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DOCUMENT SETUP
One of the most common problems occurring when printing from customer supplied
files is improper Document Setup.
When starting a layout for a new job on your computer, the first
thing you must set is DOCUMENT SETUP. It is incorrect to use a
default document size if your actual finished job is a different
size. You must always set the height & width to the exact finished,
flat size of the printed job. Even if you are laying out a job
to be run multiple up, set the document size to the outer correct
trim for the multiple up job.
If you use a default document size and draw your own crop marks,
accuracy in your job could be lost. The crop marks and registration
targets are often too far off the printed sheet to be used at all.
Hand drawn cut marks are often off by several pixels, and your
job may be trimmed incorrectly.
SCANS
Before scanning, know what the final output size (3" x 4", 4" x
6", etc.) will be in the layout and adjust your scanning parameters accordingly,
rather than scaling the image later in an editing application like Adobe Photoshop.
Resolution: Scan all photos at 300 dpi at the finished size. Line
art should be scanned at 2400 dpi at the finished size.
Providing scans lower than 250 dpi will show noticeable image
deterioration. Whereas, a higher resolution image takes up significantly
more disk space without improving the quality of the printed image.
Under Color Removal (UCR) should always be applied to your color
separations, if your job is to print 4 color (CMYK).
BLACK & WHITE HALFTONES
Highlight dot should be approximately 5%. Shadow dot should be approximately
93-95% when printed on coated stock. When printing on uncoated stock shadow
dot should be 85-90%.
LINE SCREEN RULINGS
We will run a default line screen of 133 on uncoated papers; 150 line screen
will be used on coated papers. If you wish to use finer screens on coated
or uncoated paper, please let us know upon job submission.
TRAPS
A minimum of 0.3 point TOTAL OVERLAP should be used. If you need help, please
call us.
PRESS GRIPPER
All of our presses have a 3/8-inch gripper. Letterheads, envelopes, or any
job not preplanned to run on oversized stock should not have art closer than
3/8-inch to any edge. Exceeding this margin is considered a bleed and may
incur extra costs.
BLEED
Bleed is easy to create in most programs by simply stretching an image or color
box off the page by at least 1/8" on the sides that bleed. This bleed
is necessary when running color off the edge of the page to allow for any
variation in the trimming of the final piece. If the color does not bleed,
a white edge may appear after trimming.
SEPARATIONS/COLOR
You must print separations and a composite output on your
laser printer before submitting job to us. (If it doesn't
separate correctly on your laser printer, it won't separate on
the imagesetter.)
RGB/CMYK
Any RGB color specifications and images must be converted to CMYK. Be sure
to indicate all your colors in CMYK to begin with, and convert all images
to CMYK to avoid color shifts and substitutions.
When converting a file from RGB to CMYK, you may notice a slight
change in the image color. This change occurs because RGB can hold
a wider range (or gamut) of color than CMYK.
ADOBE® ILLUSTRATOR
Convert fonts to outlines & save as Illustrator eps.
PMS SPOT COLOR
Be careful to use the same spot color throughout the job. PMS123cv and PMS123cvu
will not print out as the same color. You must be especially careful when
placing eps graphics with embedded color, use the same PMS color to define
other parts of your job.
MONITORS
Monitors vary widely in how they display colors. What you see on your monitor
may vary from the final printed piece. Spot colors will match the PMS book
but not necessarily your screen. On 4/color process, a final color proof
is recommended.
FONTS
Only your fonts are exact. In order to print your job properly, you must send
us the fonts you used in your layout. Jobs that arrive without fonts may
experience possible delays in production. While we do have a large library
of fonts, we may not be able to match the one(s) you have chosen.. Also,
since there are many different versions of the same fonts sold by different
vendors, your font may not match our font of the same name.
Please be sure to provide all files needed for every font you
use, both in your layout file and in any embedded illustrations
(EPS files).
To send your font files to us simply copy them into a folder named
fonts on the disk you send us. Be sure to send us all of the fonts
you have used.
NO STYLIZED FONTS
Some programs allow you to apply styles (italic, bold, bold-italic) to a plain
font to approximate the real font variant. Do not use this option! For instance,
if you need Helvetica Bold, use Helvetica Bold and not the Helvetica Book
font styled Bold. A stylized font will in many instances be replaced by the
plain variant when ripped. We will not be responsible if this happens!
Some fonts, particularly True Type fonts, will not show individual
type variations in your programs font list. They demand that you
use the stylization routines to access the variations, linking
the stylized fonts to the real variations on output. If this is
the case with one of your fonts, be sure that the output is truly
using the variant font and that you send us both the variant and
the base font.
SUBMIT
Prepress Checklist (pdf
file)
Files may be submitted on Zip Disk, CD-ROM, Uploaded,
or small files (less than 1MG) may be Emailed.
File Formats accepted
Adobe
InDesign (Highly Recommended), Adobe Photoshop,
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat PDFX1a, Quark
Express,Macromedia Freehand. If you are not submitting a job in
one of these formats, please contact Bill prior
to submitting files.
Please print separations and a composite output on your laser
printer and submit with your files (originals or by fax). When
submitting jobs to Rockwell Printing Please use our handy Job
Submission Form. You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Film supplied (Right Reading Emultion Down) from your service
provider is also acceptable.
GATHERING YOUR FILES
There are a number of ways to be certain that you have sent us all of the files
that we need to run your job. We provide a checklist form for easy reference.
There are also a number of automated methods:
QuarkXPress has a built in feature, Collect For Output, that
will collect all the files you need (except the fonts) and even
prepare a report for you. Please collect the fonts listed on the
report and include those, too. Remember that Postscript fonts have
two files for each font: a screen font and a printer font.
Adobe PageMaker 7 has a small program called Save for Service
Provider (found in the plug-ins directory) to gather your files,
and it will give you a comprehensive list of associated files.
In any case, you will need to supply us with your file with all
of your graphical links (no matter if you have imbedded them),
fonts and a hard copy of the separations. You may fax copies to
us at (805) 684-2944 or submit them with your disk.
MISSING FONTS
Take a very close look at your files to find out what fonts you need to send
us. Remember that enclosed EPS files also need fonts to properly render.
We may substitute similar fonts for missing ones in order to expedite the
processing of your job. If this substitution causes text reflow, we will
not be held responsible.
DIGITAL PROOFING - Proof your work online 
We offer online proofing to help expedite your projects. It’s simple,
all you need is Adobe Acrobat Reader and an e-mail account. If you do not have Adobe
Acrobat, please click the link above. Files proofed through Adobe
Acrobat are cleaner than faxes and display your proofs in color. You can
also print the files to your own printer and fax us back any corrections. Please
call and request your proofs to be e-mailed to you from our design department.
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