Electronic Prepress Information
Printing Services offers a variety of electronic pre-press services which include scanning, image assembly, printing film, and color separations. Our services are designed to help all levels of designers using various kinds of software to produce projects ranging in complexity from one-color postcards to full-color brochures. For more information on any of the services listed below, please contact Printing Services at 472-2146 to speak with a customer service representative.
- Film--3 color
- Stripping--3 color film stripping
- CTP--4 color
- Content Management and Output--file manipulation, digital typesetting
- Large format printing--banners, posters, and other poducts
- Archiving
- Scanning--halftones or full color
Software Available
UNL Printing Services supports both the Macintosh and PC platforms. However, software prices prevent us from directly supporting all possible software packages. If the application you use most frequently does not appear on this list, you may be able to create either a postscript file or export your work to a format which we can use. Call for advise: 472-4639.
| Mac | PC |
|---|---|
|
PageMaker 6.5 PageMaker 7 Photoshop 5.2, cs Adobe Acrobat Freehand 8 Freehand 10 Quark Express 4.0, 5.0 In Design 2.0, cs, 6.0 Illustrator 9.0, cs *Microsoft Word *Excel *Power Point 2000 |
PageMaker 6.5, 7 Photoshop 7, cs Adobe Acrobat Freehand 8 In Design cs Illustrator cs *Microsoft Word *Excel *Power Point 2000 *Publisher 2000 *Word Perfect 8 |
*These applications are not adaquate for high-end printing purposes; therefore, Printing Services discourages customers from using them, unless the job is to be run on one of the devices located in Copy Services.
There is a wide variety of software packages that are available for purchase. When considering which software to use, it is important to remember that there is a difference between page layout and word processing programs.
Many word processing programs used frequently in offices today claim to have page layout capabilities. There are numerous problems with using programs like Microsoft Word and WordPerfect in this manner, the most important of which is their inability to separate color. If you are planning to print your publication in black ink, one spot color, or run it on one of our networked photocopiers in Copy Services, a word processing program may suffice.
A good page layout program like In Design, however, is highly recommended if you plan to do offset printing which involves more than one color of ink. In Design is available through the university computer shop at an educationally discounted price. The expense of the program will be offset by the savings received when costly manual work arounds and other resource- and money-consuming inefficiencies are eliminated during the printing process.
Submitting Files For Printing
Here are some things to remember before submitting your printing project:
File Formats: If the design of your publication incorporates art into your page layout try to use the TIFF and EPS formats only. The TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format is recommended for photos or scanned lineart and the EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) format for all vector art. These are two of the most high-end formats and will produce the most reliable, clean output. File formats such as PICT (Macintosh Picture), WMF (Windows Metafile), and WPG (WordPerfect Graphics) are generally problematic and you are encouraged to avoid using those types of formats especially with multi-color graphics.
Hard Copy: Hard copy must be supplied with your job and should be printed at 100% if possible. Without hard copy, we cannot troubleshoot your publication effectively. If your publication involves more than one color, it is important to submit a color sample.
Fonts and Text: Be sure to send all fonts used in your publication as well as the fonts used in your art files. Postscript fonts are composed of two elements; screen fonts and printer fonts. If you are using postscript fonts, send both the printer fonts and screen fonts (including fonts used in art files).
Art Files: Include all linked art files (i.e. TIFF or EPS). Use high resolution images - at least 300dpi or use images at 100% of size.
Spot & CMYK Colors: Color can add flare to your publication, but is important to know the different color options that are available. Spot color is a single ink color derived from the Pantone matching system. This widely utilized system provides specific color swatches for designers to choose from and specific instructions for printers to reproduce the chosen color. Process color is the combination of four standard colors; cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (cmyk). Process color is used when printing color photographs because it can produce a wide range of colors using only four inks. Ultimately designers can incorporate one or more spot colors, process color, or a combination of the two. It is best to keep this color choice in mind when creating your page layout and art files.
Bleeds: All elements that extend to the final trim edge needs bleed extended to at least .125".
Click here for information on sending electronic files to UNL Printing and Copy Services
