FILE SUBMISSION MESSENGER POST MEDIA

GUIDELINES
Commercial Printing
73 Buffalo St. • Canandaigua, NY 14424
585.394.0770 • FAX 585.394.8786

Preparing digital files for printing is a complex process. It is far different than printing a file from your personal computer. Unless files are
properly prepared, the results are unpredictable. This comprehensive guide will help you properly submit files to Adnet Printing. When
documents are submitted correctly, it saves you time and money! Please read over the general requirements and then refer to the check-
list for the specific layout program that you are using. If you are using Microsoft Publisher, please contact us for guidelines.

SETTING UP YOUR FILE

We use two different presses to print documents. All publications require particular measurements, so please follow the guidelines below
to ensure that your publication will be printed correctly. If you don’t know which press will be used or do not see the document size you
wish to print listed, please contact your sales representative. If you are preparing a brochure, please contact the Creative Design Team
so we can give you the correct sizes for each panel. SHEETFED publications generally require a margin of .375 inches on all sides. Please
note that with WEB printing, images generally print darker so it is important to adjust them accordingly. (An image or screen with dot
gain of 30% becomes an image with dot gain of 60%.)

If your document is a... Press Document Size is (in inches): Margins are (in inches): Bleeds must be (in inches):
34” Full Tab WEB 11.375 x 17 5/8 (.625) on all sides cannot bleed
29” Tab WEB 11.375 x 14.5 5/8 (.625) on all sides cannot bleed
26” Tab WEB 11.375 x 13 5/8 (.625) on all sides cannot bleed
24” Tab (folds to legal size) WEB 11.375 x 12 5/8 (.625) on all sides cannot bleed
Half Tab WEB 8.125 x 10.625 .5 on all sides bleed must extend .5
Half Tab Glossy Cover SHEETFED 8.125 x 10.625 .375 on all sides bleed must extend .25
Letter Size SHEETFED 8.5 x 11 .375 on all sides bleed must extend .25
Small Magazine Size WEB 7 x 10 .5 on all sides bleed must extend .5
Digest Size WEB 6 x 10 .5 on all sides bleed must extend .5
Large Postcard SHEETFED 8.5 x 5.5 .375 on all sides bleed must extend .25
Small Postcard SHEETFED 6x4 .375 on all sides bleed must extend .25
Extra Large Postcard SHEETFED 11 x 6 .375 on all sides bleed must extend .25

SOFTWARE ACCEPTED
MACINTOSH: QuarkXPress up to 7.3.1, PageMaker up to 7.0, InDesign up to CS4, Photoshop up to CS4, Illustrator up to CS4, Acrobat
up to 9, Multi-Ad Creator up to 7.0, Microsoft Word up to 8.0 is acceptable for text files ONLY

WINDOWS: QuarkXPress up to 5.0, PageMaker up to 7.0, InDesign up to 2.0, Microsoft Publisher up to 2003, Corel Draw up to 9.0,
Microsoft Office 98 is acceptable for text files ONLY

ARTWORK/PHOTO REQUIREMENTS
Artwork requirements apply to any clip art, photograph, or other graphic element (except for lines or shapes created within your layout
program) which appears in your document. These requirements are the same for all artwork/photos regardless of the layout program
you use.
 We are happy to scan items for you. Please see the section titled
“Submitting Materials for Designers to Work With” for require-
ments.
 Make sure that your image is high resolution.
 Grayscale images must be 170 dpi – 300 dpi
 Color images must be 170 dpi – 300 dpi
 Bitmap or line art images must be at least 600 dpi
 Make sure that all color images are CMYK (not RGB). You
can check images in Photoshop to confirm the color mode
(Image>Mode>).
 Make sure that all black and white images are Grayscale (not RGB
or Index).You can check images in Photoshop to confirm the col-
or mode (Image>Mode>).
 Do NOT use graphic elements downloaded from the internet.
Unless you are downloading from a professional stock picture site,
internet images are saved at 72 dpi.They look fine on your screen,
but when they are printed they will be severely distorted.
 Save graphic elements as TIFF, EPS, or PSD files. TIFFs should be
saved with no LZW compression. EPS files should be saved with
Mac preview, Binary encoding, and no compression. If you are us-
ing InDesign, Photoshop files may be saved as PSD to preserve
transparencies.
 Please remember that Photoshop, Illustrator and Freehand are
meant for graphics, not page layout. Place all graphics into a layout
program like InDesign, PageMaker, or Quark. Be sure to include
these files separately on your disk.
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FONT REQUIREMENTS
While we have a large number of fonts, we don’t necessarily have the exact ones you have used to create your document. Please
collect all of the fonts you have used and place them on the disk.
 Do not “stylize” your fonts using your layout program. Many, but  We prefer that you use Type 1 fonts in creating your file. These
not all, fonts come with more than one typeface (bold, italic, etc.) fonts include a screen and printing font, which means that they
For example if you want a headline to be a bold version of Times, have fewer possible errors when we are printing your document.
do not make the font Times and then bold it using a button or
menu in your program. Instead, use the Times Bold typeface. Fonts  Some programs, including Illustrator and InDesign, allow you to
that are styled within your program do not print well. turn your text into outlines (Create Outlines). If you know that no
changes will need to be made to your text, please turn your text
 No matter what kind of file you are submitting, always supply all to outlines. This will eliminate many potential font problems.
versions of the fonts used in the document. If you are concerned
that you might miss one, you can copy your entire font folder to
your disk.

USING COLOR
It is very important to use color correctly when creating your document to avoid numerous problems during printing.
 If you are planning to use a "spot color" in your document (black
plus one of our standard ink colors), you must designate items
that you wish to appear in color using 100% cyan. During print-
ing, we will replace the cyan with the ink color you have chosen.
By using cyan instead of a CMYK color, you are creating just two
separations instead of four.This is more cost effective for you and
easier to work with in the printing process.
 If you are producing a four-color or process document, please do
not use RGB color palettes or mode in your design program. In-
stead be sure to choose colors that are mixed using CMYK. In addi-
tion, make sure to designate these colors as process, not spot.
 In Quark, InDesign, and PageMaker there is a color placed auto-
matically in the color palette called “Registration.” Even though
this color appears to be black, you should never use it in place
of black. Something designated “Registration” will print on every
color separation.

SUBMITTING MATERIALS FOR DESIGNERS TO WORK WITH

We are happy to design your printed materials for you. To save you money, we suggest your prepare your materials as follows:

If you have access to a computer, type your own text and submit it on a disk.
 If you are using Microsoft Word for Mac or Windows, save the file normally with the .doc extension on the end of the file name.
Do NOT embed graphics into your document. The graphics cannot be extracted and used for printing if they are embedded in your
Microsoft Word document.You can include the graphics separately on the disk.
 If you are using another word processing program, save the file as a plain text file with the .txt extension.

Photographs or artwork:
 You can scan these yourself, using the guidelines under Artwork/Photo Requirements.
 You can submit these for scanning by the designers (we recommend this option).
 Artwork should be the largest possible version and preferably the original art, not a photocopy. DO NOT write or draw on top
of the artwork you are submitting. If you want us to make changes or additions, please indicate that with post-it notes or on a
separate sheet of paper. We cannot eliminate pen/pencil marks on top of art!
 Photographs should be the original negative, slide, or photograph. DO NOT print out digital photos on your inkjet or laser printer.
These are of unacceptable quality for scanning and printing. (Digital photos should be put on a disk or E-mailed at the highest
resolution possible.) DO NOT write or draw on top of a photo to indicate cropping. If you have particular cropping in mind,
please indicate that in writing on a separate sheet of paper, or use a post-it note if you must (be aware that post-its can damage
the photo and make it unusable for scanning!). At the time of your proof, you will have an opportunity to see the way the photo
has been cropped and make changes. We suggest addressing cropping concerns at that time.
 If you wish to have your artwork/photographs returned, please indicate this to your sales rep.

QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to contact us with any questions as you prepare your materials or digital files.
Creative Design Team
585.394.0770 x514
FAX 585.394.8786
E-MAIL design@messengerpostmedia.com
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Microsoft publisher
Versions Accepted: Microsoft Publisher up to 2003

Before you put your file on a disk

 Spell check and edit the text of your document.
 Make sure that none of your text boxes has text overflow (text contained in the text box that is not showing, indicated by an “A...”
at the bottom of a text box).
 Make sure you did not use the pre-formatted bullets (This uses a font called Symbol that causes printing errors.)
 Delete any stray, unused text or graphic boxes.
 Make sure document is the correct size and has proper margins.
 Delete any elements on your pasteboard that are unused.
 Make sure that bleeds extend the appropriate amount past the edges of your page.
 Make sure all color artwork/photos are CMYK.
 Make sure all black and white artwork/photos are Grayscale.
 Make sure that all the artwork/photos are linked properly to the document. No artwork/photos should be embedded in the docu-
ment. You can check the status of each graphic element under Graphics Manager... (see below for more about Graphics Manager)
 Print out a paper copy of your document. Color pages should be printed in color. These will help us to ensure that your document
matches the final printed product.

GRAPHICS MANAGER & LINKING IMAGES

It is very important to make sure that your artwork/photos are not embedded in your document. Each piece of artwork must be
properly linked to ensure that it prints at the highest possible quality. If artwork is embedded it can lead to poor quality printing and
even missing artwork. Follow these steps to ensure that your artwork is correctly linked.

HOW TO INSERT PROPERLY LINKED IMAGES

STEP 2
STEP 1

STEP 1: Go to Insert>Picture>From File...

STEP 2: Locate the image you wish to insert. Highlight the name of the image by clicking on it once with your mouse. Then click on the small down arrow
next to “Insert” and drag the mouse down to “Link to File” The image will then be placed into your document and linked properly to your file.

USING GRAPHICS MANAGER

Graphics Manager is a great tool for checking to make sure that all of your artwork/photos have been properly linked to your docu-
ment. Graphics Manager will list all of the artwork in your document and tell you the status of each image (linked, embedded, missing,
or modified). As already discussed, you want each image to be linked. This section will tell you how to fix artwork listed as embedded,
missing, or modified.
• Go to Tools>Graphics Manager. The Graphics Manager box will appear on the left hand side of your screen. The list of all of the
images in your document will appear. Underneath each name will be the status of that image. Clicking on the down arrow to the
right of the name will give you a menu with the options available for that piece of artwork.

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Embedded Images
If you have a lot of embedded images or want to ensure that your images print at the highest quality, it’s really ideal to re-insert them into the docu-
ment properly. However, we understand that sometimes this is not possible for a variety of reasons. It’s important to note that the solution below
does not guarantee that an embedded image will print at the highest possible quality.

Step 1: Click on the down arrow to the right of the image name and
choose, “Save as Linked picture...”
Step 2: A dialog box will appear. Choose the folder where you want to
save the image. Choose Resolution: Commercial Printing (300dpi). (You
can change this setting by clicking on the “Change...” button if necessary.)
Then, choose a file name for your artwork. Finally, choose “JPEG File
Interchange Format” for the type of file. Click “Save.”
Step 3: Now your image is properly linked to the document and will be
packaged along with the rest of your links.

STEP 2

STEP 1 STEP 3

Missing Images
If you have inserted an image into your document and then later changed the location of the image file, sometimes Publisher can no longer find the
image it was linked to. You just need to tell the Graphics Manager where to find the image file again.

Step 1: Click on the down arrow to the right of the image name and
choose, “Find the Linked picture...”
Step 2: A dialog box will appear. Find the new location of the missing
image. Click “Link to File.”
Step 3: Now your image is properly linked to the document and will be
packaged along with the rest of your links.

STEP 2

STEP 1 STEP 3
Modified Images
Sometimes after you have inserted artwork into your document, you open it in another program and make some changes to it (cropping, changing
to grayscale, etc.). Publisher notices that you have changed the file since you first inserted the artwork and notes that the file is modified. You will
need to update the file so it is properly linked.
Step 1: Click on the down arrow to the right of the image name and
choose, “Update this Link”
Step 2: Publisher will read the new file and automatically update the
link. You will notice that any changes you made to the artwork will now
show up in your Publisher document.

STEP 1 STEP 2

WORKING WITH COLOR

By default, Publisher creates color with RGB values (Red, Green & Blue are mixed to create each color). In the printing industry, we
mix colors using CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, & Black). In order to print publications created in Publisher, it is necessary to convert
the color from RGB to CMYK. If you are using process colors in your document, then you will need to change the colors from RGB to
CMYK. If you are using spot color in your document, you will need to substitute CMYK cyan ink for the spot color you wish to use.
(See page 2 for more details about using spot color.)

Step 1: Go to Tools>Commercial
Printing Tools>Color Printing...
Step 2: A dialog box will appear, listing Step 3: A second dialog box will appear. Click
all the colors used in your document. on the Custom Tab. Change color model to
Click on the Colors Tab. Then, click on CMYK.
the right down arrow next to each color
and click “Change...”
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WORKING WITH COLOR, cont’d
Step 4 PROCESS COLOR: If you are print-
ing in process color, you can leave the numbers
in the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black boxes
as they are. These are the new CMYK values
for the color. Your black swatches will need to
be changed to 100% black. Make sure that your
numbers are: Cyan=0, Magenta=0, Yellow=0,
Black=100. Your white swatches need to be:
Cyan=0, Magenta=0, Yellow=0, Black=0. When
finished, click “OK.”

Step 4 SPOT COLOR: If your publication

will be printed in a spot color and black, you will
need to change your color swatches to Cyan.
For each color swatch, you will need to pick a
shade of cyan. After changing the color mode
in step 3, you will type “0” in the Magenta, Yel-
low, and Black boxes. Change the number in the
Cyan box to anything between 10 and 100 to
represent a shade of the spot color you wish to STEP 4 STEP 5

print. Your black swatches will need to be changed to 100% black.
Make sure that your numbers are: Cyan=0, Magenta=0, Yellow=0,
Black=100. Your white swatches need to be: Cyan=0, Magenta=0,
Yellow=0, Black=0. When finished, click “OK.”
Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 until you have changed all your colors, in-
cluding black and white, from RGB to CMYK. Sometimes you have two
colors that are the same, Publisher will ask you if it’s okay to replace one
color with the other. You can click “OK.” When you are finished with all
of the colors, click “OK” at the bottom of this dialog box.

PACKAGE YOUR PUBLISHER FILE

In order to open and use your file, we will need to have your Publisher file, all of the linked artwork files, and all of the fonts you used
in the document. It sounds like a lot of hassle to gather all those items together, but luckily Publisher has a built-in feature that will do
it for you. Follow these steps to package your file for printing...

Step 1: Go to File>Pack
and Go...Take to a Com-
mercial Printing Service...

Step 3: Choose a location to save your Publisher file. If you’ve recently

made changes, you may want to save over the file you’ve been working
on, so that your file will be up to date. When finished, click “Save.”

Step 2: If you didn’t save your program before starting these steps, Step 4: This dialog box will appear, explaining what the Pack and Go
Publisher will prompt you to do so now. Click “OK.” If you already saved, Wizard will do next. Click “Next.”
go on to step 4.
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PACKAGE YOUR PUBLISHER FILE, cont’d

Step 5: Choose a location to save the packaged file. Your desktop is a
handy spot, easy to find and access later. Click on the location and click
“Save.” Note: If you wish to save the packaged files into a folder, then you
must create the folder prior to this step.
Step 6: Check all three boxes indicated above. This should ensure that
all your fonts and linked artwork is included in the packaged file. Click
“Next.”

Step 7: This is just a summary screen telling you where the files will Step 8: If you haven’t already printed a proof and wish to do so now,
be saved. It also mentions that you will need the “Unpack.exe” file to then leave the checkbox on. If not, feel free to uncheck it. Click “OK.”
unpack the packaged file. Click “Finish.” You have now finished packaging your files. But, you’re not quite done...

Step 9: You must include all of the items above when giving us your
packaged files. If you are missing anything, then we will not be able to
open your files. You can put all these files on a disk or zip them together
for uploading or emailing. See page 8 for information on how to get your
files to us.

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WHAT TO SEND
To ensure the best outcome of your publication, please send the following items:
• Packaged Publisher File. Be sure to include all parts of your packaged Publisher file.
• Printed Copy. We STRONGLY suggest that you provide a printed copy of your file. This helps us to compare your electronic files with
what you expect the printed version of your publication to look like. In the event that we see a discrepancy, we can address the problem
before your publication has been printed. Talk to your sales representative about how best to provide the printed copy.

HOW TO SEND YOUR FILES

You can provide your file to us in the following ways:
• Upload using our website www.adnetdirect.net - click file upload
• Email. Email files to design@messengerpostmedia.com. Please use your business/publication name as the subject line. Please provide all
of your contact information in the body of the email.We strongly recommend compressing your files as .sit or .zip files when emailing to
prevent corrupted files.
• FTP site. The site is ftp://ftp.adnetdirect.net. Ask your sales representative for a user name and password.
• yousendit.com. Although you may need to create a user name and password this is a completely free site.We are not affiliated with this
business, but have found it to be very helpful to many of our customers.You will enter your email address and our email address (design@
messengerpostmedia.com). Then, you can upload your file to the site. The site will then send us an email notifying us that we have files
to download. We will download your files from the site.You can upload just one file at a time, so we recommend compressing your files
into a .sit or .zip and uploading a couple of larger files rather than many smaller ones. If you use yousendit.com, please send us an email to
request confirmation that we have received all of your files.
• CD
• Flash Drive/Jump Drive/USB Drive