PRINTING 101

Surrey Digital accepts both CMYK and RGB working colour spaces within files, but it’s good to convert files to CMYK colour space and is preferred. Working in CMYK for printed files from the start will help with colour shift of the final product and will be a more accurate colour from computer screen to printed product.

Files for submission should not contain embedded profiles and should stay in the current working colour space (CMYK or RGB). However, if you are unsure Surrey Digital can provide you with colour correction services.

When working with graphics it is important to have the right resolution for printed products. Image resolution should be set around 300dpi or ppi in order for a nice clear image. Resolutions below 250dpi or ppi will not print out clear. When scaling images look for the effective dpi or ppi, this should be set around 300dpi or ppi. “Effective” ppi is the resolution of the image at the size it’s been scaled to in your program.

For example, a 300ppi image, if scaled 50% in InDesign, is actually 600ppi when reduced to that size.

The preferred file submission is using a PDF based file because they preserve fonts, formatting, graphics and colour spaces. If PDF is not possible, please contact our graphics department at Surrey Digital for more assistance.

Files must be submitted as single page pages (not spreads).

Submitted files should be prepared with crop marks and use a standard bleed size of 1/8th”. The resolution on images should be sized up or scaled down to around 300dpi or ppi and should use the CMYK colour space. Editing files is very limited with PDFs. If you are unsure, let us do it for you! Just send us your original files and we will set it up (see above for details). We accept packaged Adobe Creative Suite, Corel Draw and Microsoft Office program files, sent with original images, links and fonts.

Set document trim size and set the standard bleed (1/8th”  or 0.125”).

Use margins when preparing files for printing and keep within the live area of the document to avoid text and images too close to the trim. For example, if your documents final trim size is 8.5” x 11” then you should add an additional 0.125” around the trim as your bleed (bleed should not have any contents you would like to keep on the final trimmed document). *See sample below for further details.

*Note: Be aware of any bindery or finishing you would like with your job and set the margins accordingly. 
For example, if creating a perfect bound or spiral bound book make sure you leave additional space along the inside pages where it will be bound. For large format jobs, if adding grommets, please add grommet marks to the file. Our grommets are 1/2” or 5/16”.