InformationCategoriesLogin |
Canvas Print Artwork Guidelines
Setting up your files for printing Please pay particular attention to the following guidelines. We specialise in fast turnaround high quality digital print and can only achieve this if your files are set up correctly. Anything that is not to correct or to our specifications can always be sorted out, but may take extra time meaning that any deadlines agreed would be missed and you may incur extra costs. If you are unclear on any of these points or have any other queries then please contact us for further details. Please also see Canvas print FAQ's (frequently asked questions) If you are not sure about preparing your artwork to comply with our guidelines then please contact us for an artwork preparation or design quote, this will ensure that you get the best quality and hopefully do not miss any deadlines you may have. Your Order - Unless you are ordering online always provide a written order (email, fax or post) clearly stating your requirements, your full contact details and refer to any quote number you may have been given. Ideally include an inkjet, laser print, or a PDF with embedded fonts, for us to use as a rough visual content check - without this we accept no responsibility for missing fonts, pictures or other variations as we will only be able to print what we assume is correct. Sending files - If you are ordering using our online system you can upload your file during the checkout process, or if it is not ready you can upload a a later time by logging into your account. If you are sending a separate order you can upload files along with your order via our Upload Page (Please save multiple files in one ZIP/archive format first). For written orders enclose a CD/DVD. Order Acknowledgement - Online orders will be acknowledged by email immediately. For other orders once we have received your order we will email you a written order acknowledgement. This will show; your job number, the details of your order as we understand it, estimated proof and production timescales plus the final costs and your payment requirements - you can pay online if you do not have a credit account with us - see price and payment terms. Please check this carefully! Proofs - We always recommend a colour accurate proof (at cost shown, or included free with some orders unless stated otherwise) if you wish to be certain of colour and content. Proof production will take at least one or two full working days plus postage/collection time and your approval time. NB If due to a short deadline a proof is not possible, then you agree to accept any prints we produce unchecked and we accept no responsibility for any content or colour accuracy variations to what you may have expected. Preferred file formats - Digital Photo Image Only To reproduce a piece of original artwork you will need to provide a digital photo at high resolution for us to produce a print. If you cannot do this yourself we recommend you speak to a local photographic studio. In the Lake District/Lancashire area we recommend Geoff Harris at Carnforth We suggest you save as JPG files if sending online, or TIFF files (always turn LZW compression off) if sending on CD. Please do not send RAW format or any other formats of file. Please note; JPG format is ideal for reducing file sizes when transferring via the internet. But please be aware that files saved in JPG format can result in lower quality prints as some information is removed when they are compressed. The more you compress the file the more information is removed. Preferred file formats - Artwork with images and text? Adobe Acrobat PDF format files are our preferred choice for fast turnaround work - this is also the best method for Pagemaker, Microsoft Word or Publisher files (see below). However it is imperative that you create PDF’s as ‘press optimised’ with bleed, cropmarks and fonts embedded and follow our imported photos guidelines, as faults in PDF’s cannot be easily ‘fixed’ later in production if you get it wrong. Quark Xpress or Adobe InDesign files are accepted if ‘collected for output’ / ’packaged’ so all the related files and fonts are included. Freehand, Illustrator and Coreldraw files are acceptable ONLY if saved in .EPS format. You will be charged if we have to re-save. Photoshop or similar files should ideally be saved as .TIF. Highest quality JPG is acceptable if sending via our upload service. Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint need to be converted to PDF format. This can be done in various ways depending on your system and installed software. On an Apple Mac OSX simply go to 'file' and 'print' and save as a PDF using button at bottom left. On Windows Vista and Windows 7 a similar feature is available - please check your documentation. We can also accept other files and formats, but please ring and check first if timescales are critical as they take longer. Document Sizes and Bleed Produce your artwork at either 'Same size' ie 100% (for anything up to around A2 or so) or Quarter of the final size required ie 25% (for anything larger) We have hardware that allows us to enlarge images up to 400% with no loss of quality (believe us - we do this for a living!) on our poster printers. eg A4 (210 x 297mm) can be enlarged to A0 (840 x 1,189mm). As we can actually print at sizes up to 1600mm x 15 metres it is unlikely that anyone could deal with the size of files generated following the same rules as used in traditional litho print. However we have specialised in large format print for over 12 years and believe us or not your prints will be very good quality if you follow our guidelines. If your artwork requires ‘bleed’ (ie if it extends off the edge of your page) you must allow at least 3mm.We also recommend that any text is kept at least 3mm away from the edge of the page. When sending an image for gallery wrapped canvas prints please remember that you will need about 55mm extra on each edge to wrap around the frame. Some of your image will be in effect cropped so please ensure that the main image viewed from the front is as you wish to see it. We do not recommend leaving a white or coloured border for the frame edges as we cannot gurantee to be able to line up the frame when stretching. You may incur extra costs and delays if we have to remove incorrect imposition or do extra work before we can print your files. Finally, documents comprising more than one page must always be supplied in one file with no blank pages - for instance covers and inners must be together in one file. Colours We suggest that photos are left as RGB format which is how your camera will have saved them. We can however take either RGB or CMYK so it is not a problem either way. RGB can 'sometimes' offer a wider range of colour, or brighter colours. Please note if you ever send work to us for any other printing services such as exhibition panels, business cards, greetings cards or leaflets etc we will insist on CMYK. So if you think you may ever want any of these it makes sense to use CMYk for everything. File Sizes (resolution) All images must be 300dpi If sending a 100% file then it needs to be 300dpi at 100% If sending a quarter size file it needs to be 300dpi at 25% - if you have fine text or very fine detail then we suggest 400dpi. Higher resolutions will just make very big, slow to print, files with information that will not be used and will not increase the quality of the final result. Please be aware when adjusting the resolution that your file size (Mb) should not get bigger, as you cannot add what is not there. Make sure you have 'resample image' turned off in Photoshop (or equivalent) 'image size' dialog box.Changing the resolution from 72dpi to 300dpi will make the dimensions (mm) smaller but not affect the file size (Mb). Digital Camera Images - Unless your images conform to our 'photos' standards above ie they can be placed in a quarter size document at 300dpi then they will not be good enough quality for large format prints. Never enlarge image resolutions beyond their original size - you cannot put in what was not there in the first place. If in any doubt please request a 'colour proof' Colour Proofs (test prints) We always recommend a colour accurate proof (at cost shown in pricelist, or included free in orders over certain values unless stated otherwise) if you wish to be certain of colour and content. Proof production will take at least one or two full working days plus postage/collection time and your approval time. NB If due to a short deadline a proof is not possible, then you agree to accept any prints we produce unchecked and we accept no responsibility for any content or colour accuracy variations to what you may have expected. Proofs can be either a reduced size complete print at A4 or a portion extracted from your image at final print size. If you wish to check a larger proof you can also obviously order a one off print (see giclee pricelist) plus P&P at any size. Once you have checked this, either approve for the final print or, if required make any colour adjustments yourself, then order another proof to check these or final prints if you are happy. If you are at all uncertain about colour or image quality it is the only accurate way of being certain of what the final print will look like. Fonts - Only use legitimate PostScript fonts (never TrueType unless absolutely unavoidable), include both printer and screen fonts on your disk. If you must use TrueType then if possible convert them to paths/curves to avoid any potential problems. Do not use bold, italic or other type options from the menu bar, use the correct bold or italic fonts. Amendments - Any amendments requested will be charged at our standard hourly rates unless agreed otherwise in writing. If after ordering a proof you wish to send a replacement amended file you will be charged a ‘reprocessing’ fee of a minimum of £12.50 or standard proof prices if another proof is requested. Prices and Payment Terms - As we are primarily a trade supplier our prices Do Not Include VAT. This will be added where applicable during checkout or confirmed in our order acknowledgement for offline orders. We have a minimum charge of £12.50 for any artwork or amendments to files. All work must be paid for on checkout, collection or prior to delivery unless a credit account has already been applied for and opened. Our online ordering system accepts all major credit cards or Paypal. Account customers can also order online and simply select 'invoice' at checkout. For anything not available to order via our website, on receipt of your written or emailed quote request or order you will been given a quote number or job number, payment can then be made online via the link on our website: www.cypherdigital.co.uk/pay We reserve the right to amend any of these prices at any time in line with costs of raw materials. All goods and services remain the property of Cypher until paid for in full. Delivery Terms - our purchase will leave us is good condition and is fully insured whilst in transit to you. A condition of insurance is that you or your representative inspects your purchase BEFORE signing the carriers delivery note. In the unlikely event your goods have been damaged in transit (however slight), sign "received damaged" and report to us within 24hrs of delivery. If the delivery note has been signed in any other way you will have invalidated the insurance and waive all right to claim for any repair or replacement for goods damaged in transit. This is particularly important for large format panels, especially those mounted on boards and stretched canvases. These are produced typically as custom 'one offs' and because of their size and the fact that they can be difficult to handle can be susceptible to damage in transit. The slightest mark or scratch may mean that the panels are not 100% and are possibly then not acceptable. Delivery Times - Although we will make every effort to meet advised delivery times, we will not be liable for any loss to the Customer contingent on any such delivery not being met. Especially in cases where third parties eg. carriers are involved. Neither will any such failure to meet a delivery date constitute a breach of contract on our part. Claims - Advice of damage, delay, partial loss or non delivery of goods in transit must be notified in writing to us within three days of delivery. Any claims regarding faults or incorrect output must be made in writing to us within seven days of delivery and the work in question must be returned to us for examination. We shall not be liable in respect of any claim unless the above requirements have been complied with. Paper Sizes and Finishing Digital Print - Maximum sheet size SRA3 450mm x 320mm Digital Print substrates - 90gsm to 350gsm silk, gloss and uncoated, 100 to 120gsm Conqueror CX22, Raflatac Score back self adhesive, Various sizes of precut labels Large format Print - Maximum image size in one piece: 1600mm x 15 metres approx. depending on substrate Larger images are possible by tiling. Large format substrates: Photo base 190gsm standard, self adhesive vinyl, coated artists canvas, art paper, self adhesive vinyl, blueback paper, weather resistant fabric, reinforced PVC banner, windmesh banner. NB We always recommend laminating prints if frequent handling or durability is required. If you require water resistance, extra durability or weather resistant prints we offer printing using low-solvent based inks and a range of lamination and encapsulation options.We can also mount onto various boards and substrates. Accepted Media - We can accept files saved onto: CD, DVD, USB flash drive and various flash memory cards. You can upload any files during or after checkout or you can transfer files via our standalone Upload Page. When sending work not using our checkout but via our upload service always ZIP all your files in a folder with your name or company as the folder name. Enter your job requirements in the message box and include your Name, Address and Telephone number. Please also add any Cypher quote number or job number you have been given to avoid any delays, as we cannot book in or process any work until we have received written instructions. Pricing and Quotes - Due to the huge variety of stocks available and the unique flexibility of large format print it would be impractical for us to list everything. Instead we have added as many 'standard' prices as we can to our website (as well as a selection in our printed pricelist - available free on request), we also publish special offer prices in our newsletters and mailshots on occasion. So if there is a quantity or size you require that is not listed please contact us as we would be happy to quote individually for your requirements. Please always confirm the quote number you are given when sending in any orders, this will save a lot of time and potential confusion. If your requirements have changed between getting an initial quote from us and sending your job in, then please request a re-quote.We will have to re-cost it anyway and would much prefer that you know the cost of your order before the job is started, to avoid any misunderstandings later. General Conditions Please see our standard terms and conditions for full details - available on request or from our website. However the key relevant terms of sale are: Additional Charges Additional charges will be made when; a. During production the Customer requests amendments, additions or deletions. Charges to Customer would be based on time and materials at current rates. b. Changes are made to jobs where the style, type or layout have been left to our judgement. Charges to customer would be based on time and materials at current rates. Clients Supplied Proofs In the absence of proofs with any orders supplied for processing and printing we will output a version of the file which we anticipate as being the correct one and charge the result out at the relevant rate. Preliminary Work Any work carried out whether experimentally or otherwise, at the customers request shall be charged, unless agreed earlier. Press Proofs Press proofs may be submitted for Customer approval, We shall incur no liability for any errors not corrected by the Customer at this time. Customers alterations and subsequent proofs will be charged extra. |