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WHAT IS CYMK?
RGB refers to the primary colors of light, Red, Green and Blue, that are used in monitors, television screens, digital cameras and scanners. CMYK refers to the primary colors of pigment: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. These are the inks used on the press in "4-color process printing", commonly referred to as "full color printing". The combination of RGB light creates white, while the combination of CMYK inks creates black. Therefore, it is physically impossible for the printing press to exactly reproduce colors as we see them on our monitors. Many programs such as photoshop and illustrator have the capability to convert the layout/images from the RGB color space to the CMYK color space. We request that you convert your colors from RGB to CMYK if your tools allow you to. By doing it yourself, you have maximum control over the results.
You may notice a shift in color when converting from RGB to CMYK. If you do not like the appearance in CMYK, we recommend that you make adjustments while working in CMYK. Be sure to check out our FILE REQUIREMENTS.
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WHAT ARE HIGH-RESOLUTION GRAPHICS?
All files for printing need to be scanned or drawn at 300 dpi. What looks great on screen at 72 dpi would look pretty bad when printed. Increasing the resolution from 72 to 300 dpi in a paint program (such as Photoshop , Paint Shop Pro, etc.) does not work as this just interpolates the image ( i.e. adds pixels to the image), which in turn can increase the image size but makes for a more 'blurry' effect.
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HOW SHOULD I MAKE BLACK?
We recommend that you use a CYMK black in order to create a RICH black. To do this, you need to use all the colors. Remember not all blacks are alike and if you want your black to stand out use this formula.
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WHAT ARE BLEEDS?
If you want a background color or image to extend to the edge of the sheet so no white paper is showing you must extend the background or image past the trim edges of the layout. The part that extends past the trim edges is referred to as bleed. We prefer you extend the bleed edges 1/8 th or .125 past the trim. This allows for a small margin of error in the cutting tolerance and prevents a white thin edge showing around the paper.
Bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. If you use our FREE TEMPLATES, they will account for safety and bleed.
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HOW DO I AVOID TEXT CUTOFF and WHAT IS SAFETY AREA?
To avoid text being cut off, be sure to keep all text inside safety to avoid text being cut off. Keep text inside safety zone. Example shown will have text cut off.
If you use our FREE TEMPLATES, they will account for safety and bleed.
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WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH BORDERS?
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WHAT IS NEEDED FOR MAKING SPOT UV?
Spot UV is the option of having selected areas of your job high gloss UV coated and other areas of your job without UV coating. To set up files for spot UV , an additional file must be created for every spot UV side. This file must be black and white with the area to be UV- SOLID black 100% (no gradients) and the rest that will not be UVed must be white
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WHAT IS GANG RUN PRINTING?
Gang run printing describes a method for printing multiple jobs on a standard size full sheet of paper,which is up to 28 X 40. This size sheet can accomodate thirty-two(32) 4" X 6" postcards or eight(8) 8.5" X 11 flyers and four(4) 11X17 4 page brochures printed on both sides. By ganging multiple jobs together, the costs of prepress, material and labor can be shared by all those participating in the run. In order to provide this inexpensive service printer must have a high volume of jobs to meet fast turn a round time. Due to this high volume we are able to provide our customers with choices quantity of paper weights and finishes but cannot alter those options on gang runs. If your specifications do not meet these requirements, we will quote your job as a custom printed job. But remember, a huge advantage of gang run printing is that they are the most economical way to print business cards, postcards, flyers, catalog sheets, brochures, and all small size jobs.
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WHAT CAUSES BITMAPPING?
Many people are confused as to why something may look great onscreen but won't print without bitmapping. Basically, a standard computer monitor has a resolution of 72 dpi. Websites are designed at 72 dpi for this reason. For print we need 300 dpi that it why web graphics or any low-res file will give poor results when outputted on a hi-res postscript device. If the only image you have is at low resolution, then it will need to be redrawn or photographed at a higher resolution.
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WHY DOES TYPE LOOK DIFFERENT?
It is also best to steer clear of using the bold and italic buttons for boldening or italicizing your text. Say you are typing some body text in Times New Roman Regular. You then decide to bolden/italicize some words. If the file you are working on is going to be output from an imagesetter then this machine, when it comes across the first instance of the bold setting, will look for Times New Roman Bold on the system. In this case there should be no problem as the Times family of typefaces has a bold version and an italic version in place. A problem will arise where a single typeface has been selected such as Mistral. Normally, there is no bold equivalent on the system and the imagesetter would default to the plain version of Mistral. Of course, this doesn't affect what you see onscreen and what would print out to your deskjet/laser printer as these are designed to utilize all True-Type fonts. It's only a problem when trying to output to a high-resolution Postscript device. It is best to avoid any problems by using the correct typeface without using settings bold and italic.
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CAN YOU MATCH COLORS TO OUR PRODUCTS?
Colors on your monitor or proofs from your printer will probably never match a sheet printed on a printing press. If you require critical color matching you must contact us prior to submitting your job and we can discuss the options available to you for critical color matching.
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WHAT IS PLEASING COLOR?
Pleasing Color is a term used by printers to describe the standard they use to evaluate the color quality of the printed sheet. It is a subjective evaluation. Different commercial printers make there own rules about pleasing color. At Color Printing Pros we have a very high standard for pleasing color. Our standard is that the colors be brilliantly bright within the limits of the process. That they are color natural, meaning they have no overall off color cast, they have good contrast with detail in both with highlight and shadow areas and they are clean and free from dust and artifacts. Keep in mind that if the file you submit is not created optimizing the color reproduction we cannot be expected to improve or correct your error. If you send files that are not created by a professional designer, you may want to take advantage of our FREE FILE REVIEW SERVICE.
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WHAT ARE PAPER WEIGHTS?
The weight or thickness of paper stock is determined by the weight in pounds. of a ream (500 sheets) of the paper of a specified size. Points are measurement of the thickness of the paper. 1 point equals 1/1000 of an inch. The thickness of 10 pt. stock would equal 10/1000 or 0.010 in. many printers have their standard point stock as 12 point. Our standard stock is 14 point with a FREE option of upgrading to 16 point on most products.
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HOW DO I MAKE SURE MY FILES ARE ORIENTED CORRECTLY?
All files require proper rotation. Files submitted are printed HEAD to HEAD as-is based on your files. The HEAD is always the top of your file. Make sure to set up your files so when printed HEAD to HEAD the final product will read the way you would like. Also, front and back files need to be set up either vertically or horizontally. Files not properly set up will be the responsibility of designer.
If you have a fold-over or greeting card, please send your artwork as shown.
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WHAT IS THE PROPER USE OF CROPMARKS?
Use cropmarks to indicate where you want the job cut.
 
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WHY USE A SPOT UV COATING TO ADD A WOW FACTOR TO YOUR PRINTING?
As the name suggests, a Spot UV is applied to chosen areas of a printed card. This has the affect of highlighting and drawing attention to that part of the design, but it also provides the additional visual stimulus of having varied textures on a single printed surface. The Spot UV technique is achieved by applying a UV gloss spot varnish on top of clay coated paper. This achieves maximum contrast between the highly reflective shiny UV coating and the more light-absorbing clay coated finish, which creates a striking first impression. To set up files for spot UV,
an additional file (mask) must be created for every spot UV side. This mask must be black and white with the area to be UV- SOLID black 100% (no gradients) and the rest which will not have spot UV must be white. Send your grey scale mask file with your CYMK file. Spot UV can add a lot of interest, and can identify the printing as a premium piece of sales and marketing literature in the perception of the reader. 
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HOW DO I MAKE A SILVER METALLICS MASK?
New design elements have been created with the addition of Metallic Silver ink in addition to the standard four color printing process. This 5 color process can make cards really stand out when printed on 14Pt and 16 Pt card stock. What is achieved is a unique look and can give your sales and marketing literature the Wow Factor edge you need to get noticed. Metallic Silver (PMS 877) is available for business cards, postcards, rack cards, club cards, bookmarks and trading cards.
To create your files using metallic silver,
you will need to work in a vector program, like illustrator or indesign. Using the vector format, you need to call out the objects you want in silver ink. You need to apply the color of the object as a spot Pantone 877C. Any other color will not be accepted as silver nor will labeling the item as /silver/ or /silver mask/ work.
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HOW DO I MAKE A CORRECT PDF?
Did you know submitting the correct PDF file allows for a significant reduction in errors and may allow for quicker turnaround times. It also allows for your jobs to be printed with the highest quality possible.
How do you make the "perfect" PDF file?
Just make sure you use the proper settings (below) when exporting your artwork from design programs such as Indesign and Illustrator. Use these settings to make sure your PDF files export correctly.
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HOW CAN I MAKE SURE MY BLUES DO NOT COME OUT PURPLE?
When using a blue in your design, always make sure to leave at least a 30% difference in your Cyan and Magenta values. Blue is close to purple in the CMYK spectrum. Remember, use a low amount of magenta whenever using high amounts of cyan to avoid purple. Example: C-100 M-70 Y-0 K-0
Here is: C-100% M-100% Y-0% K-0%
On Screen
After Printing
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HOW DO I EXPORT A .PDF CORRECTLY?
When exporting from any program such as Indesign or Illustrator, use these settings to make sure your .PDF files export correctly.
Export settings for .PDF files
Adobe PDF Preset is set to: Press Quality
Compatibility is set to: Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)
Compress Text and Line Art is set to: Off
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HOW DO I GET A GRAYSCALE IMAGE IN A CYMK DOCUMENT?
Grayscale images that are converted to CMYK will have a color shift in the final print. That shift may be green or yellow. Always check the CMYK values of your grayscale in the final CMYK document. If there are other values other then K in your grayscale image, there is a chance that the color will vary.
To eliminate all values other then K, use your Channel Mixer (adjustment layer) in Photoshop, then click "Monochrome" and adjust accordingly.
Grayscale On Screen........................Grayscale After Print
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WHY DOES MY BUSINESS CARD CRACK AROUND EDGES?
Cracking of the edges of a business card sometimes occurs when the card contains high values of ink, as in dark colors. This usually happens on a small amount of cards in the run. To prevent this, use lighter colors or if you must use dark colors, use as little ink as possible.
Close up of business card
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WHAT IS BANDING?
Many things can cause banding. Banding can be caused by the program that it is exported from, such as Indesign or Corel. Also, too many gradient steps, for example going from a very light color to a dark color, in a small area will cause banding. To prevent this, check your digital files before sending. If you use a gradient, make sure it has enough room for a smooth transition.
Close up of banding
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WHY IS THERE CRACKING ON MY SCORING JOB?
When a job is coated with UV then scored and folded the job may begin to crack. During use, the cracks will become bigger and the ink may start to chip off. Cracking is normal when coated jobs are scored and folded. The only way to prevent this is to order the job without UV.
Close Up Scoring
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CAN I SUBMIT MULTIPLE FILES IN ONE DOCUMENT?
NO. We are set up to process one side at a time and this requires that each side of a job must be a separate file. Not separating files will cause delays and you might have to send files again. Remember to separate pages of your pdf files as well.
HOW DO I USE FREE TEMPLATES?
Our FREE Templates are a great tool to create artwork that can be printed faster, easier, and more accurately. Download the JPG version given for selected product.
These templates will help you identify where the cut line, bleed line, and safety line, are located along with other information so you can design your art correctly. Some of our templates are labeled as OUT and IN. This means that there is some folding involved with the template. Remember that OUT is the FRONT and IN is the BACK.
HOW DO I SET UP A SPOT AQ JOB?
When creating a Spot AQ job, you must include a Spot AQ template along with the regular full color file. The Spot AQ template file is used to show where the AQ will be placed. Use white, 0C 0M 0Y 0K, to indicate where you would like the AQ. Black, 100%K, will indicate no AQ.
HOW SHOULD I SET UP A PLASTIC CARD JOB?
When designing plastic cards, it is important to keep in mind that the frosted and clear plastic cards are transparent. Also, all plastic cards come with round corners at no extra charge!
As you can see, the difference in the transparency is shown in the image above. The clear cards (right) are completely transparent. The frosted cards (center) are semi-transparent and cannot be seen through easily. The opaque white plastic cards (left) are solid white and not transparent at all. Keep this in mind when designing your plastic cards, it will affect how your design will print.
Since there is no white ink in CMYK, it is important to keep in mind that the frosted and clear plastic cards are transparent. The three designs above are the same as in the first picture. You will notice that the white area in the clear cards (right) and the frosted cards (center) has no ink and will show the transparent material it's printed on. In this case, the clear cards and frosted cards white area show up with no ink on the printed piece. Also, keep in mind that all colors that are printed on clear cards or frosted cards will be transparent as well.
With the clear plastic cards, there might be a small percentage that may have light scratches. This issue originates from the manufacturer and is due to the material and handling. To help compensate for this, we run overs of the clear plastic cards to help meet the required quantity.
HOW DO I SET UP A GOLD OR SILVER FOIL JOB?
We offer 2 types of foil, Silver and Gold. Each order can only have one type of foil, Gold or Silver. You CAN NOT order a Foil job with Gold foil on the front and Silver foil on the back.
Foil mask files are set up just like our Spot UV mask files. The file can only be black and white. Black in the areas you want the foil and white in the areas you do not want the foil.
Please see images below to see what files should look like to achieve final product.
If you order a Foil job with Spot UV, you must provide separate mask files for the Foil (foil mask) and UV (spot uv mask), in that case up to 6 files will need to be provided. However, please keep in mind that the Foil and UV can't overlap. Also, be aware that there may be up to 1/16" shift on the placement of the foil. Keep this in mind if you are trying to align foil with other printed artwork on the card.
HOW DO I SET UP FOR ROUNDED CORNERS?
We offer 1/4" standard on our rounded corners. BUT 1/8" radius round corners are available to all of our customers. The image below shows the two different radiuses for comparison.!
Be sure to account for this in your text cutline and safety area.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MULTI-PAGE BOOKLETS and CALENDARS?
Booklets range from 4 to 32 pages, calendars range from 24 to 28 pages. Both are printed on durable 100lb Book stock and are assembled in-house. To ensure the pagination is correct, the pages should be provided as single pages, not as spreads. As a standard, all elements, text and images that are not intended to bleed off need to be at least 0.25" from the cut line for safety. Artwork should be provided with at least 0.25" bleed around. We highly recommend to use our booklet templates when creating your artwork.
WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT PUZZLES?
Our Puzzles have high quality lamination. They come fully assembled on a board and have additional sheet of the printed image. Each puzzle is individually wrapped.
Files should be set up to the size of the order plus .125" bleed.
HOW DO I SET UP A T-SHIRT ORDER?
We offer 2 types of T-Shirts, White and Black and are made from 100% cotton. Sizes range from S to XXL. It is printed by a CMYK digital print process and can be printed on the front and back of the T-Shirt. Printing cannot be done only on the back.
Acceptable file types at the moment are .pdf, .jpg, and .eps files.
The print area is 11x8.5 and is centered 2" down from the bottom of the collar for the front, and 5.5" down from the top of the collar for the back.
As you can see, the 11x8.5 print area (GREEN) will be printed on the shirt. Anything outside that area (RED) will not be printed.
Your artwork also needs to be done according to what color T-Shirt it will be printed on.
For White T-Shirts, the background color must be C-0 M-0 Y-0 K-0. White color for white T-Shirts will be ignored.
For Black T-Shirts, the background color must be C-100 M-100 Y-100 K-100. Black color for black T-Shirts will be ignored.
To help visualize these rules, you can use our T-Shirt templates available on t-shirt page - under Templates.
HOW DO I SET UP A EVERY COLOR FOIL(tm) FILE?
For an Every Color Foil(tm) job, you must include a foil mask file along with your CMYK file. The mask file indicates where the foil will be placed. The file process is the same as spot UV-100% K where foil is placed, 0% where the foil is not placed.
When creating knockouts in your foil mask or in the CMYK print file, beware there might be a "Halo" of white around the knockout area. Below are two examples... On the left, a file with a CMYK magenta background with a knockout for the "Every Color(tm) foil" text. On the right, a foil background with a knockout for the CMYK text.
These are the printed results:
You can see the white "Halo" in-between the CMYK ink and the colored foil. To prevent this, grow/stroke the foil area in the mask by 1-2 pixels. This will allow the foil to bleed into the CMYK area, reducing the white "Halo" effect. You can also fill in the knockout with a color to reduce the effect further.
WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT LENTEK?
LenTek(tm) is a Lenticular product that allows you to have two or three different pictures in one. We take your images and create a swapping effect, each image vanishing and then reappearing from one to another as you move it up and down. There is a backing that can also be printed in normal 4 color process. Total thickness with both plastic LenTek(tm) viewer and backing is 21pt. Only the front side will have the LenTek(tm) effect.
Your images will transition from one to another as you move the card up and down. At the moment, only a vertical transition or flip is available for order.
The bleed must be made bigger for the LenTek(tm) prints. The total bleed should be .25" added to the cut size. For example, if you are ordering a business card the final size you should upload is 3.75x2.25. The files should still be CMYK and 300dpi as normal. There are some other rules you should follow as well when setting up the front of a LenTek(tm) card
- It is NOT RECOMMENDED to use solid color backgrounds (especially white) in both images
- The effect is much more noticeable if you go with colorful textured backgrounds
- Use bold fonts and avoid fine, small, and thin type
Another thing to keep in mind is how many files will be uploaded. It depends if you pick a two or three image transition.
Two Image Flip:
- 4/0 = Two images for the front only
- 4/4 = Two images for the front, one image for the back
Three Image Flip:
- 4/0 = Three images for the front only
- 4/4 = Three images for the front, one image for the back
LenTek is a new product that offers you dimensional print to deliver twice the message in the same print.
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