Graphics and printing is our business. We live it everyday and must therefore learn it as well. We understand that if your business is not printing, you may have questions & doubts, and you may also feel intimidated or even ashamed to ask. However, what is important is that your project get handled properly and that you are satisfied. So putting all emotions aside, your job is to get informed as much as you need to help us help you.

Some of the explanations may seem a bit silly or just plain basic to the average graphic artist, but we wouldn't waste our time writing them if we didn't find ourselves explaining them as much as we do. We will provide you with a section of information that may answer most of the general questions. Please note that price questions will not be included here. Should you have additional questions not covered within, please feel free to or give us a call or send us a note.

What Format should my file be?

First let's go over some basic things we need to know about format: The 2 basic operating system commonly used in graphics are Macintosh and PC compatibles. Operating system is the name given to the "program" that runs your computer and allows you to install software applications (QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Netscape, ...). MacOS 9 and Windows 2000 are the latest operating systems. Files that you supply cannot be in a "Windows" format but may have been created using a windows based machine. The file format is the way certain applications save the information of your document. So to find out your file's format you must first know what program you're using, then it will tell you what format it is saving in. The most standard file formats include: For picture images, tif, eps, jpg, gif, png; For illustration, Freehand, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, Canvas; For Layout and Publishing, QuarkXpress, Adobe Pagemaker.
NOTE: These software packages usually run you upwards of $300 each. It is in our opinion that any software package that "claims" to do everything and costs under that price, will most probably be limited if not useless for any high quality production. In other words, that $80 package you bought for making your stationary easily at home (business cards, letterhead, postcards, greeting cards, etc.) should stay at home for home usage.

2nd NOTE: Certain software is designed and made specifically for a purpose. Sometimes in an effort to save money, some people try to do everything with one program. Usually this doesn't work out so well. i.e. Microsoft Powerpoint is an excellent program for slide creation and presentations using overhead projectors. Just because it allows you to "layout" things doesn't mean it will work when you need to supply it to a printing firm. Our suggestion is to call us if you think you may not have the proper software BEFORE you begin to lay it out yourself.

What files do I need to provide?

PREFLIGHT: The most important thing for you to do before bringing your project for printing is to make sure all of your artwork and fonts are provided. Missing files will not only delay your job but may lead to additional charges. Most software programs have options to tell you exactly which files and fonts have been used. Quark even generates a report, read the report and make sure all specified files and fonts are included in your package fo
FONTS: Type 1 fonts are made up of two files, a screen file and a printer file. Both files must be provided. Truetype fonts only have 1 file.
IMAGES: Any images placed in a layout program must also be provided. Placed images must follow the specifications below depending on the type of output required. All images must be placed at 100% of their original size. Resizing of images within the layout application may result in postcript errors or quality loss. Use an photoediting program to size your images first before placing them on your layout software. In software like Adobe Illustrator and Pagemaker, there are options to include or embed the image. DO NOT use these options as they are designed to be used when printing to a non-postscript printer and they will greatly increase your file size. A good guideline is that illustrator and pagemaker files should hardly ever be larger than a few Mb's.

What resolution do you need?

RESOLUTION: The proper formula for determining resolution is DPI = 2 x LPI. Scanning your images at resolution higher than the necessary will not increase your quality. Your file size however will exponentially increase resulting in longer loading and editing times for you as well as unnecessary disk usage. ( If an image is 10Mb at 300dpi it can be upwards of 40mb at 600dpi. An average 8.5 x 11 image is in the 30mb range.) If you don't know what your final image size will be, scan a low res(72 dpi) comp for use in your layout. Once you've determined your layout and image size, proceed to re-scan your image to the desired size at the necessary resolution.
Any file created for the web will be at a low resolution. If you grab an image online do not expect it to print crisp and clean. Also, NEVER try to increase the resolution of a file by resampling it to a higher resolution. Although most imaging programs have pretty good interpolation, the result will hardly ever be substantially better than the original. However, again, your file size will definitely increase unnecessarily. i.e. if you have a 72dpi image, you're pretty much stuck with that quality. Increasing the resolution by resampling will only greatly increase your file size.

What size should my file be?

PRINT SIZE: Whenever possible, create your document at the actual print size. If scaling is necessary make sure to maintain the proper proportion. i.e. an 8.5 x 11 will not print at 24" x 36", so create your file at 6"x9". Most programs have a limited scale size of 400% so be sure to create your artwork at a scale that will allow for printing at the proper size.

Should my files be in RGB or in CMYK?

COLOR TYPES: The proper color fomat is determined by the type of print necessary. For any lithography project, we have to create color separations and therefore the files must be in CMYK. Be sure that images that are placed in your layout software are saved in the correct color format. Although some software "allows" for converting colors to CMYK, this process is not always successful for images.

Can I use JPG's in my layout?

FILE TYPES: Certain file format are designed for a specific use. Sometimes we can get away with using them for other purposes. Like most other things, the answer depends on the type of print necessary. Although not the preferable format, JPG's will work for printing on the Poster and Laser printers. Lithography, again, requires separations and JPG's don't really work well in CMYK. Following is a list of the most common file types and what they will work for:

JPG, GIF, PNG: Typically used for internet. They are usually low resolution in RGB and will not work for Lithography jobs, but are fine for laser or poster prints.
BMP, PICT, PCX: Ordinarily used for OS images or for usage in MS Office products or such. These file types should not be used. Macintosh Pict format is a high compression format and tends to cause problems.
SCT, PS, PRN: SCT is the scitex standard for images. This is fine for laser and poster prints as long as the SCT file is the one to be printed. PS and PRN are pure postscript files and we can only run laser prints from this. These files can be created by printing to file and will include printer definitions. If the wrong printer definition is used it may present problems. We are unable to edit these files and you'll be responsible for paying for whatever comes out. (we suggest you don't use them!)
PDF: Acrobat files are great for cross-platform usage. We can make laser prints and posters. If you need a 1-color lithography job, PDF's will also work but any multicolor job will not be possible.
TIF, EPS: The industry standard for just about anything in the printing field. These are the preferred formats for printing. You must be carefull, however, to pay attention to the saving options. The EPS format allows you to choose the type of preview format to be saved. You MUST make sure to set to "binary" encoding for the preview. If the file is saved with "jpeg" encoding, it will fail to separate in CMYK. This is very difficult for preflighting since it requires to open and resave the file (which will result in additional charges).

What does 4-color process refer to?

This is the standard for printing images such as picture. What it means is that that you use 4 basic ink colors and process them in a way that you may achieve any other color you need. The standard process colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK. These colors are then screened and mixed in order to achieve other colors. For example green will normally print by screening and mixing the Cyan with the Yellow. The type of green will depend on the percentages of the mixing colors. If you look at the color channels of a CMYK file you'll see how the various percentages of the colors are mixed.

What are spot colors?

Spot colors are inks that do not screen and mix with other inks to achieve a separate color. These inks are physically mixed in proportions with a base color, the tints, and are printed as a single ink. Spot colors achieve a better color quality and are normally better suited for colored type. Since two inks are not being printed, there is no registration problems that may cause your type to appear fuzzy, especially small type. The standards we use for spot colors are Pantone®. Some Pantone® colors are not printable in CMYK. Although Photoshop has developed a way to have a muli-spot color file, the process of separations when combined with other software is still very unreliable. Strong Graphic experience is needed in order to properly build a spot color file in such software.

Why won't RGB work for offset lithography?

RGB is the process of displaying color with the use of light. White is created by combination and full strength of all the Red, Green, and Blue. Black is the absence of all light. Printing requires that you put and mix inks together to achieve a color. If all of your inks are mixed you certainly don't get white. (It would look like a very dark messy something ...) The reason for this is that inks give color by the reflection of light. Technically, in printing, a mixture of CMY could be used to achieve all colors. Black however allows for a crisper image and more overall control. Since RGB files have only three channels, and those channels work the opposite of how the 4-CMYK channels work, RGB files don't work for lithography.