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If you wish to supply your own design please follow these guidelines:

 

  • Allow 5mm bleed on all sides.
  • Convert RGB and spot colours to CMYK.
  • PDF files must have fonts & images embedded.
  • CDR files must have fonts embedded or converted to curves.
  • JPG files must be at least 400dpi.
  • Set black text and fine lines to overprint.
  • Avoid using small text (below 7pt) that is made up of more than one process colour.
  • Avoid using small text (below 7pt) that is white, reversed out of a background that is made up of more than one process colour.
  • Text, images, logos etc must be at least 5mm away from the edge of the page.
  • Bitmap (JPG) images should be at least 400 dpi* Set black text and fine lines to overprint
  • “MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel & other M S Office files are unfortunately not compatible printing formats"
  • The documents have the correct number of pages.
  • Text is converted to paths/curves in open files, or fonts need to be forwarded / included.
  • All spot colors are specified.

Press Ready PDF

    PDFs (Portable Document Format ) are used to encapsulate the complete description of a file by embedding
    its fonts, images and graphics along with other information such as hyperlinks, etc so that the end user is able
    to view the file in its correct form without the need to receive any extra files in order for the layout to appear
    as intended by its creator.

    Press ready PDFs differ from standard PDFs in that they must meet a certain criteria in order for the file to 
    print without problems. Standard PDFs may include colours that may not print correctly or graphics that are
    fine to view on screen but will print at a very low quality.
   
    However, it is understood that some rules are standard and all press ready PDFs will need
    to contain the following:

  • Embedded fonts. Embedding fonts into the PDF is necessary for the fonts to render correctly for print.  
  • Bleed.Bleed is crucial to any design in which the pictures and/or colour run to the edge of the page. This is one of the most common errors we see when receiving PDFs that are not correct for print. A press ready PDF will include at least 3mm bleed on each side of the document which will make the final PDF 6mm bigger in size, both in height and width. The bleed is then trimmed away when finishing.
  • Images.Images in a press ready PDF need to be at least 300dpi at the size they will be printed.
  • Overprinting.The designer will need to check all overprinting carefully and make sure that overprint preview is switched on in Acrobat. This will give a guide as to which colours will overprint and which will remain unchanged. If this is not turned on, the file may not print as it appears on screen. Therefore, all overprinting must be correct in a print ready PDF.
  • Transparencies.Transparencies need to be exported correctly and the safest way we have found is by using 1.4. Pdf’s before this version do not include transparency and will flatten all elements.

     The above points are all necessary and must be included and checked before supplying a press ready 
     PDF. The following list is made up of further criteria that we think all good press ready PDFs should
     contain:

  • Page Layout.The page layout should be fairly obvious to the printer upon opening the PDF.
  • Correct folding.If the document is to be folded such as a leaflet, the folding will need to be checked by the designer before supplying a press ready PDF.
  • Quiet area.The quiet area is often referred to the area that is usually between 0mm to 5mm from the edge of the page. This applies to borders, text, images and in fact any element that sits too close to the edge. This is not to be confused with bleed. As there is often movement when trimming large quantities of printed material, elements that are within this quiet area are in danger of being trimmed into. As a rule, it is best to avoid this area when designing a document as the safest way of ensuring that this doesn’t happen.
  • File compression.  While it is convenient to reduce files down to a manageable size, the designer must consider the final resolution of the print ready pdf.