When preparing your files for high quality printing, the choice of application is very important. The application you use needs to support bleeds, high resolution graphics, and proper black and white, spot color, and 4-color process separations. The program also needs to be able to image correctly to a 2540-dpi Postscript® imagesetter.
The applications best to use are:
Layout: QuarkXPress, Adobe Indesign, or Adobe Pagemaker
Graphics: Adobe Illustrator, Freehand MX, CorelDRAW
Photographs: Adobe Photoshop
These programs allow for bleed and will color separate into spot or process colors.
Microsoft applications have limitations on whether they will image correctly to a 2540-dpi Postscript imagesetter. It is best to send a high-resolution PDF file with the fonts embedded. These programs were really made for printing to lower-resolution laser or inkjet printers and not for 2540-dpi Postscript imagesetters.
Microsoft Word, Excel, Microsoft Publisher:
1. These will image as black & white only if sent from the application.
2. CMYK PDF files will separate into process colors.
3. Application files or PDFs will not separate into spot colors.
4. RGB PDF files can be converted to CMYK.
5. These programs do not allow for bleed. If bleed is desired, the application file must be made 1/8th inch larger
on all sides, i.e., an 8-1/2 x 11 should be made as an 8-3/4 x 11-1/4 inches.
6. The PDF file should always have the fonts embedded.
Applications that were not mentioned are not supported by Friendship Creative Printers and were never intended for printing to a 2540-dpi PostScript imagesetter.
Fonts: Customers should contact the prepress department to make sure we carry the fonts they are using. Otherwise, screen and printer fonts should be sent with the job. Some software collects the graphics and fonts that will be needed to support the files you are sending. Frequently it misses some screen or printer fonts, and sometimes a graphic. It is a good idea to verify everything is on the disk you will be sending.
PDF workflow: Files that can be saved or exported to a high-resolution PDF is supported in our prepress department. Be sure that the fonts are embedded, bleeds are in the file, and that the file will color separate correctly.
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