PDFs 

The following points need to be considered when supplying artwork as PDFs, especially if there are no accompanying native files. There are sometimes restrictions on what alterations can be made to a PDF depending on how the file was created.

 

  • High resolution, print ready PDFs must be supplied, use the Newstyle Distiller settings to create your PDFs. These settings can be downloaded from this site.

  • All fonts must be embedded.

  • All PDFs need to include trim marks, any fold and crease marks, 3mm bleed and be centred on the page.

  • Never supply PDFs as spreads. All jobs should be created on single pages. Use spreads in the native artwork but output as single pages when creating the PDF.

  • Supply all PDFs with the transparency flattened. The safest way to do this is to print to Postscript and then Distill using our settings. Any Blending Modes, Feathering, Drop Shadows etc. used in the original artwork could create potential problems if the PDF isn’t created properly. A step by step guide for creating PDFs from InDesign is available to download.

  • Any spot varnish data must be separated as a spot colour.

  • Any die shapes need to be a separate spot colour and set to Overprint.

View your final PDFs properly in Acrobat using the Output Preview window. A guide to Soft Proofing in Acrobat is available in the Colour Management section.