Mission Statement: To provide our clients with the highest quality materials and services to enhance their business,

products, and services through state of the art equipment, technology and education.

Table of Contents
Welcome ............................................................................................................... 2 Equipment.............................................................................................................. 3 Supported Software ............................................................................................ 3 Terminology ...................................................................................................... 5-7 Digital Files ............................................................................................................ 7 Creating and Sending PDFs ............................................................................... 8 Setting up Acrobat Distiller ......................................................................... 9-10 Using Acrobat Distiller .....................................................................................11 Creating PDFs in... Quark Xpress Mac .......................................................................................12 Quark Xpress PC .........................................................................................13 Adobe Pagemaker PC and Mac .................................................................14 Microsoft Word, Powerpoint & Excel - Mac .........................................15 Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel & Publisher - PC ....................16-17 File Transfer .........................................................................................................18 File Transfer - How to FTP ..............................................................................19 Helpful Links .......................................................................................................20 Digital Output Information Sheet ..................................................................21

Welcome and thank you for choosing The Print House as your quality printer. This Prepress Guide is intended to help you prepare your piece for our offset printing process. We have developed this guide to outline basic prepress and printing rules and offer suggestions for your choice of media and definitions of some basic printing terms. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff is always available to assist you with any questions you may have. Many of the issues we encounter at our production facility involve the differences between desktop printing (from a laser or other computer-driven printer) and offset printing. These differences can cause problems when the time comes to offset print from a file that you have already printed successfully from your desktop. The basic reason for these problems is that desktop printing involves a digital process that produces minute dots on a sheet of paper - usually a row at a time. Offset printing involves an analog process of merging ink with a plate, then transferring the plates image to a reverse (offset) image on a sheet of cylindrical rubber known as a blanket, and finally from the blanket to a sheet of paper. Also, while most color desktop printers can apply four basic colors simultaneously, offset presses require a separate image and plate for each ink color used. Because this is a complicated process, we offer the following tips and suggestions. As members of Print Image International, we attend several conferences during the course of the year to keep abreast of the new technologies and trends of our industry. We constantly strive to be at the forefront of the printing/copying industry and update our equipment on a continuing basis.

The following equipment and software lists are provided for you to use as needed in planning your job for optimum results. Hardware Computers Macintosh G4 and G5 - OS 10.4.10 PC - Windows XP and NT Scanners HP ScanJet 4C Scanner, AGFA Duoscan Presstek Scanmaster Printers HP LaserJet 5000N 1200 dpi Epson Stylus 9600 Color Printer HP Design Jet 5500 Digital Platemaker Presstek DPM 2340 Digital Platesetter Presstek Dimension 450XL

Single pass high quality full color scans Black & white output Color proofs Large format posters Ployester Plate output Metal Plate output

P Authorized Adobe Solutions Network Provider P P Authorized Microsoft Publisher 2002 Service Provider P P Quark Alliance Member P
Software Acrobat Adobe Illustrator Adobe PageMaker Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign Macromedia Freehand Microsoft Publisher Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Quark XPress
Version (Up to)

8.0 CS3 7 CS3 CS3 9.0 2003 2002 2002 7.2

File conversion Illustration, graphic design Page layout Image editing, scanning, graphic design Page layout Illustration, graphic design Page layout Word processing Spreadsheet, data transfer, mailing lists Page layout

Please call to confirm compatibility of any software you are using that is not listed.
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The following is a list of terms with general definitions that will help you follow this guide and work with The Print House when discussing your job. Bleed - any ink/image which prints to the edge of a page is said to bleed. The blue rectangle beneath this paragraph bleeds off the edge of this page. Bleeds are usually produced by printing on a sheet slightly larger than the finished size, then trimming the sheet to its final dimension. Gripper Margin - the unprinted blank edge of paper where the printing press grips the sheet as it passes through. gripper
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Halftone Screen - Photographs are reproduced on offset presses as a series of variable size dots. By varying the size of the dots, the illusion of a continuous tone photo is created. Before digital publishing, a special screen called a halftone screen was placed between a photograph and light source during the exposure process. Computer applications produce a simulated halftone screen.The interval and spacing of the dots is specified in lines per inch (lpi). Standard intervals are 85, 133, 150 and 175 lpi. enlarged halftone showing dot pattern

black & white halftone photo

(continued)
Trap - trapping is the process of overlapping color to avoid misregistration. A job may be printed using overprint, knockout, trap or any combination.

Knockout

Overprint

Trap

Pagination & Imposition - Documents of more than one page, whether they are bound or not, often must be printed with the pages arranged differently than one would expect. For example, an eight page pamphlet actually is printed with pages coupled 8+1, 2+7, 6+3 and 4+5 rather than in 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 order. When the pamphlet is back to back and folded, the pages will be in the correct order. This process is referred to as pagination or imposition.

Sample of a paginated 8-page newsletter

(continued)
Screen Tint - different tints of the same color can be produced by applying a percentage of screen tint to an image or to text. See above for an explanation of halftone screens. By utilizing screen tints, you can create the illusion of a multicolor job using only a single ink color.

10% 60%

20% 70%

30% 80%

40% 90%

50% 100%

Sample of one ink in different screen tints. Separations - output for multicolor jobs must be produced as separations, because each ink color used requires a separate plate for our offset presses. Separations for an offset printing of the U.S. Flag would look like this:

Separation for blue plate

Separation for red plate

Sample of final printed piece.

The prepress system at The Print House supports both Macintosh and PC files. We accept the following file formats: Acrobat Adobe Illustrator Adobe PageMaker Adobe Photoshop Macromedia Freehand Microsoft Publisher Microsoft Word* Microsoft Excel* Quark XPress 8.0 CS3 7.0 CS3 9.0 2003 2002 2002 7.2 File conversion Illustration, graphic design Page layout Image editing, scanning, graphic design Illustration, graphic design Page layout Word processing Spreadsheet, data transfer, mailing lists Page layout

* These programs do not support multicolor separation output. Please contact a Print Consultant to discuss your job. Fonts Fonts are not cross-platform nor are they common from one computer to another. All fonts (both printer and screen) must be supplied to us separately in order for your job to print as you expect. Photographs and Graphics Supplying us with any placed photographs and graphics allows us to enhance them as needed, and helps to ensure a high-quality finished product. Please use the following specifications for your digital artwork if possible: Photographs Line art TIF or EPS file format, CMYK or greyscale, 300 dpi resolution at proper size. TIF or EPS file format, Bitmap, 600 dpi resolution at proper size.

CREATING AND SENDING PDFs

Portable Document Format (PDF) is the standard for the secure and reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world, with a ten-year track record. PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics, and layout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. Adobe PDF files are compact and complete, and can be shared, viewed, and printed by anyone with free Adobe Reader software. Step I. In order to create Acrobat PDFs, you must first purchase and install the Adobe Acrobat full-version, available online at www.adobe.com/acrobat. Acrobat Reader is a free utility available to download. If you only have Acrobat Reader, you will be unable to edit PDFs, save changes to them, or create them. Step II. Start Acrobat Distiller. Set your job options as shown on page 9. Save these options as Prepress for later use. Step III. Create a Postscript file or a PDF file directly from your desktop publishing software. Please note: Although we support Illustrator, Freehand and Photoshop files, these programs should not be used to create final page layouts, and we therefore do not support PDF files created directly from these applications. Please supply us with the original files in these cases. Step IV. Either email (info@printhouse.com) or FTP (see page 19) your files to us. Step V. Call an Account Manager at 781-324-4455 to let them know you have a job on the way. Contacting us as soon as possible is essential in meeting your deadlines. No edits may be made to PDFs once they are created and sent to us. Therefore, if you have any doubts about the correctness of your file, the layout, or the proper color separation and trapping, please supply us with your original files, linked graphics, and fonts, in case we need to access those for repair.
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SETTING UP ACROBAT DISTILLER - PC & MAC

Before creating a PDF, you must first create a correct set of Job Options. These Job Options will help to ensure your file flows smoothly through our system, and that your final product prints as you expected. To begin, start Acrobat Distiller. From the Settings pull-down menu, select Job Options, as shown on the right.

Tab One

Tab Two

Tab Three

Tab Four

Continued on the next page...

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SETTING UP ACROBAT DISTILLER - PC & MAC

(continued)

The fifth and final tab on the Job Options dialog box is Advanced. At the bottom of this tab you will see Default Page Size. As long as you have checked Allow PostScript file to Override Job Options, you will not need to change this page size, it will update itself automatically.
Tab Five

Click on Save As.. after you have finished with the settings. Name these Job Options as Prepress, and click Save. You will always use the Prepress job options when creating PDFs forThe Print House.

You may now close out of Acrobat Distiller.

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USING ACROBAT DISTILLER

Acrobat Distiller is used to create PDF files from Postscript files. Some of the software listed does not require you to start Acrobat Distiller. When printing to the Acrobat PDFWriter, some drivers will automatically start up Distiller, create your PDF, and quit out of Distiller. If you have created a Postscript file (such as from Quark - see pages 12-13), you will need to start the Acrobat Distiller application.

When Distiller has started, be sure your Prepress job options is selected, as shown above. (See pages 9-10 - Setting Up Acrobat Distiller.) Go to File -> Open and select your postscript file. Next, select the destination for your PDF file. and click Save. Distiller will now create a PDF on your harddrive. NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending it to us to be sure your PDF looks as you expected.

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POSTSCRIPT FROM QUARK XPRESS - MAC

For a quick, easy way to create a postscript file from Quark Xpress, click here to download the Creo Prepress Xtension, or go to http://www.printhouse.com/creo.sit Once youve downloaded the .sit, unstuff it and it will create a Creo Installer icon. Double click on the installer icon. (Be sure Quark is not running.) You will now have a folder called Creo PXT. Open the folder and drag the file called Creo PXT 3.2 into your Xtensions folder inside your Quark Xpress folder. Re-launch Quark Xpress and open your completed artwork file. Go to the Utilities pull-down menu and select Export to Prepress 3.2... as shown on the right.

Adjust your settings as shown on the left. You also have the option to export EPS files, but for multi-page documents, postscript is the most manageable. Click on Save, and save your postscript files. Now youre ready to launch Acrobat Distiller and create your PDF. See Using Acrobat Distiller on page 11.

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POSTSCRIPT FROM QUARK XPRESS - PC

For a quick, easy way to create a postscript file from Quark Xpress, click here to download the Creo Prepress Xtension, or go to http://www.printhouse.com/creo.exe Once youve downloaded the .exe, double click on it and it will create the Xtension for Quark. (Be sure Quark is not running.) You will now have a file called Creo PXT. Drag the file called Creo PXT 3.2 into your Xtensions folder inside your Quark Xpress folder. Re-launch Quark Xpress and open your completed artwork file. Go to the Utilities pull-down menu and select Export to Prepress 3.2... as shown at right.

Adjust your settings as shown here. You also have the option to export EPS files, but for multi-page documents, postscript is the most manageable. You will need to SET FONT PATHS the first time you run this Xtension. This means you must locate your fonts directory(ies) on your hard drive. Without this, Quark will be unable to find your fonts. Once you have set your font locations, click on Save and save your postscript file to your harddrive. Now youre ready to launch Acrobat Distiller and create your PDF. See Using Acrobat Distiller on page 11.
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PDFs FROM ADOBE PAGEMAKER - PC & MAC

Because Pagemaker is an Adobe product, it has the ability to generate a PDF directly from the program itself. For this example we are using Pagemaker 7.0. Previous versions of Pagemaker will slightly differ. Once you have completed your artwork and saved it, go to File -> Export -> Adobe PDF pull-down menu, as shown on the right. Set your options in the PDF Options dialog box as shown below. In this example, PDF Style became blank once we selected Prepress for the Job Name. The Job Name in this instance refers to the type of Distiller Options you are going to use to create your PDF. If you have not already set up your Prepress options in Distiller, please refer to pages 9-10. You must complete this step before proceeding. Once you have set your options as shown on the left, click export and choose the destination for your PDF.
NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending, to be sure your PDF looks as you expected.
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PDFs FROM ADOBE INDESIGN - PC & MAC

Because InDesign is an Adobe product, it has the ability to generate a PDF directly from the program itself. For this example we are using InDesign CS2. Once you have completed your artwork and saved it, go to File -> Adobe PDF Presets ->Printhouse, as shown on the right.

The Job Name in this instance refers to the type of Distiller Options you are going to use to create your PDF. If you have not already set up your Prepress options in Distiller, please refer to pages 9-10. You must complete this step before proceeding. Once you have set your options as shown on the left, click export and choose the destination for your PDF.
NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending, to be sure your PDF looks as you expected.
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PDFs FROM MICROSOFT WORD, POWERPOINT AND EXCEL - MAC

Microsoft Word and Powerpoint are best used for simple forms or documents without graphics. They are not meant to be used for high-end print documents. We accept these files or PDFs from these files solely for black and white jobs, color copy jobs, or posters. Word and Powerpoint are unable to create spot color files. We offer desktop publishing and design services if you are unable to create the correct type of file that would best work for your job. To create a PDF from your Word or Powerpoint file on a Macintosh, go to your Chooser and select the Acrobat PDFWriter. If it is not in your Chooser, you will need to re-install the Acrobat software.

After you have selected the PDFWriter in the chooser, open your completed document. Go to Print and the dialog box below will come up. Set your settings as shown below in the corresponding figures. Print your PDF to your hard drive.

Figure 1 - Microsoft Word, Mac

Figure 2 - Microsoft Powerpoint, Mac

NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending it to us to be sure your PDF looks as you expected.
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PDFs FROM MICROSOFT WORD, POWERPOINT EXCEL AND PUBLISHER - PC

Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint are best used for simple forms or documents without graphics. They are not meant to be used for high-end print documents. We accept these files or PDFs from these files solely for black and white jobs, color copy jobs, or posters. Word, Powerpoint and Excel are unable to create spot color files. Microsoft Publisher was created for at-home desktop publishing. Publisher is unable to create spot color PDF files. We offer desktop publishing and design services if you are unable to create the correct type of file that would best work for your job. To create a PDF from these programs on a PC, first open your completed file. Go to File -> Print and select PDFWriter from your Printer list, as shown to the right. The Print dialog boxes for each program may vary slightly. The Properties button, however, is common within every Print dialog box. After you have selected the PDFWriter, click on the Properties button.

See the next page for specifics on how to set up the correct Properties.
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PDF FROM MICROSOFT WORD, POWERPOINT EXCEL AND PUBLISHER - PC

(continued)

The first tab shown is the Page Setup tab. Enter in the correct page size and orientation (tall or wide) for your job. Set the resolution to 600 dpi. NOTE: If your document size is too large, the dialog box will prompt you to change the size to fit within its parameters. If this is the case with your file, set your file size to 50% of what it is now, and set your Scaling option to 50%. For example, a 50x30 inch poster may have to be printed at 25x15, at 50% scaling. Next, click on the Compression Options tab and choose the settings as shown below-left. Then click on Font Embedding and choose the settings as shown belowright. Remove as many fonts from the Never Embed list as possible. Fonts shown in red are unable to be embedded. Click OK to save these properties, and click OK again to print your PDF to your harddrive.

NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending it to us to be sure your PDF looks as you expected.
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We are able to receive both PC and Mac files on disk, via email or through FTP. Here is a list of acceptable methods and the limitations of each: 3.5 in. floppy disk Iomega ZIP disk CD DVD Email FTP (Fetch) 1.44 MB per disk 100 MB per disk 700 MB per disk 4 GB per disk Use Zip or Stuffit to compress files before transfer. Use Zip or Stuffit to compress files before transfer. Customer password required to upload files, please call a Print Consultant to assist you - 781-324-4455.

When sending any file that you have created, please include or fax us a hard copy proof of the job. To ensure correct output, please download, fill out, and fax us the Digital File Checklist. (See page 21.)

Please call a Print House Print Consultant to receive a User ID and password.

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(How to FTP: PC or Mac)

Instructions: Start your FTP program. A Properties window will come up. Fill in the dialog box as shown. For Host Name enter ftp.printhouse.com. Enter your user ID and password and click OK. If you do not have a user ID, please contact an Account Manager at 781-324-4455.

Each FTP program slightly varies in the way files are transferred and/or downloaded. The most common method is drag-and-drop. Simply locate the stuffed or zipped files on your harddrive, and drag them into the appropriate folder shown in your FTP window. Alternate Method: Launch your web browser, and type ftp.printhouse.com in the URL field. Or you can click on this link. Type in your user ID and password and click OK. Open the proper directory/window for your company, and drag and drop your file(s) into it. If you have any questions on how to FTP, please contact us at 781-324-4455.

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A variety of sources of information about offset printing and prepress guidelines are available. Among the best sources are the manuals and online documentation included with computer applications. Adobe Systems Incorporated bundled its excellent Print Publishing Guide with the manuals for Illustrator, Photoshop, PageMaker and InDesign. The world wide web also provides hundreds of pages of information about printing and graphic arts. You can also call The Print House with any questions you may have about preparing a job for our quality printing services. Adobe Systems Incorporated www.adobe.com Graphic Arts Information Network http://www.gain.net/ Desktop Publishing http://www.desktoppublishing.com/open.html

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Company Contact Name Phone Fax

Job # Date Email

Platform: o Macintosh

o PC

File Information: o File(s) to output:

_________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ o Do any images bleed to the edge? o File to be output at 100% size? File size _____ x ______

Transfer Method: o 3.5 Floppy o CD/DVD o Zip 100 o Other ________________________________ o Email o FTP Software Used: o Quark XPress o o Publisher o o InDesign o o Freehand o o Saved as postscript

PageMaker Illustrator MS Word InDesign

File set up as: o Process color (CMYK) o Spot color(s)

List any spot color(s) used: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________

o Saved as PDF

Fonts Used: o All screen and printer fonts provided on disk

List fonts used: _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________

Please Provide the Following: o Color separated laser proofs

at 100% size, final version o Composite laser proofs at 100% size, final version

Graphic Images: o All EPS and/or TIF files included on disk o Scanning needed, from: o photo originals o 35mm slide o photo negative Special Instructions:

Proof Type: o Black & White Lasers (faxed) o Black & White Lasers (delivered) o Color Lasers o Blueline o MatchPrint

Please print out this form, fill in your information, and fax to us at 781-324-2777 with each job.