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Guidelines for Producing Files for Printing

File Formats:
Microsoft Word 2000 (Windows)
Microsoft Excel 2000 (Windows)
Microsoft Access 2000 (Windows)
Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 (Windows)
Microsoft Publisher 2000 (Windows)
Adobe Acrobat (Windows & Macintosh)
jpeg, tiff, bmp, gif, psd (Windows & Macintosh)
Quark (Macintosh)
EPS (Macintosh)
Illustrator v9 (Macintosh)
Photoshop v6 (Macintosh)
InDesign v1.5 (Macintosh)
Coreldraw v8 (Macintosh)

Disc Formats:
Email attachments (PC & Macintosh)
3.5" floppy disc (PC)
CD (PC & Macintosh)
Large files can be compressed using WinZip or ZipIt.

General:
On A4 and A3 sheets there is an unprintable area of approx. 6mm on all edges. Please take this into account when setting your margins or image sizes.

All documents should be set-up and saved at the size to be printed. Image files (such as jpeg) can be printed at differing sizes.

A document containing both colour and black and white pages will be broken down and charged accordingly. i.e. black and white pages will not be charged at the colour rate.

It is possible to print a colour file in greyscale which will be charged at black and white prices. It is not possible to print a black and white file in colour.

We are not able to print web pages. Please save the text and pictures separately.

All files are checked for viruses. Unfortunately, if a file is found to be infected we will be unable to print it.

Please keep a copy of the file(s), as we cannot accept responsibility for files damaged or lost.

Fonts:
Fonts are the different typefaces within a document. If you use a font that we don't have on our computers then your documents appearance and layout will change. Printer settings can also affect the font so use postscript fonts where possible.

For Windows files, if you have used fonts other than the windows basic fonts (such as Arial, Gill Sans, Times New Roman) they should also be saved to disc.

For Macintosh files, always include the suitcase for all fonts used.

Images:
When scanning or creating an image 300dpi gives the best results. The image should be saved at the size to be printed. If it is to be enlarged considerably then the resolution should be increased.

Images saved from the Internet (usually GIF) are generally low resolution (72dpi). They are acceptable on screen but when printed small squares become apparent and the image will look fuzzy.

Photoshop images should be flattened. This prevents any changes occurring which may affect the appearance of the printed file and also keeps the file size low.

Colours:
Monitors, cameras and scanners create colours using a combination of red, green and blue (RGB). Printers use four colours - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CYMK) to print these images, resulting in printed colours will not exactly matching screen colours. Files saved in RGB are converted to CYMK and the colours change slightly.

Colours created on our colour laser copier may be darker than when printed using a inkjet printer. Inkjet printers create colours by using a series of small dots; colour copiers print using layers of coloured powder (toner), resulting in solid colour.

If possible check the gamut range of your colours. The screen can show colours that printers cannot print. Photoshop has more information about this.

Gradients of colour may appear smooth on screen but print in bands. This tends to happen when the gradients have been made by non-specialist image programmes such as Microsoft Word.