FAQ: Preparing Your Artwork
If your question is
not answered here, just call 01457 778788 or use our other
methods of getting in touch. Thank you.
Introduction
We specialise in printing orders from supplied
digital artwork. Our acclaimed Pre-Print Checking
system incorporates a number of steps designed
to ensure that the finished work we produce not
only meets, but exceeds your expectations.
We like to think of our relationship with you, our customer,
as a partnership and, as with any
partnership, a great outcome
depends on partners working
together.
Please check this Artwork Guidance carefully to ensure that your work proceeds
swiftly to a successful outcome.
File format
We use the very latest Adobe PDF (Portable
Document Format) Rip in our Pre-press department
and our workflow is based on working with files sent
to us as PDFs. All work should be presented to us in
this format.
Your PDF should be prepared at press quality with
artwork centred on pages. Please see below for full details on artwork
preparation.
Please ensure that you carefully check your PDF
before sending it. Whilst software is usually reliable,
there is still a real possibility that something changes
in the conversion from native file format to PDF.
Since the PDF is the only origination we have to work
with all our processes are designed to ensure that
the finished print matches the PDF supplied.
Our commitment is to ensure that this is the case
and we cannot accept responsibility for a problem
with finished print when this matches the PDF.
Pre-press checks
We perform detailed pre-press checks on all of our files at no extra cost.
These checks include a review of your file by an experienced designer, and
a check by our proof-readers.
We also check that:
- Artwork is central and backing up correctly
- There is sufficient Bleed and Quiet Area
- Fonts are embedded
- All elements of the job are CMYK (RGB and
Pantone colours may not print as expected in
full colour)
- The quality of pictures and text is to print
standard
- There is colour consistency and wherever possible
that the colours specified will print as viewed on
screen
(Please read on for explanations of all of these items).
We also carry out a rigorous proofreading exercise
which, whilst not guaranteed to pick up every
error, has proved a ‘lifesaver’ many times in the
past, where embarrassing and costly mistakes
have been spotted.
Where potential problems are highlighted we will
(with your agreement) correct them if practical, often
at no extra charge. Alternatively, we will request a
corrected file.
Pre-press check 1: Artwork central and backing up correctly
It is important that artwork is positioned centrally
on your layout. Our pre-press system works from the
centre of the page in aligning jobs for print.
At pre-press the correct size aperture for the job
to be printed is filled with the image on the page
running out from the page centre. If a job is off-centre,
or if front and back are placed on a single
layout then, potentially, only a portion of the job will
appear in the aperture and be printed.
 Secondly,
jobs should back-up correctly with the orientation of each page being
the same. We strongly recommend printing proofs
from the PDF you have created to your own printer prior to submission. |
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 Lastly,
if the sheet holding the reverse image must be rotated to back-up correctly
with the front then the file is not ready to print. Making
a physical mock-up (also known as a 'mechanical') will highlight
potential errors which are not easy to see on screen. We do not need
your mock-up
to
print
from;
it
is purely an exercise to check that there are no obvious errors due
to rotation.
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