Prepress Specifications

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Prepress Specifications

Supported software:

Macintosh:
QuarkXPress 7, including legacy versions 6, 5, and 4.11
InDesign CS3, CS2, CS, 2.0.
PageMaker 7
Photoshop CS3, CS2, CS
Illustrator CS3, CS2, CS
Acrobat Professional 8.0, 7.0
Freehand MX
Microsoft Office X (See notes about Word and Powerpoint below)

PC:
QuarkXPress 7, including legacy versions 6, 5, and 4.11
InDesign CS3, CS2, CS
PageMaker 7
CorelDraw 10
Photoshop CS3, CS2, CS
Illustrator CS3, CS2, CS
Acrobat Professional 8.0, 7.0
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Office (See notes about Word and Powerpoint below)

Notes about Microsoft applications.

Both Powerpoint and Word convert placed images to RGB regardless of their original color space. If you provide us with files that originated in one of these applications, we will convert to CMYK using our standard CMYK color conversion. This is typically done using a PDF workflow. Any additional color work to files will be considered AA and is chargeable.

Notes on "Plate-Ready" supplied files:

Supplied files should include all necessary crop marks and bleeds. We recommend .125" offsets for marks and .125" bleeds. Please be sure to use the page centering option of your page layout program so that we can impose your files quickly and efficiently. Files that are not on center require additional processing time. (Example: 8.5 x 11 on 9.5 x 12, Centered) Contact your project manager or technical support for additional information.

PDF file specifications:

Supplied PDF files are run through a PDF X1a certification process prior to output. Please use this specification when possible. If you do not have the appropriate distiller .joboptions file, we would be glad to provide you with them.

Plate ready file formats:

Should use a LW resolution of 2400dpi (94.48819dpm) and preferred CT resolution of 300dpi (11.81102dpm).

DCS 1.0
DCS 2.0
TIFF/IT-P1 (including HC)
Creo/Scitex .job files, native LW/CT. (New LW and New CT accepted.)

Fonts:

PostScript fonts should include both printer and screen fonts. We also support TrueType and OpenType fonts. Please be sure to include all fonts required for your project so we can process your files in a timely fashion. For notes on how to handle fonts in OS X visit our customer tools page.