Preparing your files

A print-ready PDF is the best way to send a job. If you use Adobe software, install our Adobe PDF settings and export with them.

For best results use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop or Acrobat. We can work with Microsoft Word and Publisher files, but they don’t handle print color reliably and can give unexpected results. Don’t use Illustrator for long multi-page documents; a page layout program is faster to produce.

Photos should be 300 dpi at the size they’re used in the layout, and line art 1200–2400 dpi. Don’t enlarge images more than 150% or reduce them below 50% in the layout. Make sure linked files are up to date and named as the layout expects, and send them along with the layout file.

Use OpenType (.otf) or TrueType fonts; Type 1 fonts are no longer supported by Microsoft or Apple. Include every font you used, and choose the real bold or italic font rather than the style menu.

Save images and documents as CMYK plus any spot (PMS) colors. If you use spot colors, print separations as well as a composite to check which elements land on which plate. For duotones, name the PMS color exactly the same in Photoshop and in your layout program.

Your screen shows color in red, green and blue light; the press prints cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. That’s why a monitor or desktop printer won’t match the printed piece exactly. When color is critical, ask us for a proof.

Build your file at the exact trim size. If anything prints to the edge, extend it 1/8″ past the trim on every side. Don’t build printer spreads; send single pages in reading order and we’ll impose them. Our layout templates have the bleed and safe area built in.

Unless you’re experienced with trapping, please don’t set it yourself; we’ll handle it. If your job has special trapping needs, tell us when you send it.

Mark changes on your proof and we can make minor ones quickly, without redoing work already done. If you send a revised file, give it a new name so we can tell it from the original, but keep the names of linked files the same so the links still work.

A little white space goes a long way. Stick to two or three fonts, and use color, boxes and reversed text only for the most important points. Keep headlines close to the text they introduce. And proofread, proofread, proofread: spell check can’t tell “form” from “from”.