doing business: prepress guidelines

Although our team of designers enjoy creating original printed pieces, we are always happy to work with your creations.  Here are some suggestions that will help us work together successfully on a piece you or your agent have designed.  If the software packages or topics discussed below are unfamiliar to you, we will be glad to guide you through the process.

Layout

Images

Fonts

Layout

Page layout programs such as QuarkXPress and InDesign are highly recommended for final document layout.  Both of these programs allow for optimal manipulation of layout, images, and fonts, as well as excellent compatibility with the Heidelberg RIPing process.  Microsoft Publisher and PageMaker, while chosen for their user-friendly quality, occasionally will create problems during the RIPing process that might delay your job.  Because Microsoft Word is not intended as a graphics program, variations in hue and intensity may occur during the color separation process.  Applications such as Corel Draw, PhotoShop, and PowerPoint are not intended as layout programs and, as such, are not recommended for laying out your finished piece. 

If your printed piece has text, images, or background that runs off of the finished page, please include a bleed of at least ⅛ in. to allow for trim.

Images

All images should be monotone, duotone, or CMYK.  Images must be at least 300 dpi; images less than 300 dpi are subject to pixelization during the RIPing process which will appear on the printed sheet.  Make sure all imported images and graphics in your document are linked and updated.  Placed images or out-of-date links may look different when proofed and printed.

Fonts

Applied Stylized Fonts (italic, bold, bold-italic) are not recommended for professionally printed pieces.  In many instances, the RIPing process will replace the desired stylized font with the original plain font or a default font, such as Courier.  Instead, use the font variant that is the desired style, i.e. HelveticaBold font instead of HelveticaBook font styled Bold.  When collecting fonts for a design piece, remember that Type 1 fonts (preferred) require both a screen and a printer font.  True Type fonts require only one file per typeface.  Remember that enclosed EPS files also need fonts to properly RIP and these fonts are not always listed in your layout program.  Being careful to include all fonts will ensure that your job will be completed on time.  It is often possible for us to find an agreeable replacement font for one that is missing, but font substitution can sometimes create text reflow problems.

When sending files for your printed piece, please be sure to include all that are necessary.  Try not to send any extra files, such as fonts or graphics that are not part of the current job.