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Setting Up a Digital File For Printing

How do you set up a digital file for printing? There are some basic rules to follow when preparing your artwork.

1. Choose a printer and find out exactly what they require for printing. All printers should be able to tell you what kind of files they require (Some still do not accept files and you must provide some type of hard copy - paper or film).

2. Mac or PC?.  Many printers have both MAC and PC platforms but there are a whole lot out there that only work from one or the other.  Traditionally, printers have used macintoshes while the corporate world has moved almost entirely to PCs.

You can have a lot of problems when moving a file from one platform to another even if it is from a Mac version of the program to a PC version of the same program.

3. What program did you do it in?.  Does the printer have the same program that you created your masterpiece in? Most printers use the primary programs (you know, the expensive ones!) such as:

Pagemaker, Quark Express, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc. These programs are set up to do separations for spot color or full color printing.

Many of the Mom and Pop programs (you know, the cheap ones) cannot separate colors.  This is fine if you are using a printer or copier, but not for printing.

Microsoft has made an attempt to make Publisher a cheap program for separations but it still does not work well for separations.

4. Let’s assume you have the same program as your printer. If you are setting up your file for spot or full color printing follow a few basic rules.

1. Scan your full color pictures in at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) and save them as CMYK files. (many things such as the size of the original, the size of the product, etc. impact on how you scan your picture, but 300 dpi is a good rule of thumb)

2. Include all fonts you use on your disk.

3. Include all pictures you have imported into your document on the disk.

4. If you have a full bleed (image goes right to the edge of the paper), extend your bleed image about 1/4”.

5. ALWAYS provide a copy of what your final job is supposed to look like.

5. You can provide the printer a PDF file.  PDF files are supposed to be the answer to a printer’s prayers. The customer provides the PDF file which has all the fonts and pictures included in a small, compact file.  The theory is good but doesn’t always work. In order to create a PDF file, you need Adobe acrobat and distiller (another program you will have to buy).

6. Spot color setup is often more complicated than four color process setup.  In spot color setup, you want one spot color to print out as a separation on one plate.  The next spot color must all print out on another plate and so on.  You must take care to ensure that you consistently use the same spot color in your document so it will all print out on the same plate. Where two spot colors touch each other there will be “trapping” which is where one color is left blank so the other color will print correctly.  Fades require special settings, and there are many, many small details to setting up a spot color separation correctly. 

You will have a better chance of success if you do not make your document overly complicated.

7. The best thing to do is to get a book and study the process or take a class on how to prepare a file for printing.  Or, you can pay somebody to do it for you.