A Guide To Supplying Artwork
Contents:
Section 1 – Colour
Artwork supplied to Clear Sound & Vision should be in CMYK, Greyscale or use Pantone Colours. We will not accept artwork in any other colour mode.
We highly recommend that you approve a digital colour proof prior to printing, this in turn can be used by the printer/pressing plant to match to. Without this, the printer will run the job “to weight/to strength” (make a professional judgement on the outcome of the print) and this may not be how you envisaged the end result.
Please be aware of the amount of ink your artwork holds when trying to achieve dark colours/designs. For instance, if your CMYK artwork contains elements that use 90% Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black, far too much ink will be applied and there may be drying/saturation issues on press. We therefore ask that any element of your artwork must not contain more than 300% total coverage of the CMYK Plates.
*A good way to check colour percentages used on a PDF, is to apply the separation preview in acrobat professional. This will break down the colour values for you by use of an eyedropper tool over your artwork. This will also flag up any potential rogue/unwanted spot colours or Pantones used.
Section 2 – Quality/Resolution
Artwork supplied should hold a minimum resolution of 300dpi, any lower may result in pixilation or reduction in image quality.
All text supplied on artwork should ideally be supplied in “vectors”. Software packages such as Indesign, Quark, Illustrator or Freehand are all capable of producing high quality vectorized text. If for example you use Adobe Photoshop to lay out your text, you will be producing image based text, which in turn will be susceptible to pixel damage and will in turn produce a lower quality printed product.
Please note: any artwork supplied as a vector can disregard the dpi issue as a vector is set up differently from an image graphic and can never lose quality.
Section 3 – Templates
Please supply your final artwork using the templates we provide or downloaded from our website. The following points will aid you in supplying artwork to us correctly:
a) The document size of our supplied template must not be altered in any way.
b) Please drop your artwork onto our template and not the other way around
c) Our templates dictate where “bleed” should be provided, limits of where text should sit, folds and where the printed image will trim. This is normally provided on a key in the top right. This may not be evident on certain/specialized templates, please contact us for instruction if unclear.
d) The template itself must not be modified in any way and a high resolution PDF should be output.
FAQ - templates.
Q: What if I do not use Quark.
A: Our templates come in both Quark and PDF format, So Quark or Indesign users can use the QuarkXpress file and any other uses will have no problems importing the PDF into their software.
Q: Why aren’t there any dimensions noted on the template?
A: If our template is used correctly you should have no need for sizes. Our templates have been created to scale (1:1 Ratio) so artwork can simply be dropped on and output to PDF.
Q: How do I stop the template from printing over my artwork?
A: By default, the template guides are set to suppress on output and so should disappear once your PDF is made.
Section 4 – Overprint & Knockout
Those that use Photoshop for all of their artwork may ignore this section as it will not apply.
If using Quark/Illustrator/Indesign or Freehand:
“Overprint”:
The only time overprint should come in to effect is when you overprint black text onto a lighter background, this ensures there are no registration or “fit” issues.
If your text/image is overprinting a lighter shade onto a darker shade, this text/image may not be visible when printed.
“Knockout”:
This does the opposite to overprint. It knocks elements through the ink beneath it and prints onto the paper. Therefore white text knocking out to a black background will knock through and show the white of the paper/card, therefore making the text perfectly visible.
*A good way to check if any of your artwork is “overprinting” or “knocking out”, once you have made a PDF, is to open it in Acrobat Professional and use the “overprint preview” feature under the advanced tab.
Section 5 – Booklets
Please supply booklet artwork (unless instructed otherwise) in “printers pairs” ie.
12 & 1
2 & 11
10 & 3
4 & 9
8 & 5
6 & 7
Odd numbered pages sit on the right. If you use this rule, you can apply it to any sized booklet. Please also be aware that the centre pages should be the last pages on your document.
Section 6 – CD Onbodies
Please ensure your onbody artwork does not include a centre hole or stacking ring, we will grid this artwork accordingly and will supply a PDF for your approval.
Please ensure that the minimum text size used on cd onbodies is 6 points or above. Any text smaller than this runs the risk of not being legible on the final printed product.
To avoid fit issues on text or vectored images please ensure trapping is applied. “Trapping” is a process that can be applied to vector text/images in a number of software packages including Quark/Indesign and Illustrator. The easiest explanation would be that its "bleed" for text/images.
To avoid any fit issues an outline of 0.5 points set to overprint the colour beneath should be applied to your text/images.
There is however a trade off with using this technique. On certain colours, if you are overprinting one colour on top of another, the colour of the stroke (outline) will look different to that of the fill. Because it is only 0.5 points however, it is very minimal. Unfortunately this is unavoidable so the trade off is that the you either have white edges around your text/images or a colour very similar around the text. Seeing as white is the brightest colour, this trade off will be very minimal and we would suggest this occurs on all onbody art that uses vectored text.
Section 7 - Fonts
If the situation arises where you will need to supply CSV with native files, we will require all fonts that you have used too. If “TrueType” fonts are used, they generally come in two parts, a printer file and a screen file. In order for us to use your fonts successfully we will require you to supply both of these elements. Failure to supply one part of the font, can result in font corruption/bitmapping or complete font replacement to something standard such as courier.
Please also ensure that you embed any fonts into your document when supplying PDF files.
Please contact Simon Johns or Jo Cole in our Reprographics Department should you have any questions on 020 8989 8777.
Section 8 - Proofing
For your convenience, a downloadable version of this guide can be found here.
Proofing by PDF
Clear Sound and Vision does NOT recommend artwork is checked for colour accuracy from pdf’s. PDF’s are NOT colour accurate, and in general desktop monitors are not calibrated for colour accuracy, therefore artwork will appear different from monitor to monitor. PDF’s are useful in checking content and “general” colour balance, but cannot be relied upon.
In the event the customer decides to “go to print” without a “colour guide” and a pdf is supplied to the printer only, the customer accepts that they are taking a risk in the results of the printed material. In this event the printer will simply “run the print to weight”, which means the print minder will run the 4 colour inks up to their full strength, using the colour bars that printers refer to as a guide. The print minder will not view the pdf or second-guess what the customer expectation is.
All Print companies that Clear Sound & Vision work with, and are aware of, will not accept any responsibility in colour variance if only a pdf is supplied and a “printer approved” colour guide has not been supplied. (A customer supplied “print out”, generated from a non-professional or non-calibrated printer, is not considered to be a “printer approved” colour guide).
When providing pdf’s to customers Clear Sound & Vision ALWAYS attaches the following disclaimer…
PLEASE FIND ATTACHED PDFs FOR YOUR APPROVAL. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THROUGH THE FOLLOWING.
CLEAR SOUND & VISION LTD pdf APPROVAL. Please check carefully that all of your instructions have been interpreted correctly. CSV are unable, under any circumstances, to accept verbal instructions to proceed with work based on the attached pdf(s). Any amendments must be clearly indicated. This approval must be either signed or returned, although approval by email will also be accepted.
PLEASE NOTE: pdf(s) ARE NOT COLOUR ACCURATE AND A VARIANCE IN COLOUR MAY OCCUR BETWEEN THE ATTACHED pdf(s) AND THE FINISHED ITEM. BY ELECTING TO APPROVE THE ATTACHED ARTWORK VIA pdf(s)AND NOT BY A PHYSICAL COLOUR PROOF YOU THEREFORE AGREE TO HAVE NO CLAIM AGAINST CLEAR SOUND AND VISION LTD FOR ANY VARIANCE IN THE COLOURS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT FROM THAT EXPECTED. *PLEASE ALSO NOTE: FONT SIZES MAY NOT BE ACCURATE AND MAY APPEAR SMALLER ON OR WITHIN THE FINISHED PRODUCT COMPARED TO THE SUPPLIED PDF.
Without a colour proof the print operator has nothing to match the print to. He or she will therefore "print to weight" i.e. Run the combined process inks up to their full strength.
IF COLOUR ACCURACY IS CRITICAL TO YOU, THEN WE ADVISE THAT YOU REQUEST A COLOUR PROOF FROM US. PRICE FOR THIS WILL BE SUPPLIED UPON REQUEST.
All orders placed are subject to CSV trading terms and conditions of sale from time to time.
To assist you, please remember to include in your check the following;
Catalogue Number
Barcode Number
Correct Number of pages
Spine Details
Running Time (where applicable)
All logos / Copyrights
Text
Amendments (where applicable).
*Font Sizes.
We recommend that you obtain a copy of the final approved artwork files, on disc for safe keeping, at the same time of placing your commercial order for your finished product. CSV will be pleased to supply this upon request at a cost of £35.00 + VAT.(CSV cannot be held liable for any loss of artwork files or materials).
Digital Colour Proofs
Clear Sound & Vision is able to supply “in-house” Digital Colour Proofs using an Epson Stylus Pro 7800, 8 colour professional Ink jet printer. This is calibrated to Clear Sound & Vision’s “main” print suppliers’ “printing profile” to assist in matching, as near as possible, the Digital Proof to the printed material.
Clear Sound & Vision ALWAYS recommends to its customers that they consider checking artwork via a Digital Proof.
Whilst Digital Proofs are a very good indicator of how the colours will appear when printed and give the print minder a reference to match to, Digital Proofs do have their limitations. For example Pantone colours cannot be accurately produced using a Digital Proof, but most importantly it is the material to be printed on which can produce variation in colour. For instance if the material to be used is ink absorbent board, then this is likely to “dull down” the colours, certainly compared to the appearance of a Digital Proof.
Wet Proofs
In the event Colour accuracy is paramount and the product is being printed on a non-standard material, or perhaps the product is of a high value, Clear Sound & Vision would recommend approving the artwork via “Wet Proofs”.
Fundamentally, Wet Proofs, which require the printer to produce “printers plates”, are pre-production printed sheets, which have been printed on the exact material and produced from the same machinery to be used for the finished item. Therefore “Wet Proofs” are a true representation of how the finished item will print, save for the “finish” i.e. before a UV or Laminate etc, has been applied and before the item has been “made up”.
Sometimes tight deadlines may not allow for Wet Proofs or the customer may want to see the actual job being printed and “pass the job on press”. Clear Sound & Vision can arrange for this.
Colour Matching Various Items
If various items to be printed share the same design or colours and it is the intention of the designer that these items should match, this must be considered before going to print.
If the various items can and are to be printed using the same print company, then it is advisable, providing production time allows, one item is printed ahead of the other item in order that the print minder can use the first item as a colour guide to match to the following items to be printed. The same can be said whereby it is necessary to use different print companies i.e. the first item should be printed, approved and used as a colour guide for the second print company to match to. Clear Sound & Vision recommends that Digital Proofs or Wet Proofs should always be produced in any event.
In the event production time does not allow the various items to be printed one after the other, then the printer will have no choice other than to match to the Digital Proofs or Wet Proofs, bearing in mind that printing on different materials may yield different results.
Contents:
Section 1 – Colour
Artwork supplied to Clear Sound & Vision should be in CMYK, Greyscale or use Pantone Colours. We will not accept artwork in any other colour mode.
We highly recommend that you approve a digital colour proof prior to printing, this in turn can be used by the printer/pressing plant to match to. Without this, the printer will run the job “to weight/to strength” (make a professional judgement on the outcome of the print) and this may not be how you envisaged the end result.
Please be aware of the amount of ink your artwork holds when trying to achieve dark colours/designs. For instance, if your CMYK artwork contains elements that use 90% Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black, far too much ink will be applied and there may be drying/saturation issues on press. We therefore ask that any element of your artwork must not contain more than 300% total coverage of the CMYK Plates.
*A good way to check colour percentages used on a PDF, is to apply the separation preview in acrobat professional. This will break down the colour values for you by use of an eyedropper tool over your artwork. This will also flag up any potential rogue/unwanted spot colours or Pantones used.
Section 2 – Quality/Resolution
Artwork supplied should hold a minimum resolution of 300dpi, any lower may result in pixilation or reduction in image quality.
All text supplied on artwork should ideally be supplied in “vectors”. Software packages such as Indesign, Quark, Illustrator or Freehand are all capable of producing high quality vectorized text. If for example you use Adobe Photoshop to lay out your text, you will be producing image based text, which in turn will be susceptible to pixel damage and will in turn produce a lower quality printed product.
Please note: any artwork supplied as a vector can disregard the dpi issue as a vector is set up differently from an image graphic and can never lose quality.
Section 3 – Templates
Please supply your final artwork using the templates we provide or downloaded from our website. The following points will aid you in supplying artwork to us correctly:
a) The document size of our supplied template must not be altered in any way.
b) Please drop your artwork onto our template and not the other way around
c) Our templates dictate where “bleed” should be provided, limits of where text should sit, folds and where the printed image will trim. This is normally provided on a key in the top right. This may not be evident on certain/specialized templates, please contact us for instruction if unclear.
d) The template itself must not be modified in any way and a high resolution PDF should be output.
FAQ - templates.
Q: What if I do not use Quark.
A: Our templates come in both Quark and PDF format, So Quark or Indesign users can use the QuarkXpress file and any other uses will have no problems importing the PDF into their software.
Q: Why aren’t there any dimensions noted on the template?
A: If our template is used correctly you should have no need for sizes. Our templates have been created to scale (1:1 Ratio) so artwork can simply be dropped on and output to PDF.
Q: How do I stop the template from printing over my artwork?
A: By default, the template guides are set to suppress on output and so should disappear once your PDF is made.
Section 4 – Overprint & Knockout
Those that use Photoshop for all of their artwork may ignore this section as it will not apply.
If using Quark/Illustrator/Indesign or Freehand:
“Overprint”:
The only time overprint should come in to effect is when you overprint black text onto a lighter background, this ensures there are no registration or “fit” issues.
If your text/image is overprinting a lighter shade onto a darker shade, this text/image may not be visible when printed.
“Knockout”:
This does the opposite to overprint. It knocks elements through the ink beneath it and prints onto the paper. Therefore white text knocking out to a black background will knock through and show the white of the paper/card, therefore making the text perfectly visible.
*A good way to check if any of your artwork is “overprinting” or “knocking out”, once you have made a PDF, is to open it in Acrobat Professional and use the “overprint preview” feature under the advanced tab.
Section 5 – Booklets
Please supply booklet artwork (unless instructed otherwise) in “printers pairs” ie.
12 & 1
2 & 11
10 & 3
4 & 9
8 & 5
6 & 7
Odd numbered pages sit on the right. If you use this rule, you can apply it to any sized booklet. Please also be aware that the centre pages should be the last pages on your document.
Section 6 – CD Onbodies
Please ensure your onbody artwork does not include a centre hole or stacking ring, we will grid this artwork accordingly and will supply a PDF for your approval.
Please ensure that the minimum text size used on cd onbodies is 6 points or above. Any text smaller than this runs the risk of not being legible on the final printed product.
To avoid fit issues on text or vectored images please ensure trapping is applied. “Trapping” is a process that can be applied to vector text/images in a number of software packages including Quark/Indesign and Illustrator. The easiest explanation would be that its "bleed" for text/images.
To avoid any fit issues an outline of 0.5 points set to overprint the colour beneath should be applied to your text/images.
There is however a trade off with using this technique. On certain colours, if you are overprinting one colour on top of another, the colour of the stroke (outline) will look different to that of the fill. Because it is only 0.5 points however, it is very minimal. Unfortunately this is unavoidable so the trade off is that the you either have white edges around your text/images or a colour very similar around the text. Seeing as white is the brightest colour, this trade off will be very minimal and we would suggest this occurs on all onbody art that uses vectored text.
Section 7 - Fonts
If the situation arises where you will need to supply CSV with native files, we will require all fonts that you have used too. If “TrueType” fonts are used, they generally come in two parts, a printer file and a screen file. In order for us to use your fonts successfully we will require you to supply both of these elements. Failure to supply one part of the font, can result in font corruption/bitmapping or complete font replacement to something standard such as courier.
Please also ensure that you embed any fonts into your document when supplying PDF files.
Please contact Simon Johns or Jo Cole in our Reprographics Department should you have any questions on 020 8989 8777.
Section 8 - Proofing
For your convenience, a downloadable version of this guide can be found here.
Proofing by PDF
Clear Sound and Vision does NOT recommend artwork is checked for colour accuracy from pdf’s. PDF’s are NOT colour accurate, and in general desktop monitors are not calibrated for colour accuracy, therefore artwork will appear different from monitor to monitor. PDF’s are useful in checking content and “general” colour balance, but cannot be relied upon.
In the event the customer decides to “go to print” without a “colour guide” and a pdf is supplied to the printer only, the customer accepts that they are taking a risk in the results of the printed material. In this event the printer will simply “run the print to weight”, which means the print minder will run the 4 colour inks up to their full strength, using the colour bars that printers refer to as a guide. The print minder will not view the pdf or second-guess what the customer expectation is.
All Print companies that Clear Sound & Vision work with, and are aware of, will not accept any responsibility in colour variance if only a pdf is supplied and a “printer approved” colour guide has not been supplied. (A customer supplied “print out”, generated from a non-professional or non-calibrated printer, is not considered to be a “printer approved” colour guide).
When providing pdf’s to customers Clear Sound & Vision ALWAYS attaches the following disclaimer…
PLEASE FIND ATTACHED PDFs FOR YOUR APPROVAL. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THROUGH THE FOLLOWING.
CLEAR SOUND & VISION LTD pdf APPROVAL. Please check carefully that all of your instructions have been interpreted correctly. CSV are unable, under any circumstances, to accept verbal instructions to proceed with work based on the attached pdf(s). Any amendments must be clearly indicated. This approval must be either signed or returned, although approval by email will also be accepted.
PLEASE NOTE: pdf(s) ARE NOT COLOUR ACCURATE AND A VARIANCE IN COLOUR MAY OCCUR BETWEEN THE ATTACHED pdf(s) AND THE FINISHED ITEM. BY ELECTING TO APPROVE THE ATTACHED ARTWORK VIA pdf(s)AND NOT BY A PHYSICAL COLOUR PROOF YOU THEREFORE AGREE TO HAVE NO CLAIM AGAINST CLEAR SOUND AND VISION LTD FOR ANY VARIANCE IN THE COLOURS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT FROM THAT EXPECTED. *PLEASE ALSO NOTE: FONT SIZES MAY NOT BE ACCURATE AND MAY APPEAR SMALLER ON OR WITHIN THE FINISHED PRODUCT COMPARED TO THE SUPPLIED PDF.
Without a colour proof the print operator has nothing to match the print to. He or she will therefore "print to weight" i.e. Run the combined process inks up to their full strength.
IF COLOUR ACCURACY IS CRITICAL TO YOU, THEN WE ADVISE THAT YOU REQUEST A COLOUR PROOF FROM US. PRICE FOR THIS WILL BE SUPPLIED UPON REQUEST.
All orders placed are subject to CSV trading terms and conditions of sale from time to time.
To assist you, please remember to include in your check the following;
Catalogue Number
Barcode Number
Correct Number of pages
Spine Details
Running Time (where applicable)
All logos / Copyrights
Text
Amendments (where applicable).
*Font Sizes.
We recommend that you obtain a copy of the final approved artwork files, on disc for safe keeping, at the same time of placing your commercial order for your finished product. CSV will be pleased to supply this upon request at a cost of £35.00 + VAT.(CSV cannot be held liable for any loss of artwork files or materials).
Digital Colour Proofs
Clear Sound & Vision is able to supply “in-house” Digital Colour Proofs using an Epson Stylus Pro 7800, 8 colour professional Ink jet printer. This is calibrated to Clear Sound & Vision’s “main” print suppliers’ “printing profile” to assist in matching, as near as possible, the Digital Proof to the printed material.
Clear Sound & Vision ALWAYS recommends to its customers that they consider checking artwork via a Digital Proof.
Whilst Digital Proofs are a very good indicator of how the colours will appear when printed and give the print minder a reference to match to, Digital Proofs do have their limitations. For example Pantone colours cannot be accurately produced using a Digital Proof, but most importantly it is the material to be printed on which can produce variation in colour. For instance if the material to be used is ink absorbent board, then this is likely to “dull down” the colours, certainly compared to the appearance of a Digital Proof.
Wet Proofs
In the event Colour accuracy is paramount and the product is being printed on a non-standard material, or perhaps the product is of a high value, Clear Sound & Vision would recommend approving the artwork via “Wet Proofs”.
Fundamentally, Wet Proofs, which require the printer to produce “printers plates”, are pre-production printed sheets, which have been printed on the exact material and produced from the same machinery to be used for the finished item. Therefore “Wet Proofs” are a true representation of how the finished item will print, save for the “finish” i.e. before a UV or Laminate etc, has been applied and before the item has been “made up”.
Sometimes tight deadlines may not allow for Wet Proofs or the customer may want to see the actual job being printed and “pass the job on press”. Clear Sound & Vision can arrange for this.
Colour Matching Various Items
If various items to be printed share the same design or colours and it is the intention of the designer that these items should match, this must be considered before going to print.
If the various items can and are to be printed using the same print company, then it is advisable, providing production time allows, one item is printed ahead of the other item in order that the print minder can use the first item as a colour guide to match to the following items to be printed. The same can be said whereby it is necessary to use different print companies i.e. the first item should be printed, approved and used as a colour guide for the second print company to match to. Clear Sound & Vision recommends that Digital Proofs or Wet Proofs should always be produced in any event.
In the event production time does not allow the various items to be printed one after the other, then the printer will have no choice other than to match to the Digital Proofs or Wet Proofs, bearing in mind that printing on different materials may yield different results.