Artwork 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. Improperly prepared files can cause delays in manufacturing.

Submitting Artwork

When documents are transferred between computers it is very common for problems to arise, in particular with fonts. Supposedly identical fonts can be derived from different sources creating issues with spacing, pagination, layout etc. This can affect positioning of graphics and other items within your document.

To overcome this it is best to submit your artwork in PDF format. Most mainstream applications can output documents in this format. Where possible check that fonts are embedded, the quality is set to the highest available, and crop marks are selected.

Bleeds and avoiding unwanted white edges

Where bleed is required the page size should be increased by 6mm across height and width. Pictures and designs bleeding to the edge should flow to the edge of the document so that there is no white space or border showing around the artwork. It is also important to keep text at least a 7mm away from the paper edge or the trim line to prevent accidental cropping.

EXAMPLE

As an example for an A4 document requiring a full bleed finish, the document size should be set to 216mm width x 303mm height. The text margins should then be set to a minimum of 10mm. During manufacturing 3mm will be trimmed from all four sides leaving a finished document size of 210mm width x 297mm height. The final text margins will be a minimum of 7mm.

Of course, if your document does not have any full bleed requirement, for example text only documents, then we are happy to accept actual document sizes without allowance for bleed.

Colour Specifications

Print previews are not a safe and sure measuring tool for colour accuracy. Colours on the file might be effected by monitor calibration, screen resolution and lighting, just to name a few. Many Pantone colours show a marked colour shift when converted to four colour process.

For one, two or three colour jobs printed in Pantone spot colour, make sure your colours are specified as spot colour and they separate correctly. You can test this by printing separations on your laser printer.

To achieve the desired colour on 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.

Image Resolutions

  • All images and pictures should be a minimum of 300 dpi.
  • Rasterized/Line Art text or logos should be 1200 dpi.
  • Screen values should be between 133 lpi and 150 lpi.

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. Scan all transparencies and line art at 100% of final size unless data size is prohibitive. If such a case occurs, scan at 1/4 or 1/2 of final size.