Preparing Files for Print | Make your project hassle free

While Insite Printing has a fully staffed design department, most customers employ their own design staff or take a do-it-yourself approach to print media projects.   Computer layout programs make it easy to achieve good results with minimal effort and professional results can often be achieved…if you do it right.

When providing a completed project to the printer, whether it be for digital printing or full-fledged offset, certain things must be done to assure the project goes smoothly and does not incur unnecessary additional charges…what the industry refers to as “file intervention.”   Even the simplest project can cost hundreds of additional dollars from unforseen complications.  To help users better understand file requirements for trouble-free reproduction, a simple checklist is all that is needed:

10 STEPS TO PERFECTION

1.  PROOF IT!  Make sure files are spell checked and proofread.  Having your printer do this will cost extra.  Your printer will provide a final proof to you, but if your files weren’t right to begin with, extra charges will be incurred for changes.

2.  CHECK SIZE. Check the physical layout size of your document to be sure it matches what you are intending to print (for instance, 8 1/2 x 11 inches for a standard letterhead).

3.  BLEEDS? If your artwork goes to the edge of the sheet, extend it 1/8″ beyond the edge.  This is called “bleed” and ensures there is no unwanted white space left between the art and the edge of the sheet when cut.

4. SET COLOR MODE. Set the color mode in your document to CMYK (not RGB or Indexed Color) if printing full color.   Note: if you are only printing a single color or black plus another color, the printer uses special PMS (Pantone Matching System) inks and your file will need to be set correctly to separate those…use “PMS Colors” instead of CMYK or RGB.

5. CHECK IMAGES. Photo Images reproduced in full color must be set to CMYK for best results.  B&W Images should be set to Grayscale.

6. SINGLE PAGES ONLY.  If you are printing a multi-page booklet (magazine or catalog for instance), still build your file in single pages, not spreads.  The printer will impose the pages properly from single pages…spreads can cause difficulty for the printer laying your pages out on large press sheets.

7.  ALLOW ROOM FOR FOLDS. If you are designing a folded brochure, such as a tri-fold, the panel that folds into the brochure will need to be 1/16 shorter than the other panels.  This avoids wrinkling or folded corners on that panel.   Consult with your printer if you are unsure of folding specifications.

8. THINK THIN.  Thin lines that are less than 0.25 points thick will generally not reproduce on printing plates.  Check to make sure your thinnest lines are no less than 1/4 point thick.

9. NO MARKING. Do NOT print crop marks or printer marks if you are creating a final print file (such as a PDF).  The printer will use their own system to generate these.

10. INCLUDE EVERYTHING. Make sure you either embed or include links for all images and fonts used in the project (or convert fonts to curves/outlines).  Many page layout programs will have a function such as “collect for output” that will manage that process for you, or if you create a print-ready PDF file (such as X1-A format), your project will contain everything it needs in that one file.

copyright 2011 Greg Gammon / The Insite Group