Send us your art
Need to get a file though to us? Do it the easy way; upload it online and never have to leave your seat.
Your file should be a print ready pdf with bleed and crop marks or a zipped file of all the fonts and links. Our PDF specs are listed below.
Here's a couple of tips to ensure your job is complete.
This form is limited to a maximum file size of 100Mb.
Trying to do an upload larger than this will only result in losing all the information and the upload failing.
FTP Access
If your file is larger than 100Mb we have an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) service. Contact Lance Bathard Email Ben for further information.
See file specs
Terms used in printing
Crop Marks
Crop Marks are thin lines placed on the corners of a document, image or artwork layout to indicate where the paper should be trimmed after printing. Crop marks are important for any artwork, especially if the design will have bleed. The crop marks should be beyond any bleed, and at least 3mm outside the trim area.
Bleed
To have bleed on a document means that the printed design is intending to extend to one or more of the edges of the document. Bleed is typically required to extend 3mm past the trimmed edge, (or more for large format printing). This ensures that when the document is trimmed, the design ends on the very edge of the page. As printing is a manufactured process, slight variations in trimming are simply part of the process. If there is no bleed, the likelihood of having a white strip on the edge of the finished product is high.
Both InDesign and Illustrator have a 'Package for Output' feature (in the File menu). Use this to ensure that image resolution and colour spaces are correct, that fonts are available and can be embedded, that graphics are up-to-date, and so on. It will create a folder that should (depending on any settings you adjust or warnings you ignore) contain everything we need to create a suitable PDF.
Check your document before exporting
Before creating a PDF for us, make sure that the document meets our specifications. The following list offers some recommendations:
- If your artwork contains transparency (including overprints and drop shadows) and you require high‑resolution output, it’s a good idea to preview the effects of flattening using the Flattener Preview panel before saving the file.
- You can preview the separations and ink coverage limits using the Separations Preview panel.
- Use only high-resolution images in your document.
- For best results, use only CMYK images in a four-colour-process job.
- For best results from us export using [Press Quality] and set the Standard to 'PDF/X-4:2010'
Produce a print-ready Adobe PDF file
- Prepare the document for exporting to Adobe PDF.
- Preflight the PDF in Acrobat 7.0 Professional or later.
- Proof and correct the PDF file.
- From the File menu use 'Export...' or 'Save as...' and select 'Abode PDF'.
- Use [Press Quality] and set the Standard to 'PDF/X-4:2010'.
- Under Marks and Bleeds add crop marks, adjust the Offset to match your Bleed and add the Bleed settings.