General Guidelines for All Applications

The following are general guidelines for file preparation for all users:

Convert color graphics to CMYK: All color in your file and in graphics placed in your file must be CMYK to print properly. For more about color formats, see About Color.

Image resolution should be 300 dpi: The quality of a printed piece can suffer if the images provided are less than 300 dpi. Using graphics saved above 300 dpi can seriously increase the upload and processing times of your files. Note: Line Art (black and white bitmaps), should be saved at 600-1200 dpi. For more on the subject of resolution, see Images & Resolution.

Placed Photoshop and Illustrator files should be EPS or TIFF: When saving graphics for placement in a page layout or illustration program, use EPS or TIFF format. Do not use .gif, .pict, or jpeg, as these will not be processed correctly in our preflight process. Illustrator/Freehand graphics that are destined for press should be saved as EPS files with fonts outlined and placed images embedded.

All fonts in placed EPS files should be embedded or outlined: Be sure to embed all fonts in graphic files that are to be placed in your final laid out page. For more on fonts, see Working With Type.

Do not set type in Photoshop: For more on fonts, see Working With Type.

In Photoshop EPS files, be sure that "Include Transfer Function" and "PostScript Color Management" are deselected. See Screenshot

.

Do not use font styles or Multiple Master Fonts: Choose the font style and weight from the font menu, rather than using "bold," "italic," etc from the font style palette. Multiple Master fonts can be problematic and are not recommended. For more on fonts, see Working With Type.

Grayscale Images: Black & White images should be saved as grayscale (300 DPI), and line art should be saved as bitmap (600-1200 dpi). For more on this subject, see Images & Resolution.

Use "Rich Black," but not for small type: We recommend that you specify the black color in large areas as 100% Black, 40% Cyan, 30% Magenta, and 30% Yellow. Do not, however, convert black type to rich black.

Check Overprints: Make sure that overprint settings for white elements are set to "off."

Transparency, Gradients and Layered Files

Newer layout programs, like QuarkXPress 6.x, InDesign and Illustrator allow the placing of layered images and the use of tranparency effects and smooth Gradients.

While these features can enhance creativity and make the production of complex layouts easier, they also present potential problems for high-resolution printing.

It is very important that PDFs from these files are saved as PDF/X-1a with transparency flattened