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Please help us to help you, thus saving you delays and extra costs, by following these guidelines.

Low resolution files do not print well - Files created at 72dpi are NOT good enough for litho printing. Please produce graphics at 300dpi minimum.

RGB files will not print - all litho printing is produced from either spot colour work or CMYK. We can convert to CMYK for you, but the colours usually change slightly.

We aim to produce the best possible work for our customers with the minimum of delay. We can work from almost anything that you supply - your handwritten or typed copy, word-processed text file or professionall produced finished artwork on disk, However, our quotations are based on the details that you give us when requesting the quote. Any remedial work required to bring supplied artwork up to printable specification and extra costs incurred on unfinished or incorrect digital files will be notified to the customer and will be charged extra. Where artwork files are supplied, or final film is supplied, although we make as many checks as we can before printing, NO RESPONSIBILITY can be accepted for an unsatisfactory result caused by errors in design, style, spelling, typesetting, layout, tint levels, film output, scanning or any other results outside our control.

COPY AND TEXT SUPPLIED
Our quotations assume that all copy supplied will be clear and legible, preferably typed. If illegible, hand written or hard to read copy is supplied, an extra artwork charge may be levied to cover the extra time involved in our studio. Studio time spent altering or correcting any errors caused by misleading copy will be chargeable after proofing. Alterations made by the customer, other than minor corrections, and re-design work after the first proof will be chargeable on a time basis. Any text supplied on disk should be saved as an ASCII file, as well as in word-processor format.. We can accept no responsibility for any spelling or grammatical errors in text supplied on disk and assume that it has been read and spell-checked before we receive it.

PROGRAMS
Our own studio produces all our work using the printing industry standard programs. i.e., Quark Xpress™, Adobe Illustrator™ and Adobe Photoshop™. We are usually able to accept work produced in a wide range of other programs, although the most satisfactory results are always from professional programs rather than from word-processing programs. Please remember that word-processing programs such as Microsoft Word™ are NOT designed for litho printing, as the necessary bleed, tick marks, register marks etc cannot be accommodated. We can however often convert Word™ files into a suitable format for litho printing at extra cost. Please ask our studio for advice before starting. If we quote you an "artwork supplied" price, it is based on the assumption that the artwork is professionally completed, has been thoroughly checked and is produced in an industry standard program. Naturally, we will have to charge you more if we have further work to do when we receive it.

COREL DRAW
If you work in Corel Draw, we can print direct from your files. Please EXPORT the file as an Adobe Illustrator file™ (AI). It also is preferable that the type is saved as curves. The avoids having to send us the fonts as well. If in any doubt, please telephone our studio for advice on 01902-402693.

MEDIA
We can accept files on CD, DVD, PC or Mac Zip Disk, PC Floppy or Mac Floppy. Digital pictures or any other files can also be supplied on CompactFlash™ cards or SmartMedia™ cards. We appreciate that Zip™ disks, CompactFlash cards™ and SmartMedia™ cards are relatively expensive and promise to post them straight back to you after copying the data. Other media formats can sometimes be accepted - please ask for details. We also have ISDN facilities on 01902- 579324.

E-MAIL
Files (up to 10mb maximum please) may be emailed to sales@centreprint.co.uk. For larger files, please send on CD.

FONTS
Please supply all fonts used in the artwork that you are supplying. These will be used to output your work and then discarded (due to licensing regulations). Please therefore supply fonts each time you supply artwork. Errors will often occur if you make a font bold or italic by using the shift/command controls. It is essential that you use the ACTUAL FONT FAMILIES to achieve these type styles. Never use system fonts such as Geneva or Chicago. Please also make sure that you have supplied ALL the original printer and screen fonts used on every job supplied. Mistakes in spacing and wrap-around may welll occur if different fonts are inserted by ourselves. All fonts within an EPS file should be embedded or converted into paths.

TABS
If tabs are used in Quark Xpress™, it is important that actual tab settings are entered, rather than just using the tab key. Tab positions on the finished work may vary if this is not followed and no responsibility can be accepted for this.

COLOUR SEPARATION
Please check carefully that NOTHING used in your artwork file, pictures, scans or colours, is in RGB mode. Everything used in litho printing has to be in CMYK or (for spot colour work) in Pantone colour. If you are using spot colour, it is essential that images created in other programs, such as Adobe Illustrator™, are supplied as EPS files in the same spot colours. Extra costs will be incurred if we have to correct files or images.

TINTS
Never produce an RGB tint or graduated tint in Adobe Photoshop™ and then convert it to CMYK. Banding will result if you do. Always work in CMYK from the beginning. Never produce a graduated tint that runs from 0% to a solid. Banding at the point where the lightest tint ceases to print and where the darkest tint fills in will occur.

SCANS AND IMAGES
We recommend that CMYK scans be produced in Adobe Photoshop™ at 300 dpi. Do NOT convert a 72dpi file into 300dpi. If in doubt, please leave digital camera files etc in their raw state for us to convert, making sure that you inform us of this when you order. Scans and clip art should always be supplied as CMYK not RGB. When converting the scans from RGB files to CMYK files, the CMYK Set up (under File> Color Settings> CMYK Set up in Photoshop 5) should be as follows:

Black Generation MEDIUM - Black Ink Limit 100% - Total Ink Limit 320%
UCA (Under Colour Addition) should be set to 5%

All scans and Postscript files should be saved as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) or EPS (Encapsulated Post Script™). If producing finished artwork in Freehand, you should supply the original file as well as the EPS file. In Adobe Pagemaker™, please save the scans as EPS and not TIFFs. Please remember that you must always supply the original fonts that have been used in graphics files from programs like Adobe Illustrator™. Alternately, convert type to outlines first. Ensure that picture boxes in Quark Xpress™ are filled with “white”, rather that “No Fill”. This will give maximum edge sharpness of graphics.

LASER PROOFS
A laser or ink jet proof MUST please be supplied with any artwork supplied on disk. Failure to do so means that we cannot accept any responsibility for errors.

COLLECT FOR OUTPUT
Quark Xpress™ has a command called “Collect for Output”. This command collects all the images and fonts used in your file and puts them in one folder, ready to supply to us.

TINTS
Please remember that tints may look very different on the final printed job than they do on your monitor screen. Due to unavoidable dot gain in plate making and on the printing press, many tints look considerably darker on the paper than they did on the screen. Be careful never to put any dark type over a dark tint. This may look quite good on the monitor, yet be unreadable on the final printed result. For tints in general, we would advise going no darker than a 50% tint on coated stock, with a maximum 30% tint on uncoated stocks. Graduated tints that start as a solid will show a step, as they start to fill in at the darkest end.

STOCKS
Certain colours may rub, finger mark and scuff on some stocks. In particular, matt and satin stocks may be more satisfactory if sealed or varnished. Our advice should be sought when deciding the stock to be used if you are unsure of the results. Reflex Blue in particular is likely to rub on coated stocks.

FINE LINES AND LETTERING
Please do not create hairline rules or rules of less than 0.25 pt thickness as these will not output on the imagesetter as they are too fine. Registration of fine lines or lines produced out of more than one process colour cannot be guaranteed. There is always the possibility of very slight movement during printing. Very fine work is best produced out of one colour.

REVERSALS
Small point sizes, particularly of serif faces, should be avoided when reversed out of a solid or tint.

BLACK SOLIDS
Offset litho inks are transparent, so when producing a solid black area in four colour process, it is advisable to introduce a 30% cyan tint to add better density to the black.

PAGE SPREAD
An allowance should be made when producing the artwork for saddle stitched booklets with many pages. The centre sections bulk out and trim smaller due to the volume in the spine caused by the outer sections. Please allow a 1.5 mm reduction in the page width per 32 page section when produced on 80gsm bond stock.

BLEED
Please always allow 2mm bleed on all edges.

IF IN DOUBT
Please always check with us first. A telephone call beforehand could save problems and delays later. Telephone 01902-402693 and ask for our STUDIO or e-mail us for advice.

We are all learning all the time. If you feel that you have anything helpful to add to this advice sheet, please send an email to steve@dataconsultants.co.uk

© 2002 Centreprint
E. &. O. E. Updated July April 2006

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