NSP - Hot Tips

In the 1980s Apple and Adobe introduced hardware and software that formed the basis of a new concept, desktop publishing, and a revolution began. It was professed that the common man or woman would no longer have need of a graphic designer, a typesetter or a professional printer. This concept may be recorded as one of the great lies in history.

For best results and on-time delivery, please keep in mind:

Microsoft software is not designed for professional high resolution PostScript output. Proper color separation is poorly supported or unsupported. We recommend using QuarkXPress.

If your project requires fonts, you should send them. Remember that if you use Adobe Type 1 fonts, both the screen and printer fonts are needed. Avoid using type styling features such as bold or italic, they often do not output correctly. Instead, use the actual fonts.

Raster images (photos etc.) should be high resolution, 300 dpi at final output size. Web raster images should be low resolution, 72 dpi. You cannot mix these. You can downsample a 300 dpi image to 72 dpi without a problem. It is possible to upsample a 72 dpi image to 300 dpi, but the results will be poor, usually very poor. A digital image that is 2592 pixels by 1944 pixels will be 36 inches by 27 inches at 72dpi camera resolution. Resampling this image to 300 dpi will yield an image size of 8.5 inches by 6.5 inches before any cropping takes place.

Photos for print are CMYK or Grayscale mode, never RGB where unexpected results are almost certain. Avoid jpeg type images whenever possible, they use a lossy compression which degrades their quality. Never resave a jpeg as a jpeg, further loss is very likely. We recommend tiff as a preferred file type.

Line art for logos and type should be vector artwork, not raster. 300 dpi type from PhotoShop will not look crisp and clean. Output resolution of vector artwork should be no less than 800 dpi. Artwork from Adobe Illustrator should be saved as eps, not as ai. Convert text to paths (outlines) if possible. Don't confuse PhotoShop eps with Illustrator eps, they are not the same. The first is raster, the second is vector. PhotoShop eps files are often used for Duotone mode.

Color mapping should be consistent and correct. Spot colors should not be defined as separated unless that is your intent. Be cautious of embedding photos in Adobe software, the file size can grow to be huge. Linked photos allow us to make adjustments if needed. Layered files for output should be avoided whenever possible.

Page margins should be no less than .25", in book work no less than .375". This applies to matter that should not be trimmed off such as type. In the case of a bleed photo or a background color element, the bleed allowance outside the page size is .125", no more - no less. Design your projects as finish size, please do not design a small page on a larger one adding your own printer's marks or instructions. Similarly, page spreads should not be done on a single double sized page. The use of page spread crossovers should be avoided or done with great care and limited use.

Black or dark type should usually be set to overprint a lighter underlying color. An exception is if the type is quite large and an overprint transition might be visible. Be cautious when designing with large color blends. Visible banding may be noticeable at high resolution output. If you must create a large blend avoid using the blend feature of QuarkXPress, A PhotoShop blend will generally produce better results.

Always print out color separated laser prints on your black and white printer. Composite color printouts do not show potential output issues. File submission is incomplete without some form of visual aid. Paper printouts are best, a view pdf or fax is sometimes sufficient. The visual aid should be from a final file, not an earlier version.

If you desire to create pdf files for output, all of the above suggestions and cautions still apply. We can perform some limited editing of pdf files, but doing so is often difficult.

For Hot Tips regarding printing on our HP Indigo go here.

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			In the 1980s Apple and Adobe introduced hardware and software that formed the basis of a new concept, desktop publishing, and a revolution began. It was professed that the common man or woman would no longer have need of a graphic designer, a typesetter or a professional printer. This concept may be recorded as one of the great lies in history. For best results and on-time delivery, please keep in mind: Microsoft software is not designed for professional high resolution PostScript output. Proper color separation is poorly supported or unsupported. We recommend using QuarkXPress. If your project requires fonts, you should send them. Remember that if you use Adobe Type 1 fonts, both the screen and printer fonts are needed. Avoid using type styling features such as bold or italic, they often do not output correctly. Instead, use the actual fonts. Raster images (photos etc.) should be high resolution, 300 dpi at final output size. Web raster images should be low resolution, 72 dpi. You cannot mix these. You can downsample a 300 dpi image to 72 dpi without a problem. It is possible to upsample a 72 dpi image to 300 dpi, but the results will be poor, usually very poor. A digital image that is 2592 pixels by 1944 pixels will be 36 inches by 27 inches at 72dpi camera resolution. Resampling this image to 300 dpi will yield an image size of 8.5 inches by 6.5 inches before any cropping takes place. Photos for print are CMYK or Grayscale mode, never RGB where unexpected results are almost certain. Avoid jpeg type images whenever possible, they use a lossy compression which degrades their quality. Never resave a jpeg as a jpeg, further loss is very likely. We recommend tiff as a preferred file type. Line art for logos and type should be vector artwork, not raster. 300 dpi type from PhotoShop will not look crisp and clean. Output resolution of vector artwork should be no less than 800 dpi. Artwork from Adobe Illustrator should be saved as eps, not as ai. Convert text to paths (outlines) if possible. Don't confuse PhotoShop eps with Illustrator eps, they are not the same. The first is raster, the second is vector. PhotoShop eps files are often used for Duotone mode. Color mapping should be consistent and correct. Spot colors should not be defined as separated unless that is your intent. Be cautious of embedding photos in Adobe software, the file size can grow to be huge. Linked photos allow us to make adjustments if needed. Layered files for output should be avoided whenever possible. Page margins should be no less than .25", in book work no less than .375". This applies to matter that should not be trimmed off such as type. In the case of a bleed photo or a background color element, the bleed allowance outside the page size is .125", no more - no less. Design your projects as finish size, please do not design a small page on a larger one adding your own printer's marks or instructions. Similarly, page spreads should not be done on a single double sized page. The use of page spread crossovers should be avoided or done with great care and limited use. Black or dark type should usually be set to overprint a lighter underlying color. An exception is if the type is quite large and an overprint transition might be visible. Be cautious when designing with large color blends. Visible banding may be noticeable at high resolution output. If you must create a large blend avoid using the blend feature of QuarkXPress, A PhotoShop blend will generally produce better results. Always print out color separated laser prints on your black and white printer. Composite color printouts do not show potential output issues. File submission is incomplete without some form of visual aid. Paper printouts are best, a view pdf or fax is sometimes sufficient. The visual aid should be from a final file, not an earlier version. If you desire to create pdf files for output, all of the above suggestions and cautions still apply. We can perform some limited editing of pdf files, but doing so is often difficult. For Hot Tips regarding printing on our HP Indigo go here.



	BACK to Key Areas