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Digital file specifications
Before sending in your digital files, please review the following specifications. If you are unsure about the specifications please do not hesitate to contact our pre-press department prior to sending your file, our operators are glad to help. At the time of quotation Westlinkprint assumes that the digital files to be supplied are correctly prepared and 100% ready to run. Additional charges may be incurred if corrections or amendments to the files are necessary.
Media & File Transfer
Westlinkprint accept files via DVD, CD, ftp, USB Memory Stick or email. Large email and ftp files should be compressed to minimise file size to reduce transfer times and avoid problems of data corruption. Please use Stuffit or Winzip compression software - (.zip). Maximum size for email attachments is 10Mb. Ftp files can be accepted of a much larger size. If you have an ftp server, provide us with a user name and password, and we will retrieve the files from your site.
Alternatively, you may chose to send files to our ftp server in our guest location. To access the Westlinkprint ftp site, please type in the following address into your web browser:
Address: www.westlinkprint.com.au, choose the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and login as Anonymous. Users can drag and drop files into the ftp window screen. Customers requiring higher levels of security of information may request a dedicated ftp account.
Software
We accept most professional file formats inclusive of Indesign, QuarkXpress (Version 6.5), Photoshop, and Illustrator. We prefer final output files to be constructed in Indesign or QuarkXpress. Westlinkprint’s pre-press department operate Macintosh computers running OSX and are currently running CS3. If supplying Indesign files In CS4 or CS5, please backsave to CS3.
PC files of Indesign and QuarkXpress will not be accepted, If you are running either of these programs on a PC, please supply Westlinkprint with a high resolution, print ready PDF file.
Illustrator files should be saved as EPS in CMYK colour mode and Photoshop files should be saved as TIFF in CMYK colour mode; or TIFF in grayscale mode.
Images saved in other formats such as .bmp, .jpeg, and RGB colour mode will require file editing by Westlinkprint to achieve expected results, which may incur additional charges.
Other PC software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher are designed for print to desktop office printers, and do not have the necessary colour and image handling capabilities to provide the file in the correct way for professional print quality results. Digital files provided using these formats produce RGB documents, and often use JPEG low-resolution images. Many printing companies and all magazine publishers do not accept these files at all. To achieve expected results Westlinkprint’s pre-press department is required to extensively edit the document, and therefore additional charges apply. Please advise us at the time of quotation if it is necessary for you to provide files in these formats.
To summarise, when supplying original digital files to Westlinkprint please provide the following:
• All scans in CMYK colour mode (minimum 300dpi at actual size) saved as TIFF
• All fonts used in the document(s)
• All logos and linework illustrations used in the job (saved as outlines in Adobe Illustrator)
• Minimum 3mm bleed where applicable
• Provide a hard copy printed mock-up of the document for quality control purposes
• Westlinkprint also accept high-resolution PDF which has been saved to the correct settings:
• CMYK images only in the original document, (not RGB) scanned at minimum 300dpi at final size.
• Colour usage in the original document should be checked so that only those colours which are required as spot colours are preserved that way.
• Crop marks
• Image centred on the document page, in single pages
• Saved for Acrobat 4 or higher, with all editing capabilities preserved
• All fonts must be embedded
• Colour and grayscale bitmap images to an average downloading sample of 400dpi
• Monochrome images to an average downloading sample of 1200dpi
• 8 bit zip compression
• No security settings
• Provide a hard copy printed mock-up of the document for quality control purposes
Hard Copy Proof
It is beneficial to include a colour printout “hard copy mock-up” of your layout with your files. If you are emailing files, you may post the printout separately, or alternatively supply a pdf of the document that you have checked to be correct. Without a hard copy we cannot guarantee accurate reproduction of the image. Our operators and proof readers compare our results directly with the hard copy proof for quality control purposes. On occasion the digital file may contain Pantone colours which need to be preserved or converted to CMYK, where necessary please indicate all Pantone colours on the proof.
Colours
All desired colours need to be specified. Do not use generic colours, such as “blue” from QuarkXpress. Convert all to CMYK colours, or use the Pantone selections from the software.
Please check the colour usage in the original document, so that only those colours which are required as spot colours are preserved that way.
During offset printing, Westlinkprint can utilise spot Colour Pantone Inks to achieve accurate colour matches. However, during 4 colour process (CMYK) and digital printing EXACT COLOUR MATCHES ARE NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE.
Designers and production managers should refer to the Pantone Process Colour Imaging Guide, Solid to Process, to be sure of the closest equivalent to the specified colours desired.
Logos, lineart and scans
Do not supply logos or other linework illustrations as bitmapped art, or jpegs. Typographic logos and related images should be saved as outlines in EPS file format. Logos scanned as colour or grayscale images at 300dpi at actual size will achieve the minimum acceptable result, however the printed result will be “screened” giving a dotted final appearance rather than smooth lines. Higher resolution scanning, at 600dpi will improve the outcome. All scans of photographic images should be of a professional standard, with a minimum resolution of 300dpi at actual size.
Alternatively, we can prepare the scans for use within your documents if you prefer. Art charges for adjustment and placement into your layout will apply. Please ask for this service at the time of quotation.
Fonts
ALL FONTS MUST BE SUPPLIED. Both printer and screen fonts must be included. Postscript fonts yield industry standard results. Avoid the use of TrueType fonts, convert these to outlines if used in the document. If providing a high-resolution PDF, ensure that all fonts are EMBEDDED.
File Layout
Please provide digital files prepared to the actual final size. Otherwise, please ensure that the proportions of the supplied digital documents are to scale of the final required size and that the output size is clearly advised. Westlinkprint’s pre-press department will impose the pages into appropriate book folds for our printing presses, therefore please supply documents as single pages (do not provide imposed page layouts).
Artwork must allow for any special finishing such as pockets, glue flaps, hole punching etc. and text should not extend across page spreads (unless it is the centre of the book). Where the image must extend to the extremity of the document, a minimum of 5mm bleed is required.
All utilised image files (scans, logos, graphs etc.) that have been imported into a page layout program, must be included along with the page layout file. Save each layout as its own file, do not place two different layouts within the one document.
To ensure that editing is enabled, do not parse or embed image files into a layout file.
Internet reference material and digital photography
It is important to note that the quality of images sourced from the internet is very often inadequate for professional quality print and will result in pixelated, low-resolution images that lack detail. Likewise, many digital cameras do not have sufficient resolution and the results reproduce in a similar manner. Always use the highest quality setting on the camera to achieve best results for print reproduction. Most digital photos will require editing to adjust colour balance, contrast and colour conversion (from RGB to CMYK).
Bleed and Printing?
A common mistake with files being supplied is them having no bleed. What do we mean? Bleed is the area around the job that is printed and then trimmed off. At Westlinkprint, werequire 3mm. So as you can see in the diagram below of a 90 x 55 mm business card the blue outside box is 3mm further out from the artwork box. ALL artwork to be supplied to Westlinkprint must have 3mm bleed for both offset and digital printing. If not it will either have to be resupplied or we may sometimes be able to edit your file which will be charged at $66 per hour.
