Technical requirements to electronic files

Orders in electronic format should be accompanied by a hardcopy of an order (mock-up)on a scale 1:1 (should the mock-up be scaled down, the reduction scale must be specified). If additional spot colours are used(non CMYK colours), a composite (CMYK) printout and a spot colour separation printout must be submitted. Important! A mock-up is not sufficient for the order to be sent to press. As an "OK proof" we accept a composite proof we always create in-house or a digital colour-proof.
An OK proof" needs to be signed by an authorized representative of the customer for the order to be sent to press.

Colour proof

Colour proofs presented by customers are to conform to ISO12647-2 (in respect to requirements for colour proofs).
Submitted colour proofs are to contain the printing control scale to be used in a printing house and a scale for colour proof control.

Supported Applications

Page Layout design programs:

Adobe InDesign

Illustration programs:

Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop

General requirements

File naming rules

When naming files you should only use Latin letters (letters from A to Z) and numbers from 0 to 9.
Special symbols that are forbidden in OC Windows may not be used.
File names should contain extensions (i.e. types of the files).
Files of the same job may not have identical names (even if the files are located in different catalogues).

Format(geometrical size) of a document

Layout design programs

Document format (the width and height measurements in Document Setup dialogue box) must be in strict compliance with the trimmed page size. With the exception of situations specifically agreed upon with our technologist, the page size before trimming should include a 5 mm bleed (i.e. margins before cutting) on all sides.

Illustration programs

For raster files (TIF or ESP) document format must be in strict compliance with the page size before trimming and include a 5 mm bleed on all sides.
For vector ESP files document format must be in strict compliance with the trimmed page size. With the exception of situations specifically agreed upon with our technologist, the page size before trimming should include a 5 mm bleed (i.e. margins before cutting) on all sides.

Fonts/Types

All fonts are to be submitted in the following formats:

PostScript Type 1

Mac OS Classic/Mac OS X: Font Suitcase + PostScript Fonts;

TrueType

Mac OS Classic/Mac OS X: Font Suitcase (each font family should be represented by a separate Suitcase).

OpenType

Mac OS X*.otf (OpenType Font) (each font family should be represented by a separate Suitcase).

General remarks on fonts/types

Layout with system fonts (i.e. fonts that are installed in the system in the process of Windows or Macos setup) should be avoided.
Please delete all unused fonts.
When submitting fonts please enclose all font-families (Plain, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic) used for the job.
Please make sure you use fonts of well known suppliers that have been proven to result in quality print impressions.
We strongly recommend not using TrueType fonts.

Colours

All the layout elements, raster and vector images should be submitted in CMYK, Grayscale or Pantone colour models (depending on the colourfulness of an artwork).
The colours intended for triad printing (CMYK) should have Process Separation attribute.
Only colours intended for colour separation output should have the Spot Attribute.
Spot colour names must correspond to standard colours from Pantone library.
When importing illustrations including Pantone colours in the layout program please pay attention to the suffixes (CV, CVC, CVU) in the names of colours, - they have to be identical.
You should not change the parameters (name and colour separation parameters) of a colour in the layout program if this colour is used in an imported illustration. Parameters are to be changed in an illustration program.
For achieving deep black we recommend you use the following colour ratio: 50% Cyan, 30% Magenta, 30% Yellow, 100% Black.

Colour separation Setting

For correct colour separating and making digital colour proofs please use the following printing profiles:

For coated paper: CP_ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc

"Length" of black: 9
"Width" of black: 10
Total superimposition of colours : 330%
Maximum black generation: 95%

For uncoated paper : CP_ISOuncoated.icc

"Length" of black: 9
"Thickness" of black: 5
Total superimposition of colours : 320%
Maximum black generation: 100%

Average Dot Gain

50% – 18%
40% – 16%
80% – 12%

If you intend to print your order on nonstandard materials (cardboard, "design" paper) please consult our prepress department by phone.

Requirements for supported applications

InDesign Files

When supplying files in InDesign, be sure to include all imposed illustrations (please see «Illustration materials») and all fonts used (please see «Fonts/Types»).
In the dialogue box Colours you should only leave the colours used in the job (please see «Colours»).
When using nonstandard Trapping parameters for your artwork, please be sure you advise our specialists.
When using nonstandard extensions please advise us of this in advance and make sure you submit these extensions to us along with your layout file.
If you use various effects in your file (such as transparencies, shadows etc) that require so called flattening, subsequent application of automatic trapping and colour management becomes impossible.
To avoid incorrect rasterisation of vector elements in the course of flattening please place these elements on a separate (upper) layer.

Illustration materials

Raster images

Raster images compression

We accept two types of raster images compression:

LZW – for TIFF format files.
JPEG (maximum quality) – for EPS format files.

Raster (halftone) CMYK or Grayscale images:

CMYK or Grayscal images are to be submitted in the following formats:

TIFF.
Photoshop ESP (without saving Transfer Function and Halftone Screen).

The resolution needs to be proportionate to screen frequency (coefficient 1.5-2.0). Consequently, a 100% image must have a resolution of 225-400 dpi for screen frequency 150-200 lpi.
A file should not contain any extra paths (except for clipping paths) and channels.
ICC workspace profile is to be embedded in a file.
Saving CMYK or Grayscale images in DCS format is not permissible.
Flatness parameter for clipping paths is to be equal to 1.

Bitmap Images

All bitmap images should be submitted in TIFF format.
Resolution of bitmat images has to be 600-1200 dpi.
A file should not contain any extra paths (except for clipping paths) and channels.
Flatness parameter for clipping paths is to be equal to 1.

Raster images containing Spot colours:

Raster images include Monotone, Duotone, Tritone, Quadtone images as well as images with additional channels containing information about additional spot colours.

Monotone, Duotone etc. images should be saved in Photoshop (*.EPS) with the following parameters:

Preview: 8 bits/pixels.
Encoding: Binary.
Without saving Transfer Function and Halftone Screen.

Images containing additional channels have to be converted to Maltichannel mode prior to saving and afterwords saved as Photoshop DCS 2.0 (*.EPS) with the following parameters:

Preview: 8 bits/pixels.
DCS: Single File whith Color Composite preview.
Encoding: Binary.
Without saving Transfer Function and Halftone Screen.

Spot-colour names should correspond to standard colours from Pantone library (please see «Colours»).
Resolution needs to be proportionate to screen frequency (coefficient 1.5-2.0) Consequently a 100% image should have the resolution of 225-400 dpi for screen frequency 150-200 lpi.
A file should not contain any extra paths (except for clipping paths) and channels.
Flatness parameter for clipping paths is to be equal to 1.

Vector images

All vector images should be created in Adobe Illustrator program (up to and including version 12) and submitted in Illustrator EPS format.
If you use various effects in your file (such as transparencies, shadows etc) that require so called flattening, subsequent application to a file of automatic trapping and colour management becomes impossible.
Please monitor the thickness of lines (adjusted for scaling illustrations in the layout program). There is a possibility that a line visible on the monitor screen has a zero ink outline. The thickness of a monochrome line cannot be less than 0.1 pt. To allow for alignment of multi-colour lines during printing the line thickness must not be more than 0.5 pt.
EPS-files saved or exported from other applications must be resaved in Adobe Illustrator.
When submitting files in Adobe Illustrator, be sure to include all imposed illustrations with a status Linked Images and all fonts used (please see «Fonts/Types»).
When converting fonts into curves please pay attention to non-printable elements that can often remain in text format.
Please delete all unused colours from the Swatches palette (please see «Colours»).

Requirements for PostScript formatted files

A layout file (or an illustration program file) from which a Post Script file is generated must meet the technical requirements for electronic mock-ups. Most mistakes made in a layout program (or an illustration program) will be transferred to a PostScript file (and afterwards to a PDF-file).
PostScript files should always be generated with an Adobe PDF or Adobe Acrobat Distiller printer driver with the "Print to file" option. This driver generates the best PostScript files.
All fonts are to be embedded in a PS file.
Format (geometrical size) of a document must be bigger than the trimmed page size by 5 mm on all sides (i.e. margins before cutting), e.g. when creating a PostScript file, you should activate the "Bleed" option (symmetrical for all sides).
Please supply only one-page (not two-page) files without cross and crop marks and other control marks.
Please bear in mind that colour management and trapping functions can only be applied to composite files. Colour management and trapping functions cannot be applied to preseparated files.

Please consult our prepress department by phone prior to creating materials in PostScript format.

Requirements for PDF formatted files

A layout file (or an illustration program file) from which a PDF file is generated must meet the technical requirements for electronic mock-ups. Most mistakes made in a layout program (or an illustration program) will be transferred to a PDF-file.
PDF Version 1.3.
Acceptable image compression methods:

ZIP, JPEG (maximum quality) - for halftone images.
CCIT Group 4 - for 1-bit images.

All fonts must be embedded in a PFD file.
Please supply only one-page (not two-page) files without trim crosses and other control marks.
Document format (geometrical size) – Media Box must be bigger than the trimmed size (Trim Box) by 5 mm on all sides (i.e. margins before cutting), e.g. when creating a PDF file you should activate the "Bleed" option (symmetrical for all sides).
Please bear in mind that colour management and trapping functions can only be applied to composite files. Colour management and trapping functions cannot be applied to preseparated files.

Please consult our prepress department by phone prior to creating a PDF file.