PrePress Guide
Prepress Guide - This PDF contains general prepress guidelines for preparing and creating files.
Common Problems to Avoid
1. Incorrect page size. The document size should match the trim
size of the job.
2. Type near trim. Type that is placed near the trim could be
trimmed off due to
mechanical variance. Be sure that type or any other object not meant to bleed
is at least 3/16" away from trim.
3. Insufficient bleed. To ensure that an object prints to the end
of the page, extend
anything that should bleed 1/8" further than the trim on the top, bottom and face
of the page.
4. Poor RGB to CMYK conversion. In some cases, RGB images are
converted to
CMYK when a PDF is made. The results can range from good to very poor. It's
a good idea to convert images to CMYK in Photoshop to avoid any poor conversions.
5. Low resolution or low quality images. Because images come from
many different
types of media, the resolution and quality can vary. It's a good idea to open the
PDF's you create and check the quality of the images. If an image looks poor in
the PDF, it will also look poor when printed.
6. High ink density. SPI recommends no more than 280% total ink
density. Cyan +
Magenta + Yellow + Black = ink density.
7. Faded or washed out black. A "rich black" should be used
whenever large text,
graphics, boxes or backgrounds are to print as black. Use the values of 40% cyan,
30% magenta, 30% yellow and 100% black, to create a rich looking black.
8. Spot colors. Unless printing a 5th channel, spot colors will
be converted to CMYK
when processed. This means that the color will change and the printed piece will
not match the PDF that was created. The color difference should be minimal, but
there will be a difference. To avoid this, only use "process" colors.
9. Fonts not embedded. Even though fonts may appear correctly in
a PDF, if they are
not embedded, they can not be processed.
If you need any further explanation on any of these common problems, contact your CSR. (Customer Service Representative).