Trade Printing Artwork Guide.

Submitting Your Files

We prefer Press Ready PDF files but we will try to work with whatever you send us.
All files are checked prior to print and if we see a processing problem that cannot be seamlessly rectified we will pause production and contact you. We will never alter the editorial content of your files but we will, for example, warn you of typos if we spot them.

Read our detailed guide:
Litho Unfinished Sheets
(Also has a selection of templates)

Artwork for jobs that don't bleed should be sent at the finished size of the job, ie the file for an A5 job should be 148mm x 210mm.
If your job bleeds then we require a minimum of 1.5mm bleed, ie for an A5 job this should be 151mm x 213mm.

All important text and lines should be a minimum of 5mm away from the edge of the sheet. Edges that are to be bound into books require a 20mm margin. Edges that are to be drilled require a 12mm margin.

Avoid designing handwriting areas with solid ink fills. This will look ok when written on the top sheet with a pen. But the NCR write-through image on middle and bottom sheets will not be very visible. We recommend limiting colour tints for writing areas to 50% or lighter.

Our numbering is roughly the dimensional equivalent of 18 point Arial, so this can be used for positional purposes. Generally the space should be at least 7-8mm deep, and wide enough to accomodate your required number of digits (max 7) with some space to spare. Wherever possible we prefer you to mark the number position on the artwork you send, please do so in an ink colour you do not intend to be printed, we recommend using an RGB colour set to overprint.
If your job has multiple numbers on the sheet and the distance between them is less than 50mm or they are different orientation please telephone us for details.
Numbering is only available on uncoated paper.

300dpi is fine for photographs but is usually not sufficient for best quality line art. Since most forms and logos are lineart we recommend 600dpi - 1000dpi for best results. Though 300dpi will often be adequate depending on the job requirements.
Try to avoid anti-aliasing on high res bitmap lineart because this will be screened at 150lpi as would any photo (remember bitmaps are actually digital photographs).
Our standard plate resolution is 2400dpi which will accurately reproduce the imperfections in poor quality bitmaps.

Please send your artwork in the correct colour format. eg. a CMYK job should contain only CMYK, and not be a mixture of CMYK, RGB and spot colours (with the exception of non-printing elements such as numbers or perf lines that you have deliberately added) While our system will automatically convert to CMYK for you, we can't guarentee it will come out the colour you intended.
Remember that printing in CMYK on uncoated white paper will appear duller and often darker than on coated paper and that tinted NCR paper will influence the perceived colour.