Guide to Supplying Artwork

Everything you need to know about supplying artwork files correctly

File formats accepted

Press ready PDF - with fonts embedded

Quark Express – supply fonts and images

Illustrator – fonts converted to outlines

Freehand – fonts converted to paths

Photoshop – layers flattened, at least 300 dpi, JPEG or Tiff

Corel Draw – fonts converted to Curves then export as Illustrator AI

Indesign - fonts converted to outlines

Different formats

If you wish to submit artwork created using a program not listed above we should be able to accomodate you but please call to discuss first - 0845 224 7912

Supplying native files

When supplying native files e.g. Quark Express, please ensure all elements, document, images and fonts are in one folder and please compress using Stuffit or similar to .sit or zip files before sending.

Supplying PDF artwork

We prefer all artwork to be supplied as high-resolution PDF format.

PDFs are rapidly becoming the standard file format for transmitting files for printing, but it is important to prepare your PDF file in the correct way

Correct preparation of PDF files

When creating a PDF in Acrobat Distiller, there are job options which must be set for commercial printing. These include default resolution, compression settings and font embedding.

Please ensure you choose high resolution. Compression settings for colour and greyscale should be downsampled to 300dpi with "auto compression" set on high. Bitmapped (monochrome: i.e. line art) images should be set at 600dpi. Font embedding should be set to "embed all fonts."

Bleed

Make sure there is 3mm bleed all round the PDF, i.e. save the PDF with 6mm added to each measurement (i.e. for A4 usually 210mm x 297mm, save as 216mm x 303mm). Crop marks may be included. If it is not saved in this format, we will not be able to use it as artwork and if there are any changes to the job, you may have to amend and re-supply the artwork.

CMYK not RGB please!

Please ensure that all embedded images are CMYK files please. RGB images may look good on your screen but final output to print is always in CMYK. One should be aware that files converted from RGB to CMYK may alter the colour composition significantly.

Microsoft Office files

If you are creating a PDF from a MS Publisher or Word file, care must be taken to ensure spot colours are created correctly in your original documents. Do not set to RGB colours.

Supplying EPS files

Any other file formats not listed above must be saved as an eps or jpeg. If there are any changes to the job, you may have to amend and re-submit the artwork as we will be unable to change it. Ensure file has bleed and crop marks and please confirm the final size of the artwork and supply a hard copy for reference.

Bleed and crop marks

All artwork must have 3mm bleed if you require the image to bleed off the edge of the paper.

Crop marks should be included if artwork does not fill a whole page area (i.e. no bleed). They should be 5mm long, 3mm outside of the page area and coloured in the colour registration to ensure they appear on each colour separation.

Please ensure that artwork is supplied at the correct finished size required. If this is not possible, please inform us to allow time for amending the artwork.

Artwork amendments or re-submission

Our prices include "pre-flight checking" your artwork and submitting a PDF proof for your approval. We will correct any easy to rectify issues that we spot as part of this process - free of charge.

Fonts

Include all fonts you have used in the file. Whilst we have an extensive font collection, there is no guarantee the version you have used matches ours. This can create problems with line lengths and spacing of the type.

MyPrintUK.com assumes all fonts supplied are licensed and takes no responsibility for embedded fonts.

Lineart and images

Scanned colour and greyscale images should be 300dpi at the final size in the document submitted for output.

Images should be submitted as TIFFs, JPEGs or EPS.

Lineart (bitmapped) should be 600-1200dpi at the final size in the document submitted for output.

Sending artwork by email

Please address it to (artwork@myprintuk.com) with any relevant information regarding the job. Maximum file size preferred by email is 20mb.

Files larger than this should be sent on disk.

Further assistance

If you need any help with sending your artwork please contact us on 0845 224 7912