PROCESS (CMYK) COLORS
All CMYK jobs must be in process colors (in InDesign and Quark Xpress, make sure that the tick box marked 'Process Split' is switched ON for all CMYK colors). EPSs must also be checked in the program they were originally created in.
SPOT COLORS
All special colors must output to a separate plate, and NOT process split. Preferably specified as solid coated Pantone colors.
RGB/DEFAULT COLORS Remove all unnecessary spot colors, especially: RGB default colors in Quark. This avoids confusion when outputting plates. They are easy to spot, if you go into 'Print' and select 'Separations' then go to 'Output', this will give a list of all spot colors made. Remember to check all EPS files.
QUARK XPRESS & TRANSPARENT PICTURE BOXES
Avoid using transparent picture boxes wherever possible for color or grayscale pictures. This can cause pixelation to appear on the edges of scanned pictures when outputting plates.
TRIM & FOLD MARKS
We recommend using layout software's default registration marks and NOT manually created ones, with all fold marks to be a thickness of .25mm, colored 'registration' and positioned 3mm from the trim.
TRAPPING
In most cases black type/objects should 'overprint' the colors under them. This is the usually default , but check anyway, otherwise it will lead to registration problems (a particular problem when using Freehand/Illustrator). WARNING: Overlapping drop shadow text or colored text over a scan does not automatically knockout/choke or spread/overprint colors under them, in fact Quark creates illogical trapping in these instances. You need to highlight the text and manually correct it using the 'Trapping Information' palette.
BLEED AREAS
Please include 1/8 inch bleed on all bled pages. (Design Templates Available)
IMPOSITION & MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENTS
Please create spreads using two single pages as this will enable us to impose your document for print.
HYPHENATION
Please 'name' customized hyphenation & justification settings, rather than manually adjusting the default setting.
FONTS & STYLES
Avoid applying styles to screen fonts (bold, italic etc.), it is much safer to choose an actual printer font that exists in your font library.
NON-indesign or Quark DOCUMENTS
With files supplied in Illustrator/Freehand/Corel Draw, please turn all fonts to 'paths' or 'outlines', particularly if created on a PC.
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