RULES AND LINES
Our presses can print a rule as thin as 0.3 points; do not use rules any thinner than .3 pts. (0.004). “Hairline” setting is thinner than .3 pts and will print inconsistently, or not at all.
When working with graphics that have rules or keylines applied to them in the page layout application, be sure to view them at a high enough magnification to ensure that the graphic and the rule are touching each other. A gap between these elements will not always be visible when printed to a 300 or 600 dpi laser printer, but it will show when printed in high resolution. This also applies to rules coming together at corners and any rules that are meant to be touching a graphic.

TRAPPING
If your files contain color information, spot or process color “trapping” may be necessary to achieve the best possible output. Faulty trapping renders the output useless, so the responsibility for correct trapping information is an important issue. If you are unsure of how to set trapping values, let us do it correctly and save time and trouble.
We can create or adjust traps for you on request. For some graphic files we may need the native format file rather than an EPS file (e.g., Macromedia Freehand™ ) to create the proper trapping. Be sure to mark color breaks on the hard copy version of your files; we cannot be responsible for how the colors will separate.

ADOBE PAGEMAKER
When placing graphics on the page, do not select to store a copy of the image inside the document. We would like you to send us the original copies of the graphics when you send us your complete job. This allows us to troubleshoot and fix them if there is a problem and keeps the size of the PageMaker file manageable.

IMAGES AND GRAPHICS
Creating high-quality, printable graphics and placing them correctly in your page files can be complicated and a difficult part of desktop publishing, especially when it comes to halftones and color. Unless you understand the issues of tonal range, dot gain, the relationship between line screen value, DPI, and shooting percentage, we suggest that you let us scan, digitize, and send your images to place them into your final files.
You may, of course, do your own scanning and assume responsibility for the quality of the output. If you are scanning and/or placing artwork in your layout files, call us in advance and allow enough time for testing one of your files. Also, refer to the Adobe Photoshop notes below. Text in an EPS graphics file requires that we have the font file for that text to print properly. Better yet, convert the text to outlines first or embed the fonts to avoid problems later. There are many graphics formats, but only a few tend to be reliable. Stay with EPS and TIFF on Mac and PC. Using other file formats can be unpredictable. Test your files to make sure they print properly before committing to them, and call us if you have any questions.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
If you will be using a digital camera to capture images for print production, you must
use the highest resolution setting option with the least amount of compression. Digital
camera manufacturers use many different terms and file formats when capturing
high-resolution images, so please refer to your camera’s manual for more information.

A FEW TIPS ABOUT GRAPHICS
- PICT and PAINT files are low-resolution Bitmapped files and will not improve in appearance even if imaged at high resolution. If they look jagged on your 300 DPI laser printer, they will also look jagged at 2400 DPI.
-JPG is a lossy compression that removes pixels from an image, reducing the image quality.

INTRODUCTION TO PRINT: SECTION THREE