Artwork Specifications

I want to save some money, can I design my own artwork?

Of course, our professional design fees are very competitive (take a look at our NCR Design Service for further information), however, if you wish to design your own artwork and provide a print ready file then this is fine. Ideally you will need a professional design program such as Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign or Corel Draw, however, some other programs such as Microsoft Word/Publisher/Excel are still able to produce files we can work with.

Artwork Guidelines:

Below are the basic requirements that we need from your artwork dependant on the software you are using.

Please Note (IMPORTANT)

• Scanned images do not print as well as they could, the print quality will certainly not be as good as the original the scan was taken from. Occasionally we do print from scanned images when instructed to, however, if quality is important to you then for the best print results we would always advise that the artwork is re-drawn from scratch.
• If designing your own artwork we will only print what you supply, we will need the table/form and layout exactly how you want it to look.
• Microsoft Word/Publisher/Excel files must be converted to High Quality/Print Quality PDF.
• We strongly recommend that you print a copy of your completed artwork before sending the file to us; this is not only to ensure you are happy with how it looks but to ensure you have enough room to write in the areas that are to be filled out.
• Customers ordering full colour print must ensure any RGB or Pantone elements within the artwork are converted to CMYK, if you don't, we will do a standard conversion for you, however, our results may vary from what you expect and from order to order, so this is at your risk.
• Customers ordering single colour print must ensure the artwork supplied is in black/greyscale only or has the required uncoated pantone reference specified within. Any artwork supplied in full colour will be converted to greyscale for you, however, our results may vary from what you expect and from order to order, so this is at your risk.

Adobe Photoshop (or similar)

• Please ensure that your artwork is the same size as the product you are ordering, a minimum of 300dpi and that all layers are flattened prior to exporting your print ready file. For best results do not use any file size optimisation when saving your file. Please supply your artwork as a press ready PDF/X-1a (preferred), PSD, TIFF or JPEG file.

Adobe Illustrator/InDesign (or similar)

• Please ensure that your artwork is the same size as the product you are ordering, all fonts are converted to paths/outlines, all images are embedded correctly and any transparencies have been flattened. To preview how your artwork will look when printed, we would recommend viewing an Overprint Preview. This should identify any vector objects that have overprint applied to them; the object will appear transparent and as a result will not be printed. In Acrobat Reader you can select Overprint Preview which can be located in the advanced drop down menu; in both Adobe Illustrator/InDesign you can view an Overprint Preview by going to the view drop down menu and selecting Overprint Preview. Please supply your artwork as a press ready PDF/X-1a.

Microsoft Word/Publisher/Excel (or similar)

• In most instances (if designed at the correct size) we can print from artwork created in these programs, however, artwork must be exported to a High Quality/Print Quality PDF. Once exported to PDF, we strongly recommend that you print a copy of the document to ensure you are happy with how it looks before sending the file to us. We will also require a separate, high resolution version of your company logo.

Margins for NCR Books, Pads & Sets:

Please allow a 2cm margin within your finished page size for the binding of books, this is the space required for the staples, spine tape and perforation and can be on any edge, we require a 1cm margin within your finished page size on all other edges. NCR Pads and Sets do not require any margin for gluing, although we do require a 1cm margin within your finished page size on all edges.

Bleed:

If your design bleeds from the edges of the page then we will require 3mm of bleed on each edge (e.g. A4 with bleed would be 216mm x 303mm). If your design does not bleed from the page, i.e. everything to be printed is within the page size you are ordering, then no bleed is required at all.

Sequential Numbering:

When designing artwork that requires sequential numbering, please use font Arial 18pt as a guide for the amount of room that is required for this. When uploading artwork for your order, please supply 2 files; a visual showing the numbering position for reference and a second print ready file with the numbering removed. See our Video for further information.

Drilled Holes:

Please allow a 2cm margin within your finished page size for drilled holes. See our Video for further information.

I do not have artwork, how much does design cost?

Take a look at our NCR Design Service for further information.