ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | AlphaGraphics Seattle

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

ARTWORK

PREPARATION

GUIDELINES

Use this guide to optimize your artwork files

for print production.

Supplying print-ready files will aid in reduc-

ing the costs and turnaround times associat-

ed with your project.

Please review these guidelines BEFORE

designing your artwork.

Feel free to reach out to your account

manager if you have any questions.

FILE SUBMISSION

Use the SEND-A-FILE form on our website

to send us your artwork files. Select your ac-

count manager from the drop-down menu.

Go HERE to send us your files:

https://www.alphagraphicsseattle.com/send-a-file/

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ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

REQUIRED

ARTWORK

FILES

We require you to supply a print-ready PDF

file of your project. Refer to the BEST PRAC-

TICES section to learn how to prepare your

artwork file for print-production.

Export the PDF from your design / layout

application using the following setting:

High Quality Print with trim marks and bleed

The bleed area must be correctly defined in

your artwork native file. (refer to the BEST

PRACTICES section)

SUPPORTED NATIVE FILES

In addition to the PDF, it is also beneficial

to send us your native artwork files. Native

artwork files allow us to address minor

issues that may come up during our pre-

flight inspection.

Native files should be fully packaged with

fonts and linked images. Layers should

be organized and labeled appropriately

— meaning that someone who has never

worked with your file before could quickly

discern its contents.

We accept the following native artwork

file types:

Adobe Illustrator | .ai

PACKAGE FILE: under the FILE MENU select

PACKAGE and follow the prompts

Adobe InDesign | .indd

PACKAGE FILE: under the FILE MENU select

PACKAGE and follow the prompts

Adobe Photoshop | .psd

Photoshop does not currently have a pack-

age feature.

Microsoft Publisher | .pub

PACKAGE FILE: under the FILE MENU select

PACK AND GO then TAKE TO A COMMER-

CIAL PRINTER

NOTE: While we can work with artwork

created outside of the applications listed

above, it is FAR from ideal. It will often yield

poor results, lowering overall project quality

while significantly increasing your costs and

turnaround times.

REQUIRED ARTWORK FILES

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

BEST

PRACTICES

Follow these best practices to optimize your

artwork for print production.

DOCUMENT SIZE

The document size needs to exactly match

the specific dimensions of your project.

BLEED

Any artwork that goes to the edge of

the document must extend beyond the

document trim size by 1/8” (.125”) on all

sides. When exporting to PDF, be sure that

INCLUDE BLEEDS is selected in the export

settings AND the bleed is defined in the doc-

ument settings of the native artwork file.

Bleed size may vary for large and grand

format projects. Please consult with your

account manager to determine the required

bleed size.

MARGINS

All critical artwork elements (text, images,

graphics, etc.) should be at least 1/4” (.25”)

within the final trim size. For small products,

such as business cards, a 1/8” (.125”) margin

is acceptable.

BORDERS

Avoid using thin borders on the edges of

your artwork near the trim line. The small

shifts that happen during production make

them problematic for the final output.

FONTS

All fonts used in your project must be

packaged with your native artwork files

and embedded into your PDF. Fonts are

automatically embedded into the PDF when

using the High Quality Print export setting.

IMAGE RESOLUTION

Pixel based images should be at least:

DIGITAL AND OFFSET: 300 PPI at intended

print size (with no upsampling)

LARGE-FORMAT: 150 PPI at intended print

size (with no upsampling)

GRAND-FORMAT: Optimal PPI will vary

based on final size of your graphic and the

intended viewing distance. It can range from

25 - 100 PPI depending on the project.

NOTE: Vector graphics are resolution inde-

pendent. They can be scaled to any print

size without losing quality. The above PPI

settings are for raster graphics only.

CONVERT RGB COLORS TO CMYK

All RGB images and colors should be con-

verted to CMYK (the standard color space

for print production).

COLOR MATCHING SPOT COLORS

For spot color work that is being printed

digitally, use only the Coated PMS or Un-

coated PMS swatch libraries.

BEST PRACTICES

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

TRANSPARENCY EFFECTS

When using transparency effects (such as

drop shadows or transparent overlays),

convert all spot colors to CMYK and flatten

your file before exporting a PDF. This helps

ensure that transparency effects are repro-

duced on the printed output as intended.

NOTE: This is for PDF files only. Do not

flatten your native artwork files.

IMPOSITION

Provide your files as 1-up (on a single page).

Our prepress team will handle the imposi-

tion. Spreads should be turned off.

BEST PRACTICES

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

GLOSSARY

OF TERMS

A glossary of common printing terminology.

CMYK

The four ink colors used in standard printing,

Black. In Digital printing, the four CMYK

colors are applied to the paper all at once.

In Offset printing, the four CMYK ink colors

are applied to the paper in successive layers

using plates.

BINDERY

The production department responsible for

the cutting, folding, collating, drilling, kitting

and other finishing operations used on

printing projects.

BLEED

The area that extends past the trim edge of

a printed page. Standard bleed is 1/8” (.125”)

on all sides.

COATED

Paper that contains a surface coating.

COIL BINDING (WIRE-O BINDING,

SPIRAL BINDING)

A type of binding where metal or plastic

wire is fed through holes drilled along the

binding side of a printed document.

COLLATION

The process of organizing pages together in

a sequenced order.

COLOR CRITICAL

When a print project is color critical it is

imperative that the printed colors exactly

match a specification. This can apply to both

digital and offset printing.

COLOR VARIANCE

Slight differences in color between and/or

within print runs that is inherent to digital

and offset printing.

CROP MARKS

Thin lines on the page outside the printable

area that indicate where the paper will be

trimmed after printing.

DEBOSSING

Uses a metal die and high pressure on paper

to give a “sunken in” look, adding texture

and depth to elements of a design.

DIE CUTTING

The process of using steel blades to cut

unique shapes through paper.

DIGITAL PRINTING

The process of transferring electronic im-

ages directly onto paper. No printing plate

is required. Digital printing is ideal for short

production runs.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

DIGITAL PROOF (ELECTRONIC

PROOF, SOFT PROOF)

A PDF document generated by a prepress

technician for the purpose of project review.

DPI

Dots per inch. The number of physical dots

of ink per inch on a printed document.

EMBOSSING

Uses a metal die and high pressure to raise

parts of a sheet of paper, adding texture and

depth to elements of a design.

FIRST ARTICLE PROOF

A printed sample that is an exact copy of

the final project. It uses the same paper, ink,

press, folds, binding, kitting, lamination, etc.

used for the final press run and production.

FOIL STAMPING

Impressing metallic foil onto paper with a

heated die.

GRAND-FORMAT PRINTING

The printing of materials that are generally

over 60” in width. It requires the use of

specialty production equipment that can

accommodate the bigger-than-normal size.

HARD COPY PROOF

A printed sample of a project for the pur-

poses of review. They are useful for catching

project errors such as position, pagination,

missing elements, transparency effects,

typos, and image resolution.

LAMINATION

A film applied to a print to protect the

surface. The two most common styles are

gloss and matte.

LARGE-FORMAT PRINTING

The printing of materials that are too large

to be printed on most commercial printing

presses. It requires the use of specialty pro-

duction equipment that can accommodate

the bigger-than-normal print size.

OFFSET PRINTING

Offset printing uses metal or paper plates to

transfer an image onto a rubber “blanket”,

and then rolls that image onto the paper. Ink

is not transferred directly onto the paper.

Offset printing is the best choice for large

run quantities.

PAGE/SHEET

A sheet of paper has two pages (front

and back). Even if a side is blank it is still

counted as a page. Example: a book with 50

pages has 25 sheets.

PAGINATION

The process of arranging individual pages in

a multi-page document

PMS (PANTONE MATCHING

SYSTEM)

A universal color matching system that is

categorized by specific individual numbers

assigned to specific individual color inks.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

PAPER WEIGHT

The thickness of the paper stock.

PERFECT BINDING

A book binding method where the cover

and pages are glued together at the spine.

The spine is square and can be printed on.

Example: a paperback book.

PLATES

A metal or paper sheet installed into the

press that indicates where the ink will trans-

fer onto the paper. Used in offset printing.

PPI

Pixels per inch. The number of pixels that

show up in an inch of digital screen.

PREPRESS

Everything in the production of a print

project that happens before the project goes

to press. This includes file review, proofing,

imposition, plate manufacturing and more.

PRESS CHECK

It’s a scheduled time to review press sheets

for offset color-critical printing jobs, for the

purposes of finalizing the color.

PRINT-READY

An artwork file that meets all the specifi-

cations necessary to produce high-quality

printed output.

IMPOSITION

The arrangement of individual pages onto

press sheets.

RASTER GRAPHIC

A pixel based computer image. Common file

types include JPG, BMP, TIF, GIF, and PNG.

RGB

The color space of red, green and blue.

These are the primary colors of light, which

computers use to display images on screens.

SADDLE STITCH

The binding of printed materials by stapling

the pages on the folded spine. Example: a

magazine. The number of total pages must

be divisible by four to be saddle stitched.

SCORING

To crease paper with a metal rule for the

purpose of making folding easier.

SPOT COLOR

Pre-mixed ink specified when using a PMS

(Pantone Matching System) color number.

SPOT UV

A liquid varnish that can be applied to a

sheet to create a high-gloss shine to specific

design elements.

TRIMMING

The process of cutting the printed piece

down to its intended final dimensions.

UNCOATED

Paper that does not have a matte or gloss

coating. It maintains a natural look and feel.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ARTWORK PREPARATION GUIDELINES | ALPHAGRAPHICS SEATTLE

UP-SAMPLING

Taking an image file and using editing

software to change the pixels per inch to a

higher PPI (ex: going from 150 PPI to 300

PPI). This will result in noticeable quality loss

when the image is printed.

VDP (VARIABLE DATA PRINT)

Printing in which elements (such as text,

graphics, photographs, etc) can be changed

from one printed piece to the next without

stopping the press. VDP prints using infor-

mation from a database.

VECTOR GRAPHIC

A computer image that is stored and dis-

played in terms of vectors rather than pixels.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS