Artwork Preparation

We have also included some helpful hints to consider when creating Ads.

Ad column widths

No of Cols Width (mm) 1 33.5 2 71.2 3 109.0 4 146.7 5 184.5 6 222.2 7 260.0

File naming conventions

File to be named correctly as follows:
Naming convention for Ad Key Number:
The file name for example could be: Prosp12345(.pdf)
The format for naming is: Client ID (5 characters), Your Unique File No. (5 characters)

It is very important to also include within the actual Ad a copy of the key number in 5pt size which equals the file name, eg File name = Prosp12345.pdf and Key number = Prosp12345

Above is the maximum number of characters. You may use less. THE FILE NAME MUST ALSO BE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THE AD – SUGGEST IN 5PT.

General recommendations

Artwork or photographs must be of quality and sufficiently contrasting in detail to guarantee a satisfactory result.

Colour guidelines

Four colour process is specified by different proportions of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

The printing process is Web Offset. Expect 30% press dot gain in the midtone area. Ensure midtones are lighter and have more contrast for newsprint reproduction to compensate for the above dot gain.

The mid to three quarter tones have to be adjusted as newsprint tends to flatten these areas.

	C	M	Y	K
Catchlights	0%	0%	0%	0%
Highlights	0%	0%	0%	0%
Non detail whites	0%	0%	0%	0%
Essential whites	3%	2%	2%	0%
Essential whites	3%	2%	2%	0%
Midtones Allow for up to 30% dot gain
Shadow Not to exceed 230%, limit black to 80%

Image guidelines

• Photographs and images must be of quality and sufficiently contrasting in detail to guarantee a satisfactory result.
• Dot size in highlight, recommended to be up to 5% and in shadow, recommended to be a maximum of 85%
• Do not use 2, 3 or 4 tone images that have not been converted to CMYK.
• CMYK files to be saved in EPS format (with binary format) NOT TIFF.
• It is recommended that all placed images should be cropped to finished size and rotated within their native application, i.e. in Photoshop, for placement at 100% in the final document.
• All placed Greyscale or CMYK elements must have a DPI of 200 – 300 (this equates to a line screen ruling of 100 –150 if using scanning software with a quality factor of 2). All lineart should be scanned at 800 DPI. Film is output at 100 lpi.

Typeface guidelines

Use only Postscript fonts. TRUETYPE FONTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
It is recommended that you consider the quality of your Ad by choosing the type most suitable. Sans serif fonts reproduce the best with regards to reproduction and readability. Fine type and serifs should be avoided.

It is not recommend to use typefaces in four colours. No black type is to be printed in four colours.

Type should be reversed out of areas having at least 70% tone value in black, magenta or cyan.

Typefaces with serifs, ones that are screened, and/or contain 2 or more colours should be bold and no smaller than 12 pt. Smaller coloured typefaces will create registration legibility problems when printing.

Coloured type can print using a single colour at 100%. Should more colours be required they should be limited to 90%, keeping within the total ink limit of 230%. This will allow the ink to trap on the press and result in a consistent and balanced printing.

When reversing the text out of a background, it is recommended that you use a sans serif font with a minimum size of 12 point.

Type should only be surprinted in areas having tint values of 30% or less, i.e. solid type over same colour tint, allowing for dot gain and sufficient contrast between text and background.

Trapping

The RIPS within WA Business News output sites are SET TO FORCE ITEMS THAT ARE 100% BLACK TO OVERPRINT REGARDLESS OF THE TRAPPING SETTINGS IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT. this means that if you have an object/text that is 100% black on top of a coloured object or background it will be forced to overprint. TO FORCE KNOCKOUT OF A BLACK ITEM ON A COLOURED BACKGROUND, SET THE BLACK TO A VALUE OTHER THAN 100% (I.E. 99%)

Quark hints

• Make sure that the document size of the advertisement is the same size as the booked ad size.
• Use only Postscript fonts. TRUETYPE FONTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
• All images should be placed in document at 100% and it is recommended that all placed images should be cropped to finished size and rotated within their native application (i.e. Photoshop).
• All boxes (picture and text) should have a background of NONE and runaround of NONE (to avoid text reflow) unless specifically required.
• When Ad is complete, ensure that all fonts and resources are collected for output prior to sending (every time). Check Collect Report carefully.

Colour considerations:

• Do not use custom spot colours i.e. Pantone without first converting to process separations.
• All colours used in four-colour artwork must be specified as process separation without exception.
• Mono Ads should not contain any colour elements prior to distilling.
• Spot colours for digital artwork must be created out of process colours.

Photoshop hints

Colour settings, CMYK setup: