TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION FOR PREPARING MATERIALS FOR OFFSET PRINTING
The purpose of this technical specification is to inform our customers about technical requirements for preparing materials for offset printing. You need to respect the provisions hereof in order to fulfill your needs concerning service and quality of the final product and to respect standards of production.
1. MANNER OF SUPPLYING MATERIALS FOR PRINTING
1.1. Materials in a digital form must be supplied in the following way
– on the most popular digital data carriers formatted on PC or Mac systems (CD or DVD), flash drives, SD memory sticks
– via external servers saved as download links : WeTransfer….etc.
– or sent appropriately to FTP server:
ftp.karton-pak.com.pl
user and password: please, contact us
If the cooperation is regular, it is possible to create an account on the server assigned to a specific customer.
It is allowed to send files via e-mail (grafika@karton-pak.pl), as long as the size of the file does not exceed 15 MB.
1.2. We recommend to attach a low-resolution preview in *.jpg format to your files.
1.3. Digital materials are considered to be delivered properly and on time if they are complete and do not require any improvement.
2. MANNER OF PREPARING MATERIALS FOR PRINTING
2.1. PAGE FORMAT AND BLEEDS:
Graphics should have bleeds of at least 3 mm on each side.
Each important graphic element of the project must be separated from the edge of the target format (cut line) by min. 5 mm (margin from the edge of the format).
2.2. STRIPES, CUTTING LINES, CREASING LINES
Stripes and cut lines are not necessary – the work must be placed centrally on the page.
2.3. FILE FORMATS
We prefer and recommend PDF version 1.5, which is compatible with the PDF/X-4 printing and postscript standards. Alternatively, we accept open files (Adobe suite up to version CS6, CorelDRAW up to version X8) necessarily with fonts attached or fonts converted to curves and links to embedded elements. We are not responsible for errors caused by malfunctioning programs and special effects used in them.
Other acceptable formats:
After prior consultation with a graphic studio employee, it is possible to provide materials, in the form of open files:
AI – all texts converted to curves or fonts included
EPS – all texts converted to curves or fonts included
CDR – all texts converted to curves or fonts included
TIFF – recommended format for saving bitmaps (please take into account the comments in the section on technical requirements for images)
PSD – as above, remember to include fonts or convert text to curves
We do not accept Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX) and PowerPoint (PPT, PPS), Excel (XLS, XLSx) format files
2.4. COLORS
Materials must be prepared in the CMYK color space (mode).
We recommend the European standard FOGRA39. Additional colors (PANTONE), the use of which has not been consulted with the printing house, will be automatically converted to their CMYK equivalents.
Black color should be obtained by using only black color (please pay attention to this especially in bitmap graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop – the problem arises when converting from RGB to CMYK).
Total ink coverage (total ink) should not exceed 300%. As “deep black” we propose to use the value of
C60 M40 Y40 K100.
Black objects (K100) will be overprinted, if technically possible. We bear no liability for errors caused by overprinting objects in other colors. The white color printed in the RIP process is flooded with the color below it.
2.5. IMAGES
Bitmaps (images) should be at least 300 ppi. Below this value, there is a loss of image quality – pronounced pixelation. When converting text or other small vector elements to bitmap, we recommend a resolution of min. 600ppi. Black and white graphics should be saved in grayscale mode (i.e., containing only black color). By submitting a lower resolution graphic, you accept that the quality of the image in question will be reduced.
2.6. FONT AND LINES
The minimum font of letters printed in one color is:
– for one-piece typefaces 5 pt
– for two-piece typefaces 6 pt
The minimum font of letters printed in more than 1 color or in counter color is:
– for one-piece typefaces 6 pt
– for two-piece typefaces 8 pt
The lowest permissible thickness of the line is 0.3 pt. Lines made in counter color or in more than one color should have a thickness of not less than 0.5 pt.
2.7. SELECTIVE VARNISH, GILDING, EMBOSSING
If the process of production involves selective varnish, embossing, coldfoiling, hotstamping or die-cutting, you should prepare it as a spot color with overprint enabled. We bear no liability for errors resulting from giving the same color to other objects in the project as to: mesh of a die-cutter tool, embossing, varnish (such objects will be excluded in the RIP processing and will not be included in the print).
2.8. DIE-CUTTERS
Please place the lines of a die-cutter (thickness 1 pt/0,3 mm, full line for marking cutters, dashed line for creasing) directly on the project and give them additional color (spot pantone) and overprint. The correct version of a die-cutter on which the graphics are to be applied is the one sent by our technology department or a customer’s die-cutter – yet before designing works it must be consulted with our technology department in order to confirm its correctness.
Our graphics department verifies the correctness of the materials provided by the customer each time, but does not guarantee that all errors and inconsistencies from the above specifications will be noticed.
Additional operations to bring the files into compliance with the specifications and all changes made by Karton-Pak at the request of the customer are considered an additional service against a fee.
