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Supplying files
One of the advantages of digital printing is that, in general,
specifications for file supply are somewhat less demanding than for
conventional offset lithographic printing. That said, there are still
potential pitfalls. This information is designed to help you provide us with
accurate workable files so that we can complete your printing to schedule.
Your document setup
The maximum document size for digital output (other than for poster
printing) is SRA3 or 450mm by 320mm, but you should work within this size to
allow for a non-printable area outside of regular A3. You should therefore
set up your file no larger than A3 or 297mm by 420mm.
Image size
You will get the best results by providing us with image files (pictures and
graphics) of 300dpi, at the size at which they appear in your document.
However, smaller files can work and, unlike with conventional printing,
reasonable results can be achieved with lower resolution images. If in
doubt, please consult our free advice line on 0845 120 4738.
Image File types
There are a large number of image file types supported by PrintHouse
Digital. These include TIF, JPEG, EPS and BMP (please take note of our file
resolution notes above). Images can be saved as either CMYK or RGB. We
recommend CMYK where a choice exists.
Fonts
Although we have a very extensive font library for both PC and MAC, it is
still always wise to include both the printer and screen fonts with your
job.
If you are providing your file in Adobe Acrobat PDF format then please
ensure that you have distilled your file selecting the option to ‘embed’ all
fonts. When this is the case you do not need to supply the font to us in
addition to this file.
Software packages
Our digital printing service does not use films or plates and so does
not rely on separating your artwork into the usual process colour CMYK, or
at least not in the conventional sense. We can therefore work with a far
wider range of software packages than is practical for conventional colour
printing. In most cases all of the following packages will provide good
results, as long as you have followed the other advice in Supplying Files.
Both the PC and MAC versions of these packages will work equally as well:
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Adobe Acrobat PDF (this is our preferred
package with your fonts embedded)
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Adobe Illustrator
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Adobe Pagemaker
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Adobe Photoshop
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Corel Draw
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Macromedia Freehand
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Microsoft Office - Word, PowerPoint &
Excel
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Microsoft Publisher
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Quark Xpress
All other packages, please check by
calling our free advice line on 0845 120 4738 or by emailing
sales@printhouse.co.uk
How to plan up your artwork
If you happen to be producing artwork for an item that you believe will be
printed “several up” on the page, then we normally still ask you to provide
the file just “one up”. An example of this would be if you are producing
artwork for a business card or postcard. Even though several of the items
will fit on one page A4 or A3, please nonetheless set your file just “one
up”. We will carry out the imposition for you before our digital systems
produce your printing.
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