There are many different programs available to the consumer today for graphic design and page layout.
It is important to understand however, that not all desktop publishing programs work in the commercial
printing environment. While some home publishing programs such as Printshop Deluxe®, Print Master®,
JC Printshop® and MS Word® seem easy to use and print from, they lack the technical ablility to output
to the professional prepress equipment used in commercial printshops. Before you spend hours designing
in an incompatible program, check with your service bureau or printer to verify that the program will work
with their equipment first.

Most professional programs are available to the consumer now, so many people are taking advantage
of these resources and creating their own graphics for printing. Some of these programs include; Adobe
Illustrator®, Photoshop®, InDesign® and Pagemaker®. Also, Corel Draw®, QuarkXpress® and Microsoft
Publisher®as well. Not all of these programs work for every facet of graphic design however, and it is
important to know the purposes of each. Even now, software developers are packing a lot more features
into these programs and many can be used for multiple applications. But it is good to be aware of their
differences and plan accordingly.

Here are some tips on file preparation and program use, we admit there may be more than one way
to accomplish some of these tasks, but these are common guidelines that should help you make the
right decisions while creating your files. If you prepare your digital media correctly, you can avoid the
costly mistakes that require the printer to correct (and charge you for) later on.

What Programs Should I Use?

1. Vector Graphics - For designing logos, and graphics to be used in a page layout, use a vector art program
such as Adobe Illustrator® or Corel Draw® save these objects as EPS files (Encapsulated Post Script). You can
then place or import them into your page(s) as needed. Vector art is completely scaleable, in other words
you can reduce or enlarge the object to any size without losing resolution when its printed. These programs
can also be used for single page layout such as a business card, letterhead or data sheet as well.

2. Raster Graphics - Adobe Photoshop® (just as the name implies) should be used primarily for photo and
image manipulation. The newest version of Photoshop does a lot more than before, including text editing and
such, but it is still a raster image program. Which means that it is resolution dependant and cannot be scaled
without losing image quality. So unless you know exactly how large to make a file for optimal reproduction,
you might make the image too small to print properly in the commercial prepress environment. While we
won't go into great detail about photoshop's many capablities, generally speaking, if you have photos, or
images to process; i.e. crop, resize, colorize or enhance in some way, use Photoshop. Save your file(s) in
the format and color mode that will work for whatever application you will be using it in. View the tutorials
included with your software for more information.

3. Page Layout - For preparing a publication such as a newsletter or multi-page brochure you need to use
a page layout program such as Adobe Pagermaker®, InDesign®, QuarkXpress® or Microsoft Publisher®.
These programs allow for multiple pages in one document and have many output features for prepress
environments. You can also use them for single page documents as well.

4. Adobe Acrobat (PDF) - PDF (Portable Document Format) is a terrific tool for bypassing all the problems associated
with file set up and printing. By embedding all the graphics and fonts you can avoid platform issues later. But
knowing how to set up the PDF file is essential. Its important to read your software documentation carefully to
make certain you have everything in order before printing. The printshop cannot alter your pdf once you have
set it up, so you need to make sure there are adequate crop lines and bleeds included in the file.

What about Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint?

5. Microsoft Office - With the exception of MS Publisher®, Microsoft Office Programs were never designed to be
used for commercial printing purposes. Yes, MS Word can seperate colors but only greyscale or CMYK at this point.
It also does not provide options for crop marks or trim lines etc. which printers need for print registration and
bindery processes. Our advice is to use these programs for what they we're designed for; MS Word® for word
processing, MS Excel® for spreadsheets and databases, MS Powerpoint® for presentations. You can use
MS Publisher® for publication and page layout design. It has some limitations for printers but generally speaking
it can get the job done and is a less expensive alternative to the main programs that are used most often.
It cannot however process vector or raster images, you still need Illustrator or Photoshop for that. Innovative
Print Media supports the latest version of MS Publisher® for PC.

Can I Use a Program in PC Format or Does It Have To Be In Macintosh?

6. Mac or PC? - This question was very critical about 6-7 years ago when professional prepress was solely based
on the mac platform. Today, its not as important. But you can run into font issues with either environment if
the printshop you are taking your files to doesn't use the same platform. So, here are a few things to remember:

   A. If you are using a vector art program like Adobe Illustrator®, you should to turn all the fonts into outlines
       before saving the file for printing. This will preserve all the characters in their original state by turning each
       one into an individual object. Make sure you name the file differently so as to not save over your original.
       Once you turn fonts into outlines you cannot edit them as text any longer.

   B. If you are using a page layout program like Adobe Pagemaker® or QuarkXpress®, you should include all
       the font files you are using with the rest of your images and document files on your disk for the printer.
       You should include the screen and printer fonts of each font you use.

   C. When saving your files for print, its always a good thing to check with the printer to make sure they have your
       version of the software that you are using. If not, you can usually save the file down to the version that they
       require. Most printshops keep the latest versions of the programs that they use, but might not have the latest
       version of every program out there. Its always a good idea to check first before sending any files to them.

What Resolution Should I Make My Image Files?

7. Image Resolution (for Raster Files) - In commercial printing when you create an image like a photo or background
shadow etc. the rule is not necessarily "the larger the better" there actually is a threshold to how many dpi (dots per
inch) a printing press line-screen can print and be seen with the human eye. Some printing presses cannot reproduce
as high of screens as others - this is due to the dot gain of a particular press. Generally speaking, most offset
"duplicator type" printing presses can reproduce a line screen of about 133 lpi effectively. Most bearer cylindered
presses can produce a much finer screen up to 200 lpi in some cases. A range of digital information from about
260 dpi to 350 dpi is all that is necessary to reproduce these screens accurately. Depending on the detail you
would like to preserve in your image you might need to use a higher dpi that 350, however after about 400 dpi
the digital information starts to become too small to be translated into even the highest of printing screens. In
general, 300 dpi @ 100% works fine for most instances.

8. Image Resolution (for Vector Files) - Vector images do not use dots to determine their resolution so they can
be much smaller files than Raster files with no concerns about dpi. They are however dependant on the type of
output device as to how sharp they will print. When printed on a 600 dpi laser printer for example, they may not print
as sharply as when processed through a high resolution film imagesetter at 2400 dpi and printed with a printing
press. Some of the newest versions of Illustrator and Corel Draw can convert files to contain both Raster and Vector
Images so its best to consult your programs documentation for answers to those issues.

What's the Difference Between RGB and CMYK?

9. RGB and CMYK - When preparing the colors in your files it is important that you convert all the colored elements
to their proper color mode before taking it in for printing. To summerize briefly; RGB (Red, Green Blue) can only be
used to display color for your computer monitor. I know, it prints out fine on your desktop color printer but thats a
different technology that converts everything to CMYK as it prints. So, you need to convert all full color images to CMYK
then place them into your file. If you are doing spot colors, you have to make sure they are set to the proper pantone
colors as well. Some Page Layout programs provide handy options for checking all this information before you send it
to the printshop, sometimes known as "Preflighting". Check your software documentation for more information on that.

What Software and Hardware does Innovative Print Media Support?

10. Supported Programs - We use both mac and pc here at Innovative Print Media.

For Macintosh: Adobe Illustrator 10, Photoshop 7, Acrobat 6, Pagemaker 6.5, Corel Draw 11 and QuarkXpress 5.0
Mac Operating Systems: O/S 10.3 Panther, O/S 9

For PC: Adobe Illustrator CS, Photoshop 6, Pagemaker 7, Acrobat 6, Microsoft Publisher 2003, QuarkXpress 5.0,
Macromedia Freehand 10 and Corel Draw 11
PC Operating Systems: Microsoft XP Professional