ARTWORK GUIDELINES

Macintosh (MAC) Software:
• Adobe Illustrator CS3, CS2, CS
• Adobe Photoshop CS3, CS2, CS
• Adobe In-Design CS3, CS2, CS
• Adobe Acrobat PDF
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2004 for MAC (* limitations and restrictions may apply)

Windows (WIN) Software:
• Adobe Illustrator CS2, CS
• Adobe Photoshop CS2, CS
• Adobe In-Design CS2, CS
• Adobe Acrobat PDF
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2004 (* limitations and restrictions may apply)
• CorelDraw X3 (* limitations and restrictions may apply)

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR - All text in Illustrator files should be outlined. Select (highlight) the text, then from the File Menu choose Type/Create Outlines. If the text is not outlined, all exact fonts must be provided. Postscript fonts must include both screen and printer font files. We can only work with Mac format fonts. We can accept Illustrator files created on a Windows platform only if the files are saved in .EPS format and if absolutely all fonts are outlined. Files should be saved in CMYK. PLEASE DO NOT EMBED RASTER IMAGES in Illustrator layouts. Embedded images cannot be color adjusted, or brightened. Also, gradients and blends over a distance greater than about 12 inches tend to band in large format printing. The way to avoid this is to rasterize the gradient, which means that Illustrator is not the best program for creating large-format layouts that have gradients; that type of design is better done in Photoshop. AVOID LINKING RASTER IMAGES. If your layout has numerous photos or other raster images, consider creating the whole layout in Photoshop.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP - For best quality save your files as .TIFF format. Photoshop files (layered) are acceptable as long as all fonts and vectors have been rasterized at full size. We can print from either CMYK or RGB image files. However, we recommend supplying CMYK files for optimal output. If the file is not too big, it is helpful for us to receive it with separate layers as created in .PSD (photoshop document) format. The reason for this is that one element might print perfectly in tests, while another needs correcting. Flattened .TIFF files are also fine. We can normally correct colors in specific color ranges or areas if needed. We generally run test prints to make sure that the colors we print are as close as possible to the colors you expect to see. We also want to make sure that photographic color is appropriate and appealing.

ADOBE ACROBAT READER (PDF) - We can accept .PDF files when they have been save in the proper format. All images should have 150 dpi resolution at print size. 120 dpi is also acceptable, but not preferred (the image will look fuzzy and/or pixilated). As .PDF files are difficult or impossible to edit and correct if needed, we prefer to receive files in vector or raster format.

NOTE: To avoid banding in filled areas of black, define black as follows: C=10  M=10  Y=10  K=100  (never define text as 4-color black unless is more than 24 points)

It is important to send any guidelines or print samples for approximate color matching. Desired colors are specified in Pantone, Pantone specifications allow us to match colors closest. Exact color matches are not always possible.

If you're sending project files to us via email or FTP, you'll need a compression utility to make your files smaller. The software applications listed offer a wide range file formats, including .zip, .bin, and .hqx. Our list of File Compression software is a good starting place for helping you send or archive your files.

• Macintosh - [StuffIt Expander/DropStuff].

• Windows - [WinZip] / [StuffIt Expander/DropStuff].

Files compression is sometimes problematic. Remember, files (such as vector or strictly text and layout files) that are not raster (photos) and that don't contain photos don't really need compression. We can generally open files that have been compressed, but we can't guarantee that it will work well every time.

For any additional services, comments, or other information, please contact us via email: