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In this Digital World, there are many ways
to build your graphics for use by a printing company. Nearly all
of your documents will print just fine to your printer attached to your
computer, but can give headaches to a printing company that ultimately
must put ink on the paper. Take a look at our Printing
Terminology page for definitions of many of the terms we talk about
as printers. The better you can communicate with us, the better your
project will come out. Remember...the less we manipulate your
artwork, the more cost effective and timely your job will be.
When you send artwork to us, you can use the Send-A-File
utility at the top of this page. This bypasses e-mail and is a
direct link to us here at Sir Speedy and file size does not
matter. Sometimes e-mail can limit the size of the files you can
send. Also, in a perfect world, we would all use Adobe Illustrator
or In Design. However, we do support just about all of the common
computer programs used to generate your projects, including Microsoft
Word and Publisher. We can even print from AutoCad.
There are a few things you can do at your end to insure a smooth
transition to the printing press from your computer. First, we
will be happy to send you a template to set up your project for
printing. For example, a tri-fold brochure is a common job and you
can download a template here.
We provide several different templates for you to use. Following
these guidelines will make
your job faster and more cost effective.
Making your file into an Adobe PDF file is probably the best bet for a
good result, but even that requires a little prep on your end. If
you use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or In Design, you can
"Flatten the layers" making the document all one layer,
and "outline" the fonts to make the characters part of the
document so they will not be flagged as missing fonts when you send the
project to us.
Here is what Adobe has to say:
Adobe PDF
is a versatile file format that can be used in a variety of workflows:
 | Many
page-layout, word-processing, and graphic applications accept
imported
or placed PDF files. This makes Adobe PDF an excellent
choice for saving
artwork that will be used in other applications.
In addition, Adobe PDF can
preserve all Illustrator data, which
means that you can reopen the file in Illustrator
without any loss of data.
| Adobe
PDF is highly effective in print publishing workflows. By saving a
composite
of your artwork in Adobe PDF, you create a compact,
reliable file that you or your
service provider can view, edit,
organize, and proof. Then, at the appropriate time
in the
workflow, your service provider can either output the Adobe PDF
file directly,
or process it using tools from various sources for
such post-processing tasks as
preflight checks, trapping,
imposition, and color separation.
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its small file sizes and platform independence, Adobe PDF is also
an ideal
format for distributing documents electronically and
viewing them on-screen.
You can send Adobe PDF documents to other
users as e-mail attachments,
or you can distribute the documents
on the World Wide Web or on an intranet. |
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If you use Microsoft Publisher, use the "Pack and
Go" command under the "file" tab to prep the document to
send to a commercial printer. This will include all the necessary
information we will need to print your project. If you have
Publisher 2007, Microsoft has added a "Convert to PDF" feature
to make things easier for you.
Coral Draw has a "Publish To PDF" feature under the
"file" tab that will streamline sending your job to us.
Note that in the "Settings" area of the "Publish To
PDF" window in Corel Draw, you can export all text as curves when
you make a PDF Document. The effectively solves the missing font
problems when you send us your projects.
Lastly, but every bit as important, is Resolution. This
refers to the quality of the images you might place in your
document. The internet is a great resource, but be very careful
when downloading images and logos from web sites. Typically
things that look great on a web site will be lousy for printing.
Web sites prefer low resolution images to make the sites load faster in
your internet browser and they look good on your screen. Printing
is just the opposite. We like the highest quality, crispest
images. Especially if we are enlarging the image in a document or
poster. Don't worry....most everything on the internet was once a
high resolution image or photograph. Chances are they are
available for download for the asking....especially company logos that
need to be properly printed in your documents. Just ask for them
ahead of time.
If you have a question or need help with your projects, give us a
call. A little pre-planning can really make your job go smoothly
and look great!
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