RGB Color Model Additive color model For computer displays Uses light to display color Colors result from transmitted light Red+Green+Blue=White

CMYK Color Model Subtractive color model For printed material Uses ink to display color Colors result from reflected light Cyan+Magenta+Yellow=Black

RGB to CMYK Color Conversion – Files that have been created in RGB will need to be converted to CMYK because it is not possible to do real ink on paper printing from an RGB image. Files that were created in RGB and converted to CMYK will have a color shift. On some designs it is not very noticeable on others the shift will stand out. During a color conversion all colors go from being built from 3 colors to being built from 4 colors.The colors are also changed from projected light to reflective light. Notice on the RGB color chart above that when all 3 colors come together the color white is produced.When all colors come together on the CMYK color chart the color black is produced.We prefer that our customers convert their RGB images to CMYK, therefore they have control
over the final outcome.We will convert files for a nominal charge.

Black Builds: Use caution when you have a solid area that is Black. Four-color process (CMYK) should be used to create a deep, dark, black, however if the total percentage of all four colors is greater than 340% your document will not print properly. Ink will saturate the stock and you will not be pleased with the final product. The only exception to this rule is text, please see the Black Text / Font section.We have developed settings that we know work well on our presses. Please use these settings when designing your document.
   The optimum settings for Black are:
      100% Black
      50% Cyan
      20% Magenta
      20% Yellow
If your black builds exceed 340% we will correct it for you for a nominal charge.

BLACK TEXT / FONTS:When creating black type please give it the following CMYK break down;
      100% Black
      0% Cyan
      0% Magenta
      0% Yellow


RESOLUTION     >>back to top
All images used for printing should be a minimum of 300 DPI at the size used for layout.

PPI vs DPI
The first important point to understand about resolution is the difference between PPI (pixels per inch) and DPI (dots per inch). Many software programs and scanner interfaces use these two terms interchangeably but that's not exactly accurate.As a general rule, the term PPI should be used when referring to image resolution, and the term DPI should be used when referring to printing resolution. How can you remember this? Monitors display pixels, and printers produce dots

Printed images are composed of dots. Image resolution is simply the number of dots in a 1-inch grid.

The DPI of an image is determined when the image is captured. Let’s say you scan an image at 200 DPI into PhotoShop. Once in Photoshop you increase it to 300 DPI.The image will print as if it were a 200 DPI image.All you have done is used 300 dots per inch to produce a 200 dots per inch image.You will need to recapture your image at 300 DPI or scale it accordingly.


FORMAT     >>back to top
Scanned images should be saved in a TIFF (.tif) or EPS (.eps) format to ensure the best color and sharpness possible. File formats such as GIF or JPG compress the picture and can cause it to look blurry and off-color when printed.


SCANNING     >>back to top
When scanning images to be printed you should follow a few simple rules. Scan your image at the final size you will need for your page layout. Scan your image at a minimum of 300 DPI, 400 DPI if your image has text.


DIGITAL CAMERAS     >>back to top
Images from digital cameras are acceptable, as long as the pixel resolution is adequate. For example, if your camera has a typical image of 1280 x 960 pixels at 72 DPI, you get about 17” x 13” of photograph at 72 DPI.This is comparable to a 4” x 3” –300 DPI image. 4” x 3” would be the maximum size that the image could appear in your printing layout.


CALCULATE THE RESOLUTION OF YOUR DIGITAL IMAGE and the maximum size you can go to retain a 300 DPI resolution as follows:
   • Determine the pixel dimensions from your digital camera
   • Divide those numbers by 300 (divide by 400 if the image contains text).
For example,an image without any text has a pixel dimension of 900 x 1200.When divided by 300,the maximum size of the image in your layout comes out to 3” x 4.” If you make the image any larger, it will not look sharp.


WEB IMAGES     >>back to top
You may be tempted to use a photo that you have lifted off of a favorite web site in your printing layout.Website images have a low resolution (72 DPI) and look terrible when printed on an offset press.Also,web images are in GIF or JPG format, so these images are sure to look disappointing in your final product. Check to make sure all images are at least 300 DPI and are legally available for use.


PROOFING / COLOR VIEWING     >>back to top
What you see is NOT what you get! Computer monitors display in RGB (Red,Green, Blue), while printed materials use process colors - CMYK (Cyan, Magenta,Yellow, Black).This means that your final printed product will look sharp and crisp, but the colors will look slightly DIFFERENT from those you see on your monitor. If matching colors is absolutely critical, be sure to order a hard copy proof. It is important to convert all your images to CMYK prior to submission.



FONTS     >>back to top
Using Font Families  |  Printer Font Substitution
Screen Font Substitution  |  Word Wrapping

USE FONT FAMILIES – NOT THE STYLE BAR – TO ENHANCE YOUR TYPE
To avoid having your type “reflow” during processing, it is very important that you do not add any style (bold, italic) to the fonts from the “type styles” option in either Mac or Windows. Use fonts from the original font family (i.e. Helvetica Bold or Helvetica Italic)


SCREEN FONT SUBSTITUTION     >>back to top
Screen font substitution occurs when a font such as "Venice" is available on the printer, but is not installed on your computer.Windows will allow you to choose this font, but will display another font, such as "Times", on the computer screen.The printer device will still print the correct font.The result is a discrepency between what you see on the screen and what is printed.You can often tell which fonts are installed on your computer by opening the Fonts control panel and viewing the list of fonts. Most Windows programs will also display a "TT" icon next to installed fonts, and a printer icon
next to fonts installed on the printer device but not installed on your computer. To avoid screen font substitution issues use only fonts available on your computer.While not always possible, this solution works best. If you choose fonts that are not installed on your computer, the printed version of these fonts may look different than what you see on screen.


PRINTER FONT SUBSTITUTION     >>back to top
Printer font substitution occurs when you specify a font that is not installed on your computer, or on your printer device.This can happen if you switch printer drivers after composing a document for the first printer. For instance, if the "Venice" font is installed on the first printer, but not on your computer, the first printer could still print out the correct font. If you then switch printer drivers to a one that does not have "Venice" installed, the second printer will substitute another font in place of the missing font. In this case,Windows will substitute a font on your screen and when printing. If you are lucky, the same font will be substituted in both cases, but there is no guarantee that this will be the case. To avoid printer font substitution issues, choose our printer driver as your printer driver when you first create the document.This will prevent changes from occurring when you switch from your local printer device to our printer driver.While this solution works for new documents, it does not work if you have already built the document using another printer driver. If you switch printer drivers after building your document, please make sure your font choices are still valid for the new printer device.


WORD WRAPPING     >>back to top
Word wrapping occurs when the flow of text changes when you switch printer drivers.This change could be as small as a single word at the end of one line wrapping to the beginning of the next line, or as large as reflowing your entire document.When you switch printer drivers, the document is automatically reformatted to meet the requirements of the new printer. Several factors can cause word wrapping changes, including different margin requirements, font substitution, and printer resolution.



BLEEDS     >>back to top
If your document contains images or colors that extend to the edge of the page,it is considered a document with bleeds.

To understand bleeds you need to know a little about the printing process. When paper moves through a press it shifts a little from side to side.The movement is very slight and in most cases not noticeable. It does start to become apparent when you are printing a document that has a design element that prints all the way up to the edge of the document.

Lets use a 2” x 3.5” business card with a blue background for an example. If you are printing your card at 2” x 3.5” and the paper shifts 1/64” of an inch to the right during printing, then you will have 1/64” of white on the left. If you card moves 1/64” to the bottom you will have 1/64” of white on the top.

Over the years the printing industry has a trick to compensate for the movement of the paper.The trick is to extend your background color past the cut edge of
your document.When this is done you have enough color so the white is cut off.This extra color that extends past the cut edge of your document is what is known as a bleed in the printing industry.

Example - Lets say you are printing the same 2” x 3.5” business cards with a blue background, however this time your card is set up at the size of 2.25” x 3.75”.You have extended your blue color .125” past the edge of your business card. Now when your card shifts 1/64” to the left
there is enough bleed on the right to cover the shift. If your cards shifts 1/64” to the bottom then there is enough color to cover the top.Once the printing is done,we cut your 2.25” x 3.75” business cards down to 2” x 3.5”.The end result is you have a stack of 2” x 3.5” business cards and no white spaces around the outside.

Please provide a 1/8” or .125” bleed on documents that bleed.This .125” bleed will make your file size .25” larger than the final size of your document. Lets say you are printing an 8.5” x 11” Product Sheet that bleeds. If you add .125” bleed to the left and .125” bleed to the right and then do the same top and bottom, the end result is document that is 8.75” x 11.25”.



SAFE AREA     >>back to top
Please read the above section about bleeds first.

When paper moves through a press it shifts a little from side to side.The movement is very slight and in most cases not noticeable. It does start to become apparent when you have a design element that is too close to the cut edge of your document.You also run the risk of part of your design element being cut if it is to close to the edge.

To help hide the fact that the paper has shifted and to keep your design elements from getting cut we ask that you keep all of your elements, that do not bleed, a pre-determined distance away from the cut edge. The pre-determined distance is what we call a safe area.

Please provide a safe area of .25” on most products. On smaller projects like business cards a .125” safe area will do.

Example – If you are printing a 2” x 3.5” business card that does not bleed, you should contain your design elements to 1.75” x 3.25”. This will leave a blank space of .125” on all sides of your business card.This will help hide the fact that the paper shifted and will keep parts of your design from being cut off.