How to Prepare and Submit Files
You’re working hard on your layout and design and looking forward getting your job printed. Submitting production-ready graphics files for press output is painless if you observe these basic guidelines. For professional designers experienced in print production, some of this information may be different from other print service providers, so read on.
Most important, though, if you have a question about how to prepare your job, or how it will be produced at Red Sun Press, call or contact us. We’re here to help get your job completed in the most effective way possible.
File Specifications
Red Sun will accept files in a wide variety of formats, from InDesign and Photoshop to Pages, Excel and Word. We can also scan artwork, as well as convert or repair your files as necessary.
A Word about Word
Microsoft Word is the still the king of business document applications, and the suite of office programs is very powerful. That said, it is not optimal for preparing files for commercial printing. For simple flyers or certain other publications it can be fine; but please don’t submit complex layouts prepared with this program. More than likely your careful formatting will break when imported onto another system or platform. And worse, any special fonts you used will probably not show up correctly unless the printer (that’s us) happens to be using those same fonts. There is also no good way to incorporate bleed into your pages using Word.
If you want to do the layout yourself and are limited to MS Word, create a PDF of the final, proof-read document. Make sure to check the button that says “Best for Printing.” That way you have the best chance of getting us a file that will output as you expect.
One-up please
When sending files, please just set the document “one-up.” For instance, don’t try to gang multiple flyers 5.5 x 8.5 onto an 11×17 sheet. You might think it makes it easier for us to do this, but it actually complicates things. Let us do the ganging up (“imposition”) so we can optimize the sheet usage and trimming as we need.
Page Sizes
When setting up a file, the dimensions of your page should reflect the final trimmed size of your product: for an 5 1/2-inch by 8 1/2-inch booklet, for instance, set your page or document size to 5.5W by 8.5H. Seems obvious, but always keep it mind.
For a basic trifold brochure, the trimmed size is still 8 1/2 by 11, even though it folds up into a smaller piece. An exception might be a book cover with a spine. In this case the width of the spine should be added in and included in the layout.
Pages vs. Spreads
When working on a multi-page document in InDesign it is often a good idea to set up the pages as spreads, so you can see what the pages look like side-by-side. When you export your PDF, however, do not check the Spreads field. Instead, export as pages.
Bleed Area and Crop Marks
The concept of bleed in a print layout can be one of the most difficult things to understand. Basically, you need to set up your page with extra area around the outside to accommodate “bleed.” When you have a page element such as a photo, a graphic, text or a background color that goes right up to the very edge of the page and actually “bleeds” off the edge, you need to extend that element over the edge of the page area itself. This will allow for any slight variations in trimming and assure that your final printed page looks perfect.
This video explains in a little more detail how and why to include bleed area when using InDesign:
Package InDesign Files
For native file submission (sending the actual design file you’ve done), InDesign is most flexible and powerful. You should prepare an InDesign Package using InDesign > File > Package. This collects everything we need to print your job.
Preferred formats PDF/X
Although we will accept many different file formats, we strongly recommend preparing your final document for submission as a standardized PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4. This subset of the PDF format contains all the important information we need to output your job successfully on an offset or digital press. Consult your software documentation if you are unfamiliar with exporting a file using PDF standards. It usually requires looking for a menu item or check box indicating “PDF/X-1a” Standard when you Export or ‘Save As” your PDF (hint: InDesign makes it extremely easy). The main features of X/1-a, for printing purposes, is that it will always embed all your fonts, and it will convert any RGB colors, such as those in jpeg camera photos to CMYK for printing. Unless your job is printing in a spot or Pantone ink color, please convert those spots into CMYK before exporting to PDF.
Always check your PDF before sending it, making sure that all looks good. If possible, use Acrobat’s “Output Preview” for accurate viewing of all content and color separations in the PDF (set the Output Intent to SWOP or Gracol to preview offset printing). Always include a bleed area in your final PDF if your document includes bleeds. Your final PDF will show the trim marks and the bleed in a white area surrounding your “cropped” page.
File Transmission
If you have multiple files or an InDesign package, please compress them using a utility such as zipit or stuffit to create a single file for transmission.
Email
For files of appropriately small size, email them to your customer service rep. Most email servers will accept up to 20 Mb or so.
For larger files, use Dropbox, SendFile, Google Drive or other online solutions. CDs and Flash drives may be submitted by mail or in person, but we cannot accept responsibility for them.
File submission via FTP
If you are unable to send files by any of the above methods contact your customer service rep. They will give you a login to access or FTP site where you can upload files of any size.
Web File Manager
Alternatively, you may also upload files with this link to our Web File Manager. The Web File Manager will prompt you to locate and upload your files. If possible, zip or compress multiple files into a single archive for easier transmission. If you do not already have a user name and password, please contact a customer service representative in order to have access to the site. The web file manager will let us know that your files have been recieved, and production on your job can get underway!
