Snohomish Publishing Company Inc. - Customer Information

Transfer Options (Page 1 / Page 2)

Online Storage:
Recommended Providers:
.....You Send it - www.yousendit.com - Up to 100MB
.....Mail Big File - www.mailbigfile.com - Up to 512MB
Additional Providers:
.....Big Upload - www.bigupload.com - Up to 300MB
.....Send Space - www.sendspace.com - Up to 300MB

Transfer Options (Page 1 / Page 2)

Email:
.....You may send us your files via email as long as the files are less than 10MB in size. If you decide to use this option, please email the job to your sales representative only. A list of email addresses is on the "Contact Us" page.

FTP:
.....If you would like to get access to our FTP server for your project, please contact your sales representative for further information. After we have set up an account in your name, the easiest way to access our FTP server is by using Internet Explorer. However you may also use any other FTP client available such as CuteFTP, SmartFTP, Fetch or Rftp to access our server. If you have any problems accessing our server, or need help setting up your FTP client, feel free to give us a call.
.....Also, please make sure you are using a binary transfer from within your client. If you start uploading and the connection gets interrupted, either delete the file and resend, or rename the file and resend.

Common Problems (Page 1 / Page 2)

Native Files:
1) Include all fonts and images used in your publication.
2) Either ZIP or Stuff all your files before sending them to us.
3) Check with your sales representative to find out whether or not we support the type of software that you created your job in.

Common Problems (Page 1 / Page 2)

.....There are quite a few steps that can be taken to achieve a quicker and more efficient transfer of your files. This will result in less time spent on your job, which in return translates into lower costs. The following is a list of things that should be done when sending files to us.

PDFs and Native Files:
1) Do not pre-impose pages. Make sure that every page is set up the proper size and that you only use printer spreads if you have a two page center spread in your publication. If this is the case, make a separate file for the center spread with the proper dimensions.
2) Make sure that your publication is set up with the proper trim size, bleed and image area.
3) If you are using a spot color, remember to use either 100% cyan or 100% magenta as your spot color. Simply tell your sales representative the actual color you would like to use for your job and we will print it the proper color.
4) Do not set white to “overprint.” It can be difficult to catch this error since a printer will generally ignore the overprint instruction. Any white elements or text set to overprint will be transparent on our imagesetter and will not print on the press.

PDFs:
1) Use the “PDF/X-3:2002” preset if available. Otherwise make sure to use “Print Quality,” and remember to flatten your layers in the export PDF menu if you are using InDesign.
2) Either send one complete PDF that has all the pages in the correct sequential order, or send individual PDF files for each page. If you do send individual pages, remember to name them properly with their page number.

QuarkXPress

.....We currently accept native QuarkXPress 5 files for the Mac. (Include all fonts and images when sending native files.) If you have QuarkXpress 6 or later, you will have to use the Creo PXT XTension available from your sales representative to create your EPS or postscript files. Using this XTension will greatly simplify the process of making an EPS/postscript due to the some-what complex nature of the print menu in Quark. Using the Creo PXT XTension creates a file that embeds the fonts, keeps the graphics high resolution, and works smoothly in our RIP. You can export PDFs directly out of Quark but this export feature will most likely not create a useable PDF. Another option for making a PDF file is to create a postscript file out of Quark and then distill it using Acrobat Distiller.

Downloadable PXT XTensions are located in the downloads section.

PageMaker

.....We currently accept native PageMaker 7 files for the PC and PageMaker 6.5 files for the Mac. (Include all fonts and images when sending native files.) Please make sure to use our Stingray PPD when creating postscripts out of PageMaker. Your sales representative can send you this PPD via email . Also, make sure to select “Normal” in the “Print Options” menu under “TIFFs/Images” next to “Send Image Data.” This will assure that the postscript will not contain downsampled images, which could potentially result in poor print quality on the press. Using File -> Export -> Adobe PDF is not a viable option. Please make sure to create a postscript and create the PDF using Adobe Distiller with the Press Quality setting.

Downloadable PPDs are located in the downloads section.

Microsoft Products

.....Any Microsoft product currently available is not suited for commercial printing, including Microsoft Publisher. This is partly because of color problems as well as the inability to create accurate separations. We do accept native files for Word/Excel/Publisher 2002 or pre-separated PDFs. We can also accept composite PDFs made from any Microsoft product if the job prints in black only. However if it uses a spot color or full color process we cannot accept any composite PDFs. Making composite PDFs out of any Microsoft products will turn the colors to RGB, even if you have them set to be CMYK. There is currently no way around this except to create pre-separated files.

InDesign

.....We currently only accept native InDesign files for the Mac. (Include all fonts and images when sending native files.) Making the proper PDFs in InDesign is fairly simple. After you have finished your publication, simply go to the “file” menu, select “export” and choose “PDF/X-3:2002.” You do not have to change any settings in this preset, unless your publication contains bleeds. If it does contain bleeds, simply add them in the “Marks and Bleeds” section in the “Export PDF” menu. For further information regarding PDF creation in InDesign, please download our PDF tutorial in the downloads section. There is also a PDF available that shows how to use the separations preview in InDesign.

Spot Colors

.....If your publication is printing in spot color, (black plus one color), make sure to build your document using only black and one other color. Graphics that are to print in two colors, (black plus your spot color), need to be designed that way in your photo editing program. The black elements must be black only and the color elements have to be the same spot color as in your publication. This also applies for duotone graphics. The easiest way to accomplish a correct spot color is to select the spot color you want to use and then edit that color to be 100% cyan or magenta. Your job will still print in the spot color of your choice, but it will display as either cyan or magenta in your publication. Using a spot color other than cyan or magenta might potentially cause problems with drop shadows and transparencies in InDesign, therefore it is very important to use either cyan or magenta as your spot color to minimize potential problems. Remember to use the same spot color for all elements in your publication that are meant to print in color. For further information regarding the creation of spot color images in Photoshop, please download our PDF tutorial in the downloads section.

Providing Files

.....You may provide your files to us via CD, DVD, USB Storage Drives, Email
(if less than 10MB), ZIP Disks (100MB or 250MB), FTP or Online Storage Websites. For further information regarding FTP access and Online Storage Websites, please visit the Transfer Options under the File Transfer menu.

We accept the following native files as well as PDFs:

PC:
Adobe Illustrator 10
Adobe PageMaker 7
Adobe Photoshop 7
Microsoft Word/Excel/Publisher 2002

Mac:
Adobe Illustrator CS2
Adobe InDesign CS2
Adobe PageMaker 6.5
Adobe Photoshop CS2
QuarkXPress 5

PDFs & Distiller Settings

.....We highly recommend using the “PDF/X-3:2002” setting in Distiller as well as in your page layout program, if it is available. This setting will provide you with a high-resolution PDF that is the most compatible with our workflow. However, if your distiller or page layout program does not support this setting, you may use any other “PDF/X” setting or you may use the “press quality” setting. Using any other settings may provide unacceptable PDFs that could be low-resolution and potentially have shifted color values.
.....In general, do not try to downsample images when making a PDF, even if it looks good on your monitor. Any downsampled images will print poorly on the press. Also be sure to embed all the fonts you have used in your publication when creating a PDF.

Page Layout & Bleeds

.....Trim sizes should not be confused with the image size. Staying within a certain image area allows for sufficient margins in your final printed publication, therefore please leave approximately a 3/8” margin from the final trim. When using bleeds, make sure to extend any images that bleed at least 1/8” beyond the final trim size.
.....The page size of your document file should match the final trim size of your publication, not the default setting of your page layout program. Our standard trim sizes are:

.......... * 8.375" x 10.875" for a magazine without bleeds.
.......... * 8.25" x 10.625" for a magazine with bleeds.
.......... * 5.25" x 8.25" for a digest size booklet without bleeds, perfect bound.
...........* 5.125" x 8.25" for a digest size booklet with bleeds, perfect bound.
.......... * 5.375" x 8.375" for a digest size booklet without bleeds, saddle bound.
.......... * 5" x 8.25" for a digest size booklet with bleeds, saddle bound.
.......... * 11.375 x 17.5" for a tabloid newspaper.

Downloadable templates are located in the downloads section.

Mailing Permit

.....If your publication is being mailed, then it is very important that you have the correct mailing information on your publication. This includes the type of permit, the permit number, the location and correctly worded mailing information for your particular type of mailing. Incorrect permits can pose a huge problem. The post office may refuse to accept your publication or impose higher fees for delivery. Therefore, please check with your sales representative to make sure that you have the correct mailing information and that it is placed in the correct position in your publication.

Images & Graphics (Problem Graphics - Digital/Web Images - Scanning)

.....Avoid file formats like GIF, PICT, WMF, PCX, BMP, etc., especially if you are creating a spot color publication. Our imagesetter software is unable to process these graphics as anything other than black or full color. Even then, the final results of these graphics can vary. We suggest using either JPEG, TIFF, PDF or EPS files for all graphics. In addition to that, do not nest an EPS within another EPS. Quark’s Collect for Output and PageMaker’s Save (with All Linked Files) option will not collect nested EPS or TIFF files. Also, never “cut & paste” from Photoshop/Illustrator/Freehand into your page layout program. Use the correct import/place procedures.

Images & Graphics (Problem Graphics - Digital/Web Images - Scanning)

.....When using digital photos, keep in mind that the quality of the printed photo will depend on the megapixel of the camera being used. Avoid enlarging a photo in your publication that has been taken with a low megapixel camera. Zooming in on the picture in your layout program to check for sharpness and pixelation is a good way of verifying the quality of an image. Avoid using any images extracted from websites as most are 72 dpi JPEG or GIF images, which are not suitable for quality printing. Increasing the resolution in Photoshop will not improve the quality of the image, rather it will only create a larger file without any benefits over the original image. A trick that will improve the appearance of a low-resolution graphic is to open the graphic in a photo editing program, such as Photoshop, and make the physical size at least four times the desired print size. After that, you can place the graphic into your layout program, such as InDesign, and scale it down to the desired size. This procedure helps to smooth out the “chunky” appearance of a low resolution graphic or photo, but it will not entirely eliminate it. Therefore, please use high-resolution images and avoid using any low-resolution graphics, especially from websites.

Images & Graphics (Problem Graphics - Digital/Web Images - Scanning)

.....Scan photos at 300 dpi and scan line art at 800 to 1200 dpi. Line art should be saved as a bitmap and graphics/photos should be saved as either a JPEG or a TIFF. Dot gain also has to be accounted for on photos destined for the web press. This applies whether your photos print in color or greyscale.
.....Listed below are some basic guidelines for dot gain settings in Photoshop, (or any other photo editing programs), depending on the paper your job will print on:

* SWOP uncoated paper (50#/60# book stock) = 20% ink dot gain.
* Electrabrite or newsprint = 25% ink dot gain.
* Sheet press = 10% ink dot gain.

.....The total density for CMYK photos destined for the web press should not exceed 235%. If photos in your document print in black only, then they must be converted to greyscale, and not left as RGB images. Leaving a greyscale photo in RGB will result in unpredictable results on the press and the image will most likely print too dark. Photos printing in full color should be made CMYK to keep the color values consistent throughout the printing process. Leaving an image in RGB can result in a muddy appearance, overall dark image and/or shifted colors that don’t represent the color proofs. You should use the “North America Prepress 2” color setting throughout your Adobe Creative Suite. These settings include Adobe RGB (1998) for RGB images and U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) for CMYK images. The color conversion options will be set to Adobe (ACE) for the engine and Relative Colorimetric with Black Point Compensation for the intent.

Crop Marks

.....We recommend that you do not use crop marks for any web press publications. Our imposition software adds the correct marks for our press sheet based on the trim size of your publication. If you send a file with crop marks we either have to take them out manually in Acrobat Reader or cover them up after the film is run. In addition to that, if your job needs to be reduced/enlarged or contains bleeds, these marks become a hindrance which results in extra time spent in handling the files and additional costs to you. We do accept sheet-press publications with crop marks, but they are not necessary.

Auto Color (Built Black)

.....Auto color is primarily used in Microsoft Products such as Word, Excel and Power Point. The problem with using this color in any of your publications is that it builds black out of all four ink colors. (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.) This will either cause your text to be screened or unreadable due to registration problems. Therefore, please make sure to check the color palette in your document for auto color. If auto color is listed in your color palette, then it was most likely imported when a text file was placed from Microsoft Word or a similar software. The good news is that this can be easily fixed. Simply go to your color palette, edit the auto color to be “Process CMYK” and change the build to be 100% black only.