Common File Prepration Pitfalls

Listed below are the most common errors we find in digital files submitted to us for printing. Please follow the links to specific instructions or solutions to each of these errors. Also, keep in mind that if your job has any of these errors it will be placed on hold until the problem is corrected. We make every attempt to contact you and will keep a log of these attempts, but your best insurance against a delayed job with us or any online printing company, is understanding the following problems and solutions.

• RGB Color
  
• Wrong Size
• Folds Placed Incorrectly
• Inaccurate Critical Art Placement
• No Bleed
• Low Resolution Images
• Missing Fonts
• Missing Images
• Compressed Tiff Files
• Printers Spreads
• Critical Artwork or Text Close to Trim
• Wrong File Type
• Corrupt Files
• Does Not Meet Postal Regulations

You may download and print out a copy of our Digital File Checklist to help you prepare your files for upload. For even more tips please visit our Quick Tips section. This is our catch-all category for all manner of miscellaneous tips, tricks, program fixes, and workarounds to help you with building your artwork . We'll add new items from time to time so check in to see what's been added recently.

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RGB Color

• RGB color pictures. Any pictures or other files that are supplied in RGB color mode (red, green, blue) must be converted to CMYK color mode (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) prior to printing.
• RGB color can be automatically converted to CMYK color but the results may vary from your expectations.
• Please visit our Help Center CMYK Color page for additional information and links to specific instructions on how to convert your files to CMYK in your graphics program.

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Wrong Size

• Digital files must be built at the correct page size plus .125" bleed on all four sides. Just how this bleed is to be created may vary slightly between specific program. Please refer to the Tips page for your program for specific instructions.
• Set your document page size to match your actual page size in your page layout program (Quark, InDesign, etc.).
  Special Note: Some programs such as Publisher may require oversize layouts to accommodate bleed.
• Whenever possible, please download and use our Free Layout Templates to ensure correct page size and to prevent additional charges during file preparation and printing.
• Please visit our Help Center Bleed page for additional information regarding document bleed and links to specific instructions on how to create bleed in your graphics program.

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Folds Placed Incorrectly

• Each folding style has slightly different characteristics which will dictate specific differences in the horizontal dimension of each panel. Typically the front and back panels are the same width. Depending upon the stock chosen, the remaining panels may then be reduced to accommodate the folds, usually by at least either .0625" (1/16") or .125" (1/8"). In cases multiple folds this reduction can be cumulative. In other words, each panel may be smaller than the adjacent by that increment.
• Certain nominal standard paper sizes may require back-trimming when combined with specific fold styles, such as Gate-fold designs.
  Special Note: Back-trimming is simply cutting off a small amount of the final trim paper width to accommodate the particular fold style
• We have pre-built PDF templates of most common sheet sizes and folding styles available to help with your designs.

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Innacurate Art Placement

The innacurate placement of critical pieces of art is a common mistake for designers that do not feel comfortable using the X and Y coordinates. Elements that are supposed to line up visually in a design must be placed with mathmatical precision. The tools available in today's software packages make this easy but it does require that the designer pay attention to the details and examine their projects closely. This means checking these X and Y coordinates, the height and width measurements, and zooming into seemingly ridiculously close views often to check the line ups of critical elements.

• Inconsistent placement of repeating critical lineup items such as horizontal borders
• The "eyeballing" of the placement of design elements

Most people find it easier to think in simple fractions but you also need to be able to also quickly convert those fractions to decimal numbers. Tt make it easy for designers to make these conversions from simple fractions to decimal numbers quickly, we have provided a decimal conversion chart. Print a copy for yourself and keep it close to your work area.

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No Bleed

• Digital files must be built at the correct page size plus .125" bleed on all four sides. Just how this bleed is to be created may vary slightly between specific program. Please refer to the Tips page for your program for specific instructions.
• Set your document page size to match your actual page size in your page layout program (Quark, InDesign, etc.).
  Special Note: Some programs such as Publisher may require oversize layouts to accommodate bleed.
• Whenever possible, please download and use our Free Layout Templates to ensure correct page size and to prevent additional charges during file preparation and printing.
• Please visit our Help Center Bleed page for additional information regarding document bleed and links to specific instructions on how to create bleed in your graphics program.

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Low Resolution Images

• Raster graphics such as TIF and JPEG files must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the size they are to be printed. Images with a resolution less than 300 dpi will reproduce poorly on press (the image will look fuzzy and/or pixelated).
• If your images are from a website on the internet, there is a good chance that the resolution will not be high enough for printing (unless the images came from a stock photography house and are designated high resolution). The internet displays images at 72 dpi, so that the images appear quickly over an internet connection, but under no circumstances should images at this dpi be used for printing.
• If you submit low-resolution files for printing, you will be asked to sign an online waiver acknowledging that you are aware of the resulting loss of quality and that you will accept the final image as is.
• Please visit our Help Center for help with image resolution.

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Missing or Damaged Fonts

• If you used a page layout program (QuarkXpress, InDesign, Pagemaker, Publisher, etc.) you must provide all fonts used in your layout. If you do not supply fonts, you will be asked to upload your fonts and your job will be placed on hold until we receive them.
• Nearly all graphics programs can provide you with a list of fonts used in a document.
• It is very common that fonts supplied with a job will be incomplete with fonts required to print the job missing.
• It is also common that different versions of a font will be supplied rather than the font wich was actually used in the document. This happens because there are many different versions of some fonts and their names are often very similar.
• If your files come from a Mac, please be sure you stuff the fonts with the rest of the project files.
• To prevent any loss of resource fork data that would render your fonts useless, Macintosh users should always compress their files on a Macintosh. We recommend you use Stuffit to compress your Macintosh files.
• Please visit our Help Center for help with managing and collecting your Macintosh or Windows PC fonts.

Special Note: Not all font companies will allow their fonts to be embedded within documents (subject to certain licensing restrictions). If you are using any of these fonts it is imperative that you either provide working copies of all fonts used in the job when you send your file.

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Missing Images

• If you used a page layout program (Publisher, QuarkXpress, Pagemaker, InDesign, etc.) you must supply all high-resolution images used in your layout. If you do not supply your images, your printing job will be placed on hold and you will be contacted and asked to upload the missing images.
• Nearly all graphics programs can provide you with a list of linked pictures used in your document.
• Please visit our Help Center for help with collecting your files for printing in your graphics application.

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Compressed Tiff Files

Never save Tiff files with LZW, ZIP, or JPEG compression because they will not process correctly.

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Printers Spreads

In most cases it is not necessary to supply your job in printers spreads.

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Critical Artwork or Text too Close to Trim

• Text or images that are not meant to be trimmed off the edge of your final printed piece must be 1/8" to 1/4" (.125"-.25") from the edge of your layout (also known as Safety). Items placed 1/8" (.125") or closer are in danger of being trimmed off or showing inconsistent margins.
• Images that are meant to go to the very edge of your design must extend into the bleed area 1/8" (0.125").
• Due to the very small shifting that occurs during cutting, it is NOT recommended that you use a border of less than 1/4" (.25"). We can not guarantee that small borders will be the same size on all sides after trimming if you have used a border of less than 1/4" (.25").
• Please visit our Help Center for help with creating bleed in your graphics program.

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Wrong File Type

• Our online printing services and production process is such that we can only accept specific file types from specific professional graphic design applications.
• If you are using a Mac, please make sure your file extensions are included.
• Please visit our Help Center for a list of applications supported and links to helpful tips..

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Corrupt Files

• As files travel across the internet, they are often stripped of vital code that identifies them and their original file types. Without compressing (programs such as WinZip / Stuffit) them, your files will take much longer to upload and may reach their destination as incomplete or "corrupted" digital files.
• To prevent any loss of resource fork data that would render your fonts useless, Macintosh users should always compress their files on a Macintosh. We recommend you use Stuffit to compress your Macintosh files.

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Does Not Meet U.S. Postal Regulations

The Post Office requires that all mailed postcards must meet certain criteria. Any divergence from their guidelines can result in a delay in processing or increase the mailing rate. These guidelines are not set by us or any printing company, they are standard guidelines set by the postal service for all mailed products.

Do you still have unanswered questions? You can find many more answers and suggestions within the File Submission Help Center.

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