Digital Specifications

We accept:
CD Rom/DVD
Zip disks – either 100mb or 250 mb
1.44 MB HD Floppy disks

PRINTERS BLEED
There are two terms you need to know so we may talk the same printing lingo. "Final trim area" and "Live area"
Final Trim area – This refers to the final size of the printed item. So a business card is 3.5"x2" final trim area. Or, a 1/2 pager is 5.5"x8.5" final trim area.

Live area – This refers to the area where type should be inside the final trim area. We ask that the live area be 1/8 to a 1/4" from the final trim area. Example: if a 1/2 pager has a final trim area of 8. 5"x5.5" the live area should be 8.25"x5.25". Th is ensure good balance with the printed product and prevent the possibility of cutting type when final trimmed.

Questions and answers

Q. What line screen do you print?
A. Our standard screen for color printing is 150 line screen. We can print different line screens on request from 65 line screen up to 200 line screen. Uncoated or highly porous paper often requires printing at 150 or 175 line screen, but we output that film at the same 3600 dpi film resolution.

Q. What resolution do you require for a scan or photograph?
A. 300 ppi is adequate for 300 line screen. As a rule, you should double the line screen to determine your optimal ppi setting for scans and photographs. However, we have found that anything above 300 ppi appears to be redundant. Black and White line art scans should be set at 4 times the line screen or 1200 ppi.

Q. Do you have a specific dot gain setting for Photoshop files?
A. Yes. Select Printing Inks Setup in Preferences under the File Menu and be sure the settings read as follows: Printing Inks shoud be SWOP (coated) and the Dot Gain should be 15%.

Q. Should I use CMYK or RGB mode for Photoshop files.
A. Always convert your Photoshop files to CMYK! Your files will be printed on a CMYK press. An RGB file may print correctly on your color laser printer, but it does not translate correctly on the RIP. RGB files print out black & white when output to an imagesetter. Be sure to change your files to CMYK to avoid additional film charges and costly delays in your print job.

Q. How should I save my Photoshop files?
A. Use TIFF (LZW compression off) or EPS (binary) files only! Other formats such as JPEG, PICT, etc., have mixed results or fail to print altogether when output to our imagesetters.

Q. How many colors can you print?
A. Our Press prints with cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. We have printed up to 16 colors with multiple passes. If your job requires multiple spot colors or 4-color process plus spot colors, just let your salesperson know when you place your order. We can also print your job with gloss or matte varnish or both.