Print Ready PDF

What is a Print Ready PDF? A pdf is only truly print ready if the service provider is not expected to alter the content, but it is flexible enough to be processed into their workflow. If alterations of any kind are required, it is best to deliver the native art in addition to the pdf.

In building print ready PDFs, the designer asserts that the file released to the print provider has been prepared for final high resolution output. In doing so, one must confirm that the trim and bleed are correct, fonts have been embedded, color conversion has taken place, overprints are correct and the file separates and RIPs correctly. When print ready files are supplied, the printer assumes that all content and settings in the files are as the customer intends.

• The trim size matches the estimate • Bleed is adequate • Critical text and art are a sufficient distance from the trim or die strike • The final image resolution is adequate for a quality result • All fonts are embedded • The die, if required, is included as a separate spot color. Scores and perfs are adequately identified. All are set to overprint.

• The art prints and separates as expected

Good Mechanicals Lead to Dependable Print Ready PDFs A print ready pdf starts with a good mechanical. The guidelines below review the basics of what a print service provider looks for in a print ready file.

TRIM The page (InDesign) or artboard (Illustrator) should be created to the final trim size of the printed piece. If your design includes a die, the page/artboard size should match the die perimeter. It is not necessary to build in trim marks as the applications will generate the marks when the PDF is exported.

BLEED Art elements that run to the page edge must be extended beyond the trim. Bleed requirements differ between print and finishing methods. Though 0.125” is sufficient in most cases, 0.25” may be required for larger formats and pieces that mount or diecut. Establishing .25” as the default for all of your mechanicals will ensure enough regardless of how your job prints. On rare occasions your printer may require more.

SAFETY Similar to the “outside” bleed requirement, the safety defines the area 0.125” - 0.25” inside the trim that risks being clipped during finishing. A good rule thumb is to match the safety margin to the bleed requirements, but rarely should you risk less than 0.125”. Keep all critical text and art elements that are not designed to bleed within this margin. This includes legal lines, item codes, barcodes, etc.

For the same reason, thin borders around the perimeter of the page may show a noticeably uneven trim if they are too narrow.

FINISHING Consider the finishing of each piece. If the item will diecut, include the die in your art/pdf and request that it appear on all proofs. Similarly, include scores, perfs and the size/position of hole punches and/or slits.

If your design is the same size/shape as a die your printer has on file, you may possibly save the cost of tooling a new die if you build your mechanical to fit the standing die. Include the printer’s die number with the art and be sure not to alter it in any way, including the position of scores and perfs.

Examples for document setup in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator.

InDesign

Illustrator

The following is a guide to the basic construction of a print ready mechanical. This example was built in Adobe InDesign.

Die, placed tangent to the page perimeter

Optional, mechanical slug, positioned outside of the page boundary

COLOR SEPARATIONS

IMAGE RESOLUTION

Clean up all extra colors in the mechanical before exporting a pdf for print. Leaving extraneous spot colors leaves doubt as to the expectations and may incur charges for extra plates. On the other hand, make sure that non-print items such as dielines are not built as a process color or as a spot also intended to print. Naming these colors predictably, i.e. Die or Cut will help communicate your intent.

Though the minimum acceptable image resolution will vary somewhat between print methods and printers, a resolution of 300 ppi at the final output size will be sufficient for most lithographic and digital print methods.

This includes raster effects from Illustrator.

This will undoubtedly yield very large files for large format banners, etc. Though lower resolutions may be acceptable, please do so

with caution as print quality may be affected.

Refer to your printer’s specifications for their requirements when printing screen or flexo.

COLOR CONVERSION Although it is possible to carefully select relevant ICC profiles and allow InDesign or InSite to convert RGB color space images to CMYK, it is recommended that you perform late stage conversions on a profiled monitor in Photoshop and critique for acceptable color before exporting your final print ready PDFs

TRANSPARENCY “Flattening divides transparent artwork into vector-based areas and rasterized areas. As artwork becomes more complex (mixing images, vectors, type, spot colors, overprinting, and so on), so does

PDF 1.7 (Acrobat 8 compatibility)

the flattening and its results.”1 Because overlapping art is divided when flattened, trapping and editing can become difficult.

To retain transparency without flattening when you create PDF files, save your file as Adobe PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5.0) or later. See the illustrations below.

It is possible however that very complex pages may fail to process. In this case, try simplifying the art as much as possible without sacrificing the design. Complex backgrounds can often be rasterized into a single image, greatly simplifying a mechanical.

TRAPPING Do not supply trapped pdfs. Unless expressly requested, trapping is specific to each press and is best left to the print provider.

PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4 compatibility)

The above examples compare the line work view of the same mechanical exported as a 1.7 pdf to retain transparency and as a flattened 1.3 pdf.

1 http://help.adobe.com

Adobe Illustrator Mechanicals

Setting Up Adobe Illustrator for a Print Ready PDF When setting up art to export as print ready PDFs out of Illustrator, define the artboard(s) to the exact trim or die dimensions of the flat, finished piece as demonstrated below.

CORRECT The coupon art to the left includes a 3" x 2" die. The artboard is created 3" x 2" with a bleed setting of 0.25". The die is built tangent to the artboard perimeter and elements that bleed are pulled 0.25" beyond the trim/die strike.

It is not necessary to create crop marks in Illustrator, they will be generated from the PDF export settings resulting in a PDF trim box that matches the dimensions of the artboard and crop marks.

Take note that elements lying completely outside of the artboard (with no overlap), will not be included in the PDF.

INCORRECT In this example, the artboard is oversized at 6" x 4" , with the 3" x 2" art “floating” including crop marks and bleed. When the PDF is exported, the PDF trim box will be defined with the dimension of the oversized artboard, not the drawn crop marks. This will result in an incorrectly defined trim size in Acrobat and InSite.

Illustrator Mechanicals with Multiple Artboards Adobe Illustrator’s “pages” are defined as art­boards. Much like InDesign’s pages, the artboard acts as a container for your design, allowing you to place extra elements outside its boundary. Unlike InDesign, Illustrator does not allow for a printable “slug” area beyond a basic bleed. Only elements on an artboard and within the defined bleed will be included in the pdf.

So what do you do if you are required to include a slug or additional non-print info for your design approvals?

In the example below, we have created 3 artboards. 1) the front, 2) the back, and 3) non-print info, i.e. a slug. By isolating the slug on an artboard that surrounds the Front and Back art, a softproof pdf can be generated to show the front and back sideby-side with the slug underneath. This works well if you are required to include non-print info on your design approval pdf, but need to exclude it for print pdfs. See the examples on the next page the final results.

Artboard 1 (Front), the red box indicates the bleed

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Artboard 2 (Front), the red box indicates the bleed

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The Artboards panel lists all of the artboards. Defaulting as Artboards 1, 2, 3 etc., they can be re-named to suit.

OPTIONAL: Artboard 3 surrounds the Front and Back mechanicals

Use the layers panel to hide templates etc. that you do not want to print. Notice that the die layer is left ON.

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A slug, if required, is positioned outside of the artboard mechanicals or isolated on its own artboard

Separations Preview is a quick way to visually preflight the printable color pallet.

This demonstrates how you can achieve clean print ready pdfs as well as a combined pdf with a slug out of a single Illustrator file by using multiple artboards as described on the previous page. Note that only the front and back artboards are required. The combined version from the 3rd artboard is not suitable as a print pdf as it is merely a suggestion for those requiring a design proof with a slug.

Result of Artboard 1 (Front) saved as a single page, print ready pdf

Result of Artboard 2 (Back) saved as a single page, print ready pdf

Result of Artboard 3 (slug) saved as a single page pdf for design approval.

This will not be used for print as the trim box (as indicated by the applicationgenerated trim marks), incorrectly includes the front, back and slug.

SLUG AGENCY MECHANICAL INFORMATION

PDF Export Settings

Exporting PDFs out of Indesign and Illustrator

Choose the most current version of PDF available to you* to capture the latest transparency options.

Avoid JPG compression.

ZIP compression is recommended.

Although downsampling is optional on vector PDF’s it is not recommended. If you choose to downsample (thus making the file size smaller) use Bicubic, not less than 300 ppi.

While checking these boxes does not have a negative impact on our workflow and can make file sizes a little smaller, they are better left unchecked.

Marks should be offset from the page trim size by at least the bleed amount.

Bleed settings should be 0.125 - 0.25 inches.

Refer to your mechanical specifications for actual requirements.

Captures the document filename and date

Do Not Include the slug area for the print pdf.

Correct color settings for exporting as PDF from InDesign or Illustrator.

This profile is publicly available on www.idealliance.org <http://www.idealliance.org>

INCORRECT Result

PDF Export settings with Marks and Bleed setting left at the default .08333”

MANUFACTURER’S COUPON

EXPIRES 3/31/14

Bleed and Trim Marks.indd 1

12/4/13 5:05 PM

CORRECT PDF Export settings with Marks and Bleed setting set the the bleed amount (0.25”)

Result

MANUFACTURER’S COUPON

Bleed and Trim Marks.indd 1

EXPIRES 3/31/14

12/4/13 5:05 PM

A value of 100% will subset fonts to only those characters that are used. A value of 0% prevents subsetting.

Leave all OPI check boxes cleared The Transparency Flattener menu will be grayed out on all Compatibility settings above PDF 1.3.

When exporting a PDF below 1.4, set the Transparency Flattener to High Resolution.

The security settings must be disabled to allow the PDFs to process through a print workflow.

Photoshop Color Settings

Default settings at Photoshop installation

This profile is publicly available on www.idealliance.org <http://www.idealliance.org>

Color managed settings

Checklists Quality Control

Checklist The top 15 most often missed points to check before releasing a file for print Checked / confirmed trim size to the estimate.

The page size matches the trim size / die perimeter.

Trim marks are offset sufficiently to clear the bleed area.

Checked bleeds (0.125” standard, 0.25” for mounted pieces, screen and large format printing) Checked safety margins (minimum 0.125” recommended , or the same width as the bleed requirement).

Checked die: If applicable, the dieline is included in the mechanical and the position is tangent to the trim perimeter on all sides. The shape is constructed as a unique spot color intuitively named “Die” or “Cut”. Similarly, Scores and perfs can be defined by creating spot colors such as “Score” and “Perf”. All are overprinting.

Drill holes/punch positions, if applicable, are included in the mechanical. All are overprinting.

2-sided die cut pieces: checked back-up (this can be done electronically or by printing lasers and viewing them back to back.

Color separations are correct to the estimate with no extra colors.

Large black text and solid areas are built as a rich black (50c, 40m, 25y, 100k recommended).

This recipe will vary among print methods/print providers. The Black value should always be solid (100) for optimum trapping flexibility. Do not use “registration” or 100 percent of all colors.

Black body copy is 100k.

No white elements are erroneously overprinting (should be set to knock out).

No elements are separating in registration (100% of all colors) Transparency effects view as expected.

All images will be high resolution at the final size. The optimum resolution will vary across print methods. Check the file prep guide for the specifics for each press.

04-2014

Specifications

by Print Method Digital - Large Format Digital - Photographic Digital - Small Format Flexography Offset - Sheetfed Offset - Web Screen Print

Digital - Large Format

File Preparation Guide Below is the file preparation specification for printing in the method indicated above. To avoid additional prepress charges, please ensure your files meet these specifications before submitting them.

Software

Color Management & Spot Colors

• • • •

•

•

Adobe CS packages of software (preferred) Quark 7 or later Mac or PC (Mac preferred) Fonts ∙∙ OpenType (preferred), Adobe Type 1, Cross-Platform True Type. ∙∙ Please do not use PC True Type.

Avoid any Microsoft package of software for print publishing.

File Preparation •

•

• •

•

•

Bleed & Safety ∙∙ Bleed: 0.25 in. minimum (0.50 in. preferred) ∙∙ Bleed: 0.50 in. minimum on banners that hem ∙∙ Safety: same as bleed except when live-area requires more ∙∙ Safety: on banners that hem, ≥ 1.0 in.

Small Type and Rules ∙∙ San Serif fonts: 8 pt minumum, 10 pt or greater preferred, either KO or regular. ∙∙ Serif fonts: 12 pt minimum, 14 pt or greater preferred, either KO or regular. ∙∙ Black rules should be ≥ 0.5 pt. and set to overprint. ∙∙ Heavy black type and large black areas should be rich black set to overprint.

Rich blacks ∙∙ Rich black mix for digital is: C=50, M=40, Y=40, K=100 Images ∙∙ Image resolution should be ≥ 200 ppi, enlargements not to exceed 150% ∙∙ No spot colors are allowed in images. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply.

Tonal Range ∙∙ 1-99% ∙∙ Knockout limit is 0% ∙∙ Overprint limit is 99% Trapping ∙∙ All trapping is done at IntegraColor.

•

Color Management ∙∙ IntegraColor’s working space is GRACoL. An ICC profile of our standard working space is available upon request Spot Colors ∙∙ All superfluous spot colors should be removed from all pallets. ∙∙ All spot colors will print as CMYK.

Other Considerations •

•

Document Builds ∙∙ All documents should be built so page or artboard sizes equal the trim or die size. ∙∙ Bleeds are outside of the trim or die size. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply. ∙∙ Illustrator Document Raster Effect Settings should be set to 150 ppi.

Die Lines ∙∙ Dies should be created as a ¼ pt. line, spot color named DIE, DIELINE or DIE LINE set to overprint. ∙∙ Confirm die symmetry where applicable for two sided die cut work.

File Transfer • •

•

File Naming ∙∙ All file names should be alpha-numeric only ∙∙ File names should not exceed 32 characters Packaging a Job ∙∙ Please remember to include all support files including sub-support files ∙∙ Please include all fonts including fonts used in support files.

File Transfer ∙∙ https://filemanager.integracolor.com

Note: For additional questions, please contact our preflight department at 214-678-6518, email: preflight@integracolor.com

Digital - Small Format

File Preparation Guide Below is the file preparation specification for printing in the method indicated above. To avoid additional prepress charges, please ensure your files meet these specifications before submitting them.

Software

Color Management & Spot Colors

• • • •

•

•

Adobe CS packages of software (preferred) Quark 7 or later Mac or PC (Mac preferred) Fonts ∙∙ OpenType (preferred), Adobe Type 1, Cross-Platform True Type. ∙∙ Please do not use PC True Type.

Avoid any Microsoft package of software for print publishing.

File Preparation •

•

• •

•

•

Bleed & Safety ∙∙ Bleed: 0.125 in. minimum (0.25 in. preferred) ∙∙ Bleed: 0.25 in. if post-print lamination ∙∙ Safety: same as bleed except when live-area requires more Small Type and Rules ∙∙ Black type that is ≤ 12 pt. should be 100% K only (not rich black) and set to overprint. ∙∙ Font sizes should be ≥ 6 pt. ∙∙ Black rules should be ≥ 0.5 pt. and set to overprint. ∙∙ Heavy black type and large black areas should be rich black, set to overprint.

Rich blacks ∙∙ Rich black mix for digital is: C=50, M=40, Y=40, K=100 Images ∙∙ Image resolution should be ≥ 300 ppi, enlargements not to exceed 150% ∙∙ No spot colors are allowed in images. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply.

Tonal Range ∙∙ 2-98% ∙∙ Knockout limit is 2% ∙∙ Overprint limit is 98% Trapping ∙∙ All trapping is done at IntegraColor.

•

Color Management ∙∙ IntegraColor’s working space is GRACoL. An ICC profile of our standard working space is available upon request Spot Colors ∙∙ All superfluous spot colors should be removed from all pallets. ∙∙ All spot colors will print as CMYK.

Other Considerations •

•

•

Document Builds ∙∙ All documents should be built so page or artboard sizes equal the trim or die size. ∙∙ Bleeds are outside of the trim or die size. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply. ∙∙ Illustrator Document Raster Effect Settings should be set to 300 ppi.

Die Lines ∙∙ Dies should be created as a ¼ pt. line, spot color named DIE, DIELINE or DIE LINE set to overprint. ∙∙ Confirm die symmetry where applicable for two sided die cut work.

Books ∙∙ Avoid non-center spread cross-overs ∙∙ All shingling is done at IntegraColor.

File Transfer • •

•

File Naming ∙∙ All file names should be alpha-numeric only ∙∙ File names should not exceed 32 characters Packaging a Job ∙∙ Please remember to include all support files including sub-support files ∙∙ Please include all fonts including fonts used in support files.

File Transfer ∙∙ https://filemanager.integracolor.com

Note: For additional questions, please contact our preflight department at 214-678-6518, email: preflight@integracolor.com

Offset (Sheetfed)

File Preparation Guide Below is the file preparation specification for printing in the method indicated above. To avoid additional prepress charges, please ensure your files meet these specifications before submitting them.

Software

Color Management & Spot Colors

• • • •

•

•

Adobe CS packages of software (preferred) Quark 7 or later Mac or PC (Mac preferred) Fonts ∙∙ OpenType (preferred), Adobe Type 1, Cross-Platform True Type. ∙∙ Please do not use PC True Type.

Avoid any Microsoft package of software for print publishing.

•

File Preparation •

•

• •

•

•

Bleed & Safety ∙∙ Bleed: 0.125 in. minimum (0.25 in. preferred) ∙∙ Bleed: 0.25 in. if post-print lamination ∙∙ Safety: same as bleed except when live-area requires more Small Type and Rules ∙∙ Black type that is ≤ 12 pt. should be 100% K only (not rich black) and set to overprint. ∙∙ Font sizes should be ≥ 6 pt. ∙∙ Black rules should be ≥ 0.5 pt. and set to overprint. ∙∙ Heavy black type and large black areas should be rich black.

Rich blacks ∙∙ Rich black mix for offset sheetfed is: C=50, M=40, Y=25, K=100 Images ∙∙ Image resolution should be ≥ 300 ppi, enlargements not to exceed 150% ∙∙ Spot colors created in images including bumps, varnishes and spot coatings must be trapped.

Standard trap is ¼ pt., half in and half out, at 100% of finished size. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply.

Tonal Range ∙∙ 2-95% ∙∙ Knockout limit is 0% ∙∙ Overprint limit is 95% Trapping ∙∙ All trapping is done at IntegraColor except for image trapping.

Color Management ∙∙ IntegraColor’s working space is GRACoL. An ICC profile of our standard working space is available upon request Spot Colors ∙∙ All superfluous spot colors should be removed from all pallets. ∙∙ All spot colors that are intended to print as process color should be converted to CMYK. ∙∙ Spot colors left in documents will be separated as spot colors and additional charges may be incurred.

Other Considerations •

•

Document Builds ∙∙ All documents should be built so page or artboard sizes equal the trim or die size. ∙∙ Bleeds are outside of the trim or die size. ∙∙ Soft black drop shadows should be black only set to multiply. ∙∙ Illustrator Document Raster Effect Settings should be set to 300 ppi.

Die Lines ∙∙ Dies should be created as a ¼ pt. line, spot color named DIE, DIELINE or DIE LINE set to overprint. ∙∙ Confirm die symmetry where applicable for two sided die cut work.

File Transfer • •

•

File Naming ∙∙ All file names should be alpha-numeric only ∙∙ File names should not exceed 32 characters Packaging a Job ∙∙ Please remember to include all support files including sub-support files ∙∙ Please include all fonts including fonts used in support files.

File Transfer ∙∙ https://filemanager.integracolor.com

Note: For additional questions, please contact our preflight department at 214-678-6518, email: preflight@integracolor.com