Support

Ad Submission Guidelines

Table of Contents

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Electronic Ad Submission Guidelines
  • Dimensions
  • Bleeds
  • Accepted File Formats
  • Media Accepted
  • Color
  • Black and White Ads
  • Images
  • Fonts
  • Compression
  • Ad Preparation Services
  • Special Positions
  • Reprint Service
  • A Quick Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

Ad Submission Guidelines

Dimensions

Full page trim size: 8-1/8" x 10-3/4"
See ad sizes on rate card

Bleeds

No extra charge on full pages. Trim size 8-1/8" x 10-3/4". Keep live matter 1/4" from edges. Be certain to include 1/8" bleed imagery. Total image area should be 8-3/8" x 11". There is no need to add registration marks manually. The automatic crop mark feature in the page layout software is sufficient.

Accepted File Formats (In order of preference)

1. PDF: CMYK, press quality, with all fonts embedded. Acceptable PDF's must be created from the following programs: Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator. The quality of PDFs created with any other program cannot be guaranteed.

   If you are building your file in InDesign or Quark, you can use our InDesign export.joboptions or Quark export.joboptions to create your output file. Simply download the appropriate file to your computer, load it into your PDF Export options, then use it to create your print ready PDF. This will eliminate the need to copy links and fonts to us. After you create you print ready PDF, please look it over to make sure it looks the way you want it to. If you have any troubles creating a print ready PDF file, or need help transferring your raw files, feel free to call our prepress department at 1-800-773-7798. You're also welcome to read our Electronic File Submission Guide

2. EPS file with all fonts converted to outlines from Adobe Illustrator or Freehand. We cannot accept native Freehand documents.
3. Native files from the following software: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop.
4. Adobe Photoshop native files, .tiff, and .jpg files are acceptable however the quality of text and line art won't be as crisp as files provided in the formats above.

Media Accepted

• Large high-resolution (over 5 MB) files can be sent electronically to our FTU site: EZ File Transfer; USER NAME: user; PASSWORD: user. Smaller files (under 5 MB) may be sent as an E-mail attachment.
• If you submit your file electronically, please send a laser or higher quality proof as well. We want to ensure that our copy looks like your copy!
• CD or DVD accompanied by a hard copy proof.
• Please do not send negatives.

Color

• Images must be in CMYK or Grayscale.
• DO NOT use RGB colors.
• Color saturation should be limited to 360% or less coverage.
• Please avoid use of 4-color black for fine lines and copy.
• For black areas thicker than .25" to .5" a "packed-black" is suggested for better appearance. We recommend a breakdown of 50C, 40M, 40Y, 100K.

Black-and-White Ads

All black-and-white ads must be set up to output as one-color art. No color specifications should be applied to any type or art elements of a black-and-white ad. This will prevent any unanticipated screen tints from appearing in the final output.

Images

• Digital photography and scanned images must be 300 dpi (at scale).
• Line art should be scanned at 600 dpi or higher.
• When creating lines in your images, do not use the "hairline" line thickness (for best results use .5 thickness or higher).

Fonts

• Embed all fonts when submitting PDFs
• Post Script fonts are preferred.
• Avoid the use of True Type fonts.
• At submission, remember to include all screen and printer fonts.
• When practical, please convert all text to outlines.

Compression

If submitting files to us that are compressed, please send us a single archive file using either Stuff-It or Zip.

Ad Preparation Services

If the production department considers a digital ad to be incorrectly set up by the advertiser, the advertiser may correct and resubmit the ad or the advertiser may request the production department to alter the ad to meet specifications at an additional charge to be quoted. Please call the advertising director or assistant if you have any questions regarding your file setup.

Special Positions

Every effort will be made to comply with advertiser requests but special positions cannot be guaranteed. Contact the adverstising director about possible premium placement rates.

Reprint Service

For more information please contact:

A Quick Checklist

• Is a proof provided at 100% scale (tiled, if necessary)?
• Are the dimensions correct?
• Are PDF files saved as "Press Quality"?
• Are all fonts included and/or embedded? (Screen and printer)
• Are all linked graphics included?
• Are 4-color (process) ads specified in CMYK color space?
• Are black and white ads set up as 1-color art?

Please email our prepress department with any questions.