File Preparation and Troubleshooting

What is Finish Size?

It is the overall size of the printed piece in its completed, folded or  bound form.

What is Printing?

Printing is the art, process, or business of producing printed material by means of ink, paper and a printing press.

What is CMYK?

Short for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black, and pronounced as separate letters. CMYK is a color model in which all colors are described as a mixture of these four process colors. CMYK is the standard color model used in offset printing for full-color documents. Because such printing uses inks of these four basic colors, it is often called four-color printing. Color looks can change if printing on Glossy Paper, Silk or Matt Paper or based on different types of coating.

What is the minimum / maximum acceptable resolution?

  •     Acceptable range of resolution is 150ppi – 300ppi. Any thing below or over it may cause printing problems.
  •     TIFF files should be saved with no LZW compression.
  •     EPS files should be saved with Mac preview and Binary encoding and no compression, outline all fonts.
  •     Copy Dot scans must have a resolution of 2400 dpi.
  •     8-bit (grayscale) and 24-bit (color) scans should have an effective resolution between 225-350 dpi.
  •     Line art scans should have a minimum effective resolution of 600 dpi.
  •     Total ink coverage of a scan should not exceed 320%.
  •     Images should be scanned as close to 100% of final size as possible.
  •     PLEASE DO NOT SUPPLY RGB IMAGES.

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