all images and colors have to be CMYK.
  For example, in Quark 3, the Process Separation box within the Edit Color dialogue box must be selected for all colors used; in Quark 4, the Spot Color box must be deselected.
   
• Spot-color—all images and objects must use only the colors specified for the job.  
  Deleting all other colors from the color palette, and making sure there is only one name for a specific spot color can prevent additional colors from being used.
   
• White should not be used as a gradient value. 
  0% of another color within the gradient should be used in place of white to avoid color separation problems.
   
• A fill of none should not be applied to a grayscale or CMYK TIFF picture box in Quark 3.  
  Although transparent areas may appear within the image, jagged edges will result upon output. A clipping path should be used to create true transparency.
   
• Halftone screen angles of two or more spot colors should be different.  
  If duotones or gradients involving spot colors are used, the screen value setting for each color should be different. Moiré patterns may result if the screen angles remain the same. The default screen angle values for black, cyan, magenta, and yellow can be applied to a color in Quark’s Edit Color dialogue box.

• All images linked to the final document must be supplied.  
  Images placed within art which is imported into the final document usually are necessary (unless they are embedded). This type of image will not be collected by Quark’s standard "Collect for Output" feature -- as with fonts, other software will collect this type of "twice removed" image

• Colors must be CMYK for a four-color job.  
  Although spot colors imported from a vector-based program can often be converted to CMYK within a page layout program, unexpected color shifts may occur. Using only CMYK colors insures expected colors.
   
• Spot colors can not be CMYK.
  Objects colorized with CMYK colors will be missing when film is output for each spot color.
   
• A spot color can have only one name.  
  If a number of programs are used to create various items in a document, a spot color’s name must be spelled exactly the same in all cases.
   
• White should not be used as a gradient value. 
  0% of another color within the gradient should be used in place of white to avoid color separation problems.
   
• Illustrator files should have "Use printer’s default screen" deselected, and if gradients are used, "Compatible gradient printing" should be selected.  
  Both of these choices are in the Document Setup dialogue box.

• Line art should be 1200ppi & bitmap.  
  Although more detail can be obtained by scanning line art as grayscale, a final conversion to bitmap mode insures all pixels are either 100% black or white. With grayscale line art there tends to be a hairline at the edge of the image which is not 100% black. This hairline is converted to a halftone when the image is output to film, resulting in jagged looking line art -- actually a row of halftone dots along the edge of the image.
   

Continuous-tone images should be 300ppi.
In order to maintain proper resolutions, picture files should not be greatly resized within the final layout—
effective resolution decreases as the size of the image is increased.
TIFF, EPS and trapped DCS2 files are standard formats.
LZW TIFFs, JPEGs, other compressed formats and PICTs should not be used.
Images must be CMYK or grayscale for a four-color job.
If a monotone or duotone is to be used, the effect can be maintained, but the image must be converted to
CMYK, or colorized in Quark as a grayscale image.

Images should not be colorized in Quark if spot colors are involved.
Colorizing TIFFs in Quark is OK if it is a four-color job, but the image will not separate correctly as a spot
color. A monotone or duotone created in a raster image editing program should be used. Line art as bitmap note: If the image is a color other than black in a spot color job, duotone mode must be used in order to colorize it as a monotone. The threshold adjustment function within Photoshop can establish 100% black and white in grayscale mode before converting to duotone mode.
Fewer points in a clipping path insures smooth curves and fewer problems with output.
Many points on a clipping path coupled with a low flatness value can prevent a document from printing. We suggest leaving the flatness value blank when saving the image. When the flatness value is blank, the
image is printed using the printer’s default setting.
When saving Photoshop EPSs: "Include Halftone Screen" & "Include Transfer Function" should be
deselected. Only in rare cases would these settings be used for film output. If an image is to use one of these settings, please confirm this with a note on the supplied print.
Any Illustrator 9.0 or higher files should be back saved to at least version 8.0 to avoid transparency issues.

Reference Materials
Clearly label all materials being supplied with the name of the person to be contacted if there are any
questions, including company information and phone numbers.

Reference Prints
Prints should be provided as a reference to what the document should look like in print
Printed from exactly the same document we are receiving. Depending on the type of file you are providing
(color or black & white), an actual-size, color or black & white print should be provided. If a color printer is not available, clearly label black & white prints with appropriate color names. Ideally, a PostScript laser
printer, or at least a PostScript printer should be used.
A working dummy should be provided when multiple pages or folding is involved.

Print color separations.
Printing color separations can help determine if the file is ready for press and can be color separated
properly from a PostScript imaging device. If there is a problem outputting from a designer’s printer, often it will not output properly to film -- troubleshooting can begin before the file is sent. Missing font problems can also be detected by activating only the fonts you plan to provide when printing. This can most conveniently be done by way of a font management utility.

Artwork to be Scanned
Clearly mark crops and final sizes for all images we are to scan. Do not draw on the picture itself. We are
equipped with a Hewlett Packard ScanJet 6300C Scanner with a flat size of 8.5” X 11.5". We can accept
almost any flat reflective media, Please allow extra time for scanning and loose color proofs when
scanning is involved.