A & E Company Graphics Help

PROGRAMS WE USE

PhotoShop
PageMaker
Acrobat
Illustrator

QuarkXpress

MacroMedia
Freehand

Microsoft
Office Applications

CorelDRAW

All of the definitions on this page are links to Webopedia.com

HOW TO SEND GRAPHICS FILES

Go to our Send files support page for information about sending files as email attachments and uploading to our ftp site. Remember to always contact someone in the Graphics Department before sending a "complicated" file.

FILES FOR 4-COLOR OFFSET PRINTING

Scanned photos should be saved in CMYK color mode, EPS or TIFF format, but we prefer EPS. If you save in RGB mode, the picture will not separate correctly. The minimum resolution should be 300 DPI at 100% placed size. As an example, a placed image at 6 x 6 inches needs to be 300 dpi at 6 x 6 inches. Note, web images are generally 72 dpi and are not acceptable for print reproduction.

SPOT COLORS FOR OFFSET PRINTING

Spot colors can only be Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, or black or PANTONE solid ink colors (with correct reference number provided). If your document contains typesetting you will need to keep in mind that type should always be in one of these solid ink colors. If you create a type color using all of the 4 process colors (CMYK), poor registration on the press is possible and your type most likely will be fuzzy and not as sharp as you would like it to be.

PDF FILES

If you would like us to print files in PDF format, be sure the file is high resolution (print or press setting), NOT screen or ebook. All fonts should be embedded and colors should be either spot or process as noted above. All embedded images that are not vector art should be at least 300 dpi at 100% placed size and in CMYK color mode.

EPS FILES

If you are incorporating EPS files that contain type into a page makeup program such as Illustrator or Freehand, all type should be converted to OUTLINES. Save the file and place into your page layout. Spot colors should be Pantone ink number references.

BLEEDS

For a full-bleed effect, bleeds and trim marks should show 1/8" beyond the edge of your document.

FONTS

Remember to include both screen fonts and printer fonts with your document. Fonts should be in a separate folder named FONTS. Supply only the fonts you are using in your document. Type 1 postscript fonts are the most preferred. Fonts other than Type 1 such as TrueType or Multiple Master are used at the clients own risk. For Macintosh, postscript font must be provided. For Windows platforms, PFBs and PFMs must be supplied for each font.

DOCUMENT SIZES

Your documents should be laid out according to the specifications you provide. That is, a 5x8 file must actually be a 5x8 file.

COLOR

All 4-color process jobs should be in CMYK process colors. This means all colors should be saved in the CMYK color model. All graphics used in the piece should also be in CMYK, not RGB or SPOT Colors because color shifts often occur when a file is printed in CMYK Process. It is usually a good idea to print color separations before packaging your job to ensure you have everything in CMYK. You will have 4 pages, one each for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Process Black. If you use spot colors, they will print out as an additional separate plate.

GRAPHIC IMAGES

All graphics used in your job should be saved in a separate folder named IMAGES. Only submit files that are required for your specific job. There are primarily two types of graphics -- Raster or bit-mapped graphics and Vector or object-oriented graphics.

RASTER images are made up of pixels, which are converted to dots when the image is printed. Raster images are resolution dependent, meaning the quality of the image is dependent on the DPI or dots per inch. Examples of raster images are those created in PhotoShop or any paint program. If the image created is at a low resolution, there will not be enough dots to fill the area and the image becomes bitmapped and appears jagged and not smooth. For example, if you are starting with a 300 dpi image that is 2"x2" and you place it in your document at 6"x6", you are enlarging the image by 300%. This means the resolution is 1/3 of what it should be, and more than likely bitmapped. It will have to be rescanned at 900 dpi to correct the problem. Again, please note that internet images should not be used in your printed documents because of their low resolution.

VECTOR images are resolution independent because they are not based on pixels, but, rather, on shapes and paths. Examples of vector graphics are images created by Illustrator and Freehand. Resolution independence means that a vector graphic will essentially look the same whether it is on a billboard or a business card.