#01
TEMPLATE
TEMPLATE
Always send a “template” of your work for reference of the Bureau or Printer. Even in low resolution, it is a great help during the assembly, paging, collage, folding, etc. and streamlines the production process. It is also your guarantee.
Tips
Over the years, AGNS gathered a number of tips that may help you in the creation and completion of your file. All these precautions can avoid unexpected events and delays in the production.
#02
INK CARDTRIDGE
Ink cartridge
For scanned images, the sum of all overlapping colors (C + M + Y + K) or the darker area of the image should not exceed 320%, in order to avoid decals and not compromise the drying of the print. Each paper has their percentage of absorption, but the value above already provides protection.
#03
SOLID + VARNISH
Solid + Varnish -
When you choose the 100% black to be printed in offset, the density of the ink alone is not sufficient to give an ideal blackness appearance. To achieve a spotless black and grayish background, use 100% Black (K), overlapped or with 40% Cyan ©. Thus, the solid color will be brighter and with a black velvet tone. Be sure to use a protective varnish for all materials containing large solid-color areas.
#04
PAGE FRAMEWORK
Page frameworkg
Often, agencies and studios generate their files without setting the print page. Always set the page size, remembering that in Coreldraw there is a resource to eliminate the border of the print page
#05
IMAGES + LINKS
Images + Links
The mere presence of an image on your computer screen does not ensure that it actually exists. Always check the links attached to the file and send them with the original file. Some software applications feature the tool Collect for Bureau, which automates the entire process. But the ideal is to generate PDF or PostScript (.ps, .prn.) files because all images, fonts, etc. will already be incorporated into a single file.
#06
FONTS
FONTS
For PC, send all fonts used (TTF extensions for TrueType and PFB and PFM for Type I fonts) that are not standard in the Windows operating system. Closed files with the incorporation of the fonts avoid major hassles.
#07
GRADIENTS
Gradients without steps
To avoid evident steps in the gradients, a solution is to do it in Photoshop and apply an “Add noise” filter of low intensity. When generating the gradient on your preference program, assess whether the number of steps is greater than 256 levels. The problem can also be generated by the imagesseter of the Bureau that does not have the resolution required to generate all color levels.
#08
RGB IMAGES
RGB images
Avoid applying RGB images in editing programs. The conversion made by software applications that accept this type of image follow the particular preferences of each software and may generate gray images or images limited to the black channel. (All Images in the final file must be 300 dpi and in CMYK).
#09
THIN LINE FONTS
Thin Line Fonts
Avoid using thin-line fonts on dark backgrounds with various colors. The absorption of ink by the paper, the overlay of coatings, the “opening” (expansion and retraction) of the paper and other factors may affect the thickness of the fonts. Use medium or bold fonts in these cases. In case of reduction of a vector image on your computer, evaluate whether the resulting thickness is large enough to be exposed in photolith or plate.
#10
STAINS ON
HANDLING
Handling stains on prints
To avoid finger stains in areas of dark colors or others, we must apply offset varnish, U.V. varnish, lamination or plastic coating on the prints.
#11
DIGITAL
PROOFING
DIGITAL PROOFING
IS THE DIGITAL PROOF USABLE?
Your proof cannot be used as a perfect color reference if not duly calibrated according to the final printing technology. Each equipment and each type of printing (offset, flexography, rotogravure ...) has their own characteristic of dot gain and ink type. First, your printer must have quality set on Dpi to reproduce more closely to the final result, then it should have the recommended number of colors. Today, with the Digital Proofs, by correctly using the ICC (International Color Consortium) color profile management, it is possible to adapt the printing to any technology used in the market with absolute fidelity with the application of densitometry.
#12
SADDLE-STITCHING
SADDLE-STITCHING
When a printed material, with two-staple finishing, has too many pages, it is natural that the central sheets exceeding the crop marks. Do not leave images, stripes, page numbers or texts very close to the side borders so that they are not cut at the final trimming of the material. The Printer responsible for the printing will tell you how much margin on each side you should leave when editing the project.
#13
BLEED
Bleed
Always leave an area in addition to the crop marks for pages that should not have blank areas on its boundaries. The so-called “bleed” is this excess image outside the crop marks. Three mm bleed are sufficient as a safety margin.
#14
TEXTS IN
CURVES
TEXTS IN CURVES - Complex texts and nodes
When converting texts (fonts) to curves, avoid generating a large amount of “nodes”. The software has controls (flatness) to manage this conversion. In addition to compromising the result of your document during the printing, it may interfere with the generation of photoliths or plates. Files with too many texts must be made in paging programs such as InDesign, PageMaker, Quark. Using the Magic Wand in Photoshop to make a selection and create a clipping path may generate a path with a very large number of anchoring points (nodes) making it impossible to print. Increase the clipping path flatness. If it does not work, you can reduce the number of nodes, retracing the selection and using a greater number of pixels as tolerance when creating the path. In CorelDRAW, it is possible to know the number of nodes by just selecting the curve (it appears in the information bar); avoid a number greater than 400 nodes. In Adobe Illustrator, you can reduce the complexity of a path by using the option split long paths. FreeHand also has this option, but only in the print menu.