Print Guide Your easy guide to perfect print
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Contents Please use this guide to set up your file BEFORE sending it, that way you will save time rather than risking having your file rejected.
Back to Basics Size
Size does matter... No really it does.
Bleed
No plaster needed, but just as essential.
Quiet Area
We all need a bit of peace & quiet.
Colours
Bring some colour back into your life.
RGB
What you see is not always what you get.
Black
You’re never out of fashion with a little black number.
Spot Colours
Are you suffering from acne?
Overprints
Just how much print do you need?
Fills
Anyone know a good drummer?
Vector/Bitmaps
It’s all maths to me!!!
Images
Click! What a picture.
Fonts
A little knowledge goes a long way.
Density
Duuuh!!! Who’s your destiny?
The Finished Article Folding
It’s no card game, but you might need to concentrate.
File Types
Not the DIY ones, but equally as important.
Distilling
Time to sober up and keep it real.
Submitting
1-2-3 I give in!!! bezingaprint.com making you look good in print
Size Back to Basics A bit of planning ahead will mean effective printing. Choose a size and shape that fits the job correctly. Don’t think you have to cover every inch of the print surface, often the most effective products are those with plenty of space to allow the message to be seen.
(303mm x 426mm incl. bleed)
A4
210mm x 297mm
(216mm x 303mm incl. bleed)
A5
148.5mm x 210mm
(154.5mm x 216mm incl. bleed)
D/L - Comp 99mm x 210mm
(105mm x 216mm incl. bleed)
A6
105mm x 148.5mm
(111mm x 154.5mm incl. bleed)
Business Card 85mm x 55mm
(91mm x 61mm incl. bleed)
The most popular sizes
A3
297mm x 420mm
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Bleed Get it Right First Time The two biggest reasons for rejecting files are: RGB and No Bleed. Here we address the issue of bleed. What is Bleed? Bleed is the area outside of the finished size, it is there to ensure a clean finish to your print. It allows you to run images right to the edge of the paper. (Don’t forget to allow the quiet area, explained later) Actual Size 154.5mm 3mm bleed Finished Size 148.5mm
A5 Finished Size 148.5mm x 210mm Actual File Size Required
(154.5mm x 216mm incl. 3mm bleed)
Depending on which software you use, to set up your file just make sure you add 3mm of bleed area all the way around. Some brands of software allow you to add this area as part of the “document Set-up”. If you can’t find it, just add 3mm extra to each edge of the artboard: 6mm total extra to both the height and width of the print area. You can download a PDF template of all our popular file sizes to help you,
Placing your image on the page is easy but less professional looking
Run the image into the bleed area and it will give you a quality result
Stansfield Construction
Stansfield Construction
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Quiet Area Oh, for a bit of quiet The quiet area is simply the distance from the edge of the print area that you should keep text or important information away from. This should be at least 5mm from any edge. You can run background images or graphic effects to the edges as long as you realise that part of this area (bleed area) will actually be cut off. Actual Size 154.5mm Finished Size 148.5mm
Now you have set up your file with the correct amount of bleed, just make sure you allow for the quiet area - 5mm all around. Some brands of software allow you to add “internal guide lines” onto your artboard. These lines don’t come out on the print, but help you make sure all the important stuff is in the right place, and keeps your print looking clean.
Keep all you important information within this area
Don,t put black lines onto the print area as these will print and spoil your product.
5mm Quiet Area + 3mm bleed Your Business Address printed here Your Business Address printed here
This is correct and prints cleanly This is wrong and will be chopped off
Please Note: If you don’t include the bleed and quiet areas you run the risk of your file being rejected. If Stansfield Construction printed, you may be unhappy with the result if areas have been cut-off. Just take a bit of time to prepare your file before you start designing. Or, leave it to the experts, use our team of in-house graphic designers, or call into your local bezingaprint.com store for a great design at a great price - and less stress.
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Colours Colours CMYK All our printing is carried out in CMYK, this stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (the letter k is used to avoid confusion with blue). This ensures you get as close to the colours you require as possible. However, what you see on a monitor is not CMYK, even when you have your software set to this, as your screen is RGB light. To counter this, always do a print out. Even then, how a colour prints can be affected by the process: digital or litho, the type of paper used: coated or uncoated, digital or offset etc. 225 Rule: Alway check that the total numbers of each colour when added together does not excede 225, this ensures clean print.
RGB RGB colour is what you see on a TV screen or monitor. We DO NOT print this type of file. We can force convert artwork to CMYK but it always results in changes to the expected colours. You can NOT make the same colurs with RGB as you can with CMYK, so the print will always be different than you expect. The biggest culprits are images used within documents. Convert these first before placing into your artwork. (see images)
Black When using black, such as text, please use 100% k (black). If choosing litho and you have black fills or backgrounds you can get a richer black by using 20C/20M/20Y/100K or add 60% Cyan. There is no need to use any more than this as it could result in over saturation of the paper. Text should always be 100% black, especially text lower than 12points. Digital files should always be 100% black only.
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Colours Spot Colours We can print lithgraphic jobs with one spot colour only. Spot colours should be chosen from the pantone range of colours. these are industry standard colours that have been used for many years. Black + Pantone or CMYK + Pantone Do not use pantones in fountain fills or transparancies as this type of fill will be rejected.
No Fountain Fill for pantone colours
We can force convert spot or process colours to CMYK but the result may be different from that you expect.
Overprints Always be aware that every layer you place on an artboard is seen by our printing software. Please do not set colours to overprint as the final print result will be affected. Any such files will be rejected for printing.
Fills & Transparencies If using professional software such as illustrator, Quark or in design, fills and transparencies are usually fine. We do not print files from such as word or publisher that have fills as they do not output effectively. If using photo-editing software such as photshop or corel draw please flatten your file before saving (keep an original for editing) If you are not sure what to do why not use our design services. We set up files everyday for printing. bezingaprint.com making you look good in print
Colours & Vectors Vectors/Bitmaps The best and most accurate forms of printing are from vectors, these are based on mathmatical calculations and can be re-sized without loss. Try not to use bitmaps, these two formats behave in different ways. DO NOT mix these in artwork, as even when they have the same colour value they print differently. Worst still are RGB converted bitmaps, these rarely print as expected because the embedded information is still RGB and colours are not converted to CMYK correctly.
Images Artwork often benefits from pictures and creative images. Choose your images carefully, it is better to purchase quality images from one of the many stock websites. Don’t just drag something off the internet. Nearly all the images have some form of copyright and are of very low resolution - only 72dpi and you need at least 300dpi to get effective print. If you buy a large 72dpi image and reduce its size by half, you double its resolution. So it is OK to use large quality images if they are being reduced in size.
Fonts Do not use fonts less than 5 points as these will be difficult to read. Please embed or create outlines before saving to PDF.
Colour Density Before saving your file make sure the CMYK colour values never excede 250 average (max 280). Too much colour will result in your file being rejected. Be carefull of working in RGB and then converting to CMYK, as conversions usually result in a poor colour interpretation, and often blurred printing. bezingaprint.com making you look good in print
Finishing Folding If you require a folded leaflet remember to leave a 5mm quiet area either side of the fold. Don’t forget the bleed as well. Download a template for the fold style you require. Remember: heavier paper stocks will need creasing rather than folding to prevent cracking.
File Types Most files we receive come as PDF’s (portable document format) as this are the most common format used. However, if you are using software that uses bitmaps or a photo-editing programme such as photoshop, then save as a jpeg of tiff. Never output from a vector programme as jpeg.
Distilling It is important that you keep a check on the file size. It is easy to get excited putting loads of images into a document only to find the file is too large to print. There is software that can help reduce the file size to a more manageable size without reducing the print quality.
Submitting DO NOT send files above 5mb directly. You must use “you send it” to send large files, don’t worry it is free to use, Just search on the web and sign up for a lite account. You can use it to send large pictures to your family and friends as well. Why not take your file into your local store and they can check it for you to see if it is suitable. (fees may apply) bezingaprint.com making you look good in print
And Finally Your Final Checks
CHECK YOUR ARTWORK CAREFULLY
What to Check:1: 2: 3:
4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9:
Check ALL phone numbers carefully TWICE. Check ALL the addresses, it's spelling and Postcode. Check ALL the required information is on the proof. e.g.. VAT number, Fax number, Name, Prices etc. Read the entire text slowly. Check ALL spelling. Check the Ink Colour (or Colours) are as required if applicable. Check the Quantity required. Check the size is correct. Check the layout is as required.
Please note: Mistakes can be easily corrected before we print your work BUT CANNOT be corrected after printing.
It is your sole responsibility to ensure the work is correct.
Some reasons why customers have confirmed incorrect artwork to be correct. 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:
I didn’t have my glasses with me. It looked lovely. I though it would be correct. I didn’t have time. It is a new telephone number. I didn’t read that bit. IF IN ANY DOUBT DO NOT CONFIRM THE ARTWORK AS BEING CORRECT
TAKE YOUR TIME - CHECK - DOUBLE CHECK AND ONLY WHEN YOU ARE SURE CONFIRM THE ARTWORK AS READY FOR PRINTING.
Supplied courtesy of John Atkinson - Northern Print
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