Prepress Services

Prepress includes all the needed steps to make your design ready to print. Your documents will have been prepared by your designer in specific computer programs like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Corel Draw. Once we get the files we do the following:

verify if all files are present and meet the technical specs
advise you of problems we see
making minor but critical adjustments to the sizes to allow for bleeds and margins
adjusting the trapping of colors
generating proofs for client approval
making final files to make plates or films
checking the quality of the final print

Our staff have many years of experience even predating computer-based prepress. We have used those huge 6 foot high cameras and done lots of manual film stripping. You can be sure that we have the experience to catch most problems and we advise you what the problems and solutions are.

Allow 1 to 3 days for prepress. Your manufacturing turntime starts after final proofs are approved.

Send us your art, photos, words

If you want to get your project finished but aren't a trained graphic artist, then send us your photos and credits and we'll put it together quickly and professionally. If you know what you want, just make a sketch and we'll follow your instructions. The cost in this case is usually between $40 and $300, depending on how much work it is.

Send us your files

Accepted documents for short run digital printing:

digital press

We can accept almost any file that we can open on a Mac or PC. RGB images are fine for laser printing. An extra fee may apply for setup. Our Océ Digital Press offers a very high quality print. It also makes super high-quality photocopies.

Accepted documents for inkjet on-disc printing:

We need RGB or greyscale TIF or JPEG images at 300 dpi. You can make the image 120mm and just put a center mark. The print quality may be slightly better if the original is 450 dpi. Illustrator, InDesign, and Quark files may be subject to a prepress fee.

falcon inkjet options

Disc printing surface diameter varies between 118 to 119mm. The inner circle is between 21 to 23 mm for most Falcon discs.

Inkjet-printable discs are available with a white or silver matte surface. The silver surface can give a glowing effect to brightly colored text and logos.

Glossy inkjet discs are now available. Images need to be adjusted for a lower maximum ink density. You can do this when printing by reducing the saturation, or for more predictable results your prepress technician can adjust the incoming file as shown below using the Selective Color adjustment in Photoshop:

Ink density adjustment

Accepted documents for 1-color thermal on-disc printing:

thermal print 1 colour on shiny disc

We need RGB or greyscale TIF or JPEG images at 300 dpi. You can make the image 114mm and just put a center mark. No cropping is needed since we will crop the art to fit the discs used.

The reliable disc printing diameter is about 114mm. The inner diameter is 38mm.

The standard thermal-printable discs we use are Falcon shiny silver. Other options are available.

Document requirements for offset CD/DVD cover printing :

Final press-ready format: PDF/X 1A files

CMYK TIFs at 300 dpi are also acceptable but usually result in lower quality for text.

Any professional graphic artist can prepare these files, but pros often prefer that the client pays the printer to inspect and trap the files.

In case we have to adjust your files we usually need the native files from Adobe Creative Suite or Quark Express on a Macintosh. Other file formats may be be acceptable (possibly with a small extra cost). All required fonts must be supplied.

Warning: transparency effects can cause unpredictable results. Check your proofs carefully or flatten your artwork before making final PDFs.

Our CD and DVD packages do include a preflight of your PDF or native files. Print-only orders do not include a preflight - you must supply final files or pay for processing your native files.

In detail, here are the specs for our offset printing:

PDF/X-1A PDF files (or CMYK TIF files) are required
All fonts must be embedded
Trapping must be set to false if we are to apply automated trapping
A trapped PDF will be returned to you for inspection - you should inspect this in Adobe Acrobat with Overprint Preview ON and also check each printing plate in Output Preview. The free version of Adobe Reader is not suitable for checking proofs.
DO NOT supply PDFs generated by Photoshop. The preferred program for generating press-ready PDFs is Adobe InDesign. You import your Photoshop file into InDesign, align it with the supplied PDF template, and then create the PDF. Some designers use Quark Express.
Color profile suggested: US Web Coated (SWOP) V2
Files are imaged direct to plate so films are not required
Maximum recommended ink density: 280% to 300%
You will not get a rich one color black. For a rich black use something like 100K 60C 50Y 50M.
4-color CMYK process printing with aqueous coating is standard. PMS colors are printed as 5th color at additional cost
Posters, postcards, promo items, etc may be printed on other presses.

Do-it-yourself

If you want to do the design and layout yourself, or you have a graphic artist, you have to find some way to get us your files. Most jobs are sent to us either on a disposable CD-R or over the internet. We have an upload page.

Design Proofs

We need some kind of proof copy to verify what we are working on. We are not responsible for errors or ommissions that could have been prevented if you had supplied a hardcopy proof.

CD Silkscreen Label Film Output
	Number of Pantone Colors to be printed
	1 or 2 colors	3 colors	4 colors	5 colors	6 colors
Film pos. output:	$25 each	$70	$90	$100	$110
Specs Notes: Consult a new Pantone color-swatch book. Consider the mirror band and the clear plastic areas! (18 to 46 mm). The color will change at the clear area. Do not print knockout text inside 46mm diameter. Avoid small type of less than 6 points and typefaces that have very thin strokes. Sans-serif typefaces (helvetica etc) work better. Especially avoid the combination of small point size, serif typeface, and being knocked-out. Recommended trapping: 1/2 point. Insufficient trapping may allow the silver of the disc to show through between areas of different colors. Minimum screen density before starting to lose dot: approx. 15% dot size. Maximum screen density before plugging: approx. 85% to 90%. Picture discs are not recommended unless you acknowledge the print will not look the same as it does on paper. Silkscreen printing is best at printing large areas of solid vibrant color.

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