E-Plot

282 Sturt Street,

South Melbourne
VIC 3205

Print Specifications &

Artwork Setup Guide
Welcome to the evolution of print

Print Specifications & Artwork Setup Guide

This is a guide for those with a basic knowledge of Adobe
Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop who want to setup
their artwork properly for printing.

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1.0 Print Specifications

• All images must be saved in CMYK are at a minimum of 300 DPI
at print size.
• Ensure a minimum of 0.25 point is used for stroke width when
printing with EPLOT.
• Ensure that you have set up your document to print CMYK.

For Business Cards, Flyers/Cards & Brochures:

• Supply all files with 3mm bleed

• Try to allow for a minimum of 5mm margin
• Provide a ‘Press Ready’ PDF with crop marks

For Perfect Bind:

• Supply all files with 3mm bleed

• Try to allow for a minimum of 5mm margin
• Provide a ‘Press Ready’ PDF with crop marks
• Supply outside cover and inside cover in onePDF according to
this order: p1 outside cover with spine - p2 inside cover
• Supply internal pages as a single page PDF and not spreads.
• Eplot can provide you with a spine width based on the number of
pages and thickness of the stock within your document.

For Saddle Stitch:

• Supply all files with 3mm bleed

• Try to allow for a minimum of 5mm margin
• Provide a ‘Press Ready’ PDF with crop marks
• Supply cover & text as a single PDF with individual pages and not
spreads.
• The total number of pages must be divisible by 4

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1.1 Standard Size Guides

• BC – 90 x 55mm
• DL – 210 x 99mm
• A6 – 148 x 105mm
• A5 – 210 x 148mm
• A4 – 297 x 210mm
• A3 – 420 x 297mm

Wide Format
• A2 – 594 x 420mm
• A1 – 841 x 594mm
• A0 – 1189 x 841mm

Brochure
For roll fold, any panel to be folded in should be at least 2mm shorter,
this does not apply to z-fold.

• 4pp DL (short edge fold) - finish size DL, flat size 420x99mm
• 4pp DL (long edge fold) - finish size DL, flat size 198x210mm
• 6pp DL (long edge fold) - finish size DL, flat size 297x210mm -
panel size 97-100-100
• 8pp DL (long edge fold) - finish size DL, flat size 394x210mm -
panel size 96-98-100-100
• 4pp A6 (long edge fold) - finish size A6, flat size 210x148mm
• 4pp A6 (short edge fold) - finish size A6, flat size 296x105mm
• 6pp A6 (long edge fold) - finish size A6, flat size 313x148mm - panel
size 103-105-105
• 8pp A6 (long edge fold) - finish size A6, flat size 414x148mm - panel
size 101-103-105-105
• 4pp A5 (long edge fold) - finish size A5, flat size 296x210mm
• 4pp A5 (short edge fold) - finish size A5, flat size 420x148mm
• 6pp A5 (long edge fold) - finish size 210x143, flat size 427x210mm -
panel size 141-143-143
• 4pp A4 (long edge fold) - finish size A4, flat size 420x297mm

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1.2 Getting Started - Choosing the right application

Adobe Photoshop
1. Good for handling images and photos, adding special effects and
adjusting colour
2. Not good for dealing with text, vectors and layout.

Adobe Illustrator
1. Good for creating logo, icons and vector based artworks
2. Good for layout single page flyer/business cards

Adobe Indesign
1. Use for books / flyers / business cards
2. Good for combining elements from pdf, illustrator and photoshop
to create the final artwork.

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1.3 Creating a document in Indesign

Use 3, 5 or 10mm margins depending on

artwork requirements and 3mm bleed, you
can create your artwork with full bleed
(border¬less) and all the text will be in a
safe position without being cut off.

For a saddle stitch book, the number of

pages must be a multiple of 4, outside
cover and inside cover must be included as
a single PDF according to this order:

• p1 Front cover
• p2 Inside front cover
• Content pages (multiple of 4)
• Inside back cover
• Back cover

Note: If cover is printed outside only,

please keep the inside cover pages as blank
in the PDF.

See example of Indesign file setup with

A4 page size and 10mm Margins, 3mm
Bleed

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1.4 Bleed
Black line = Actual document finish size
Red line = 3mm bleed
Purple line = margin

without bleed with 3mm bleed

All backgrounds and images should extend to the bleed line so

that artwork is full bleed after trimming.

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1.5 Border
If there is a border in any form, please
allow at least 5 - 10mm margin so it won’t
look uneven after the artwork is trimmed.
If it is a solid colour or patterned border,
please extend to the red bleed line.

10mm border with pattern

10mm white border

10mm solid colour border 2mm solid colour border,

too thin for trimming

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1.6 Margin
Ensure you keep all important text
and logos inside the purple margin
line so that they won’t be trimmed
off or hidden by the spine.
Logo is safely placed
Purple line = 10mm margin line within the margin.
(books) 3mm margin (BC/flyer/
brochure)

Logo is at risk of
being cut off.

Logo will definitely

be cut off.

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1.7 Brochure Setup

Here is an example of a roll fold 6ppDL
setup, artwork size is 297x210mm, panel
size 97-100-100, you can choose facing
pages so that the margin on the page 2 will
be flipped, unlink the margins and type
in the custom inside and outside margins.
If it is a z fold job, set columns as 3 with
gutter and margins as 0, then the panels
will be equally divided.

97 100 100
back front

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1.8 Perfect Bind Layout

Different paper stocks have different thicknesses. Even with the
same gsm weight, uncoated stock is generally thicker than coated
stock. Please consult with EPLOT on the spine thickness of the
specific stock you are printing on.

After defining the spine thickness, you can then create your cover
artwork.

• A4 Portrait = 210+210+10 = 430x297mm

• A5 Portrait = 148+148+10 = 306x210mm
• A5 Landscape = 210+210+10 = 430x148mm

For a perfect bound book, please supply outside cover and inside
cover as a single PDF according to this order p1 outside cover - p2
inside cover.
Spine

Back Cover Front Cover

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1.9 Saddle Stitch Layout

• A saddle stitch book must be in a multiple of 4 pages.
• If the cover is printed outside only, a blank page must be present
when you set up the artwork.
• Cover and text should be send together in a single pdf

Above is an example of a 8pp saddle stitch artwork.

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2.0 Vector & Raster

Vector graphics (Illustrator/Indesign)

A Vector graphic is made up from lines or shapes, which can be sized
and scaled limitlessly without losing resolution or quality.

Raster images (Photoshop)

A raster image is composed of millions of tiny squares called pixels.
Higher dpi (dots per inch) settings (eg 300dpi) will contribute to larger
files. A lower dpi setting (eg 75dpi) will cause pixilation to occur and
the image will become blurry. The minimum dpi set for printing with
acceptable print quality is 150 to 200dpi.

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2.1 Overprinting

Overprinting refers to the process of printing one colour on top of

another. It is commonly used for knockout or special effects like
white ink. A knockout removes a portion of the bottom image, ie. the
bottom colour is knocked out (not printed) in the area where the top
colour overlaps.

Overprint can be switched on/off from:

Indesign: Window > Output > Attributes
Illustrator: Window > Attribute

Overprint off Overprint on

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2.2 Special Effects

Spot Varnish or White

How to set up your special finish:

Create new spot colour swatch within your document for each print
technique and label as per below:

• Spot Matt Varnish: “NexPress DryInk clear”

• White Ink: “White”
• Pink Fluroscent Ink: “Pink”

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2.3 Spot colour/Pantone

Spot colour is a standardized colour reproduction system. EPLOT

can refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match the
same standard by mixing different ink in a specific formula. It is
usually used for company logos and corporate colours to ensure all
the printed materials match the same colour.
There are various Pantone books on the market. The most commonly
used is, Pantone Solid Coated. All the production grade printers have
their own pantone matching system built-in to mix the 4 colours of
CMYK to the best match of Pantone book. If the colour is critical, you
can pay extra to mix the ink specifically and setup the artwork as a 5
colour job to achieve the best result.

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2.4 Outline Fonts

Ensure all of the document fonts are embedded within the PDF, or
where possible please convert your text to outlines.

To outline fonts: Illustrator/Indesign: Type > Create Outline

Note: Always save a backup copy before you outline fonts in case you
need to make any changes later on.

2.5 Missing Links

If you have missing links from your Indesign file, it will result in low
resolution print. Indesign will only output thumbnail quality if there
are links missing. Please make sure all images are correctly linked
before generating your pdf for printing.

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2.6 Colour Settings

To ensure colour is matched exactly, change the settings in Indesign
or Illustrator to match below:

Step One
Edit > Colour Settings

Step Two
Change ‘Working Spaces’ to:

RGB: sRGB IEC61966-2.1

CMYK: Euroscale Coated v2

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2.7 Creating a Press Ready PDF

Producing a Press Ready PDF for print can save you money, time and
headache. It will reduce excess image resolution to printing standard
and produce a PDF with optimum file size. It can eliminate the need
for any prepress work, therefore increasing the efficiency of your
print job. Follow these steps to export your Press Ready PDF:

Step One
Illustrator: Windows > Save As
Indesign: Windows > Export

Step Two
Select Press Quality in ‘Adobe PDF’
Preset.

Note: If your artwork has complex

special effects, we strongly advise
you choose Compatibility: Acrobat
4 (PDF 1.3). This will reduce the file
size and flatten your artwork.

Step Three
Under pages, ensure ‘Pages’ is
selected instead of ‘Spread’

Step Four
Under ‘Marks and Bleed’ section,
select ‘Crop Marks’ and have a
minimum of 3mm in bleed settings,
(For all: Top, Bottom, Inside &
Outside).

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2.7 Creating a Press Ready PDF

Step Five
Under ‘Output’ section, choose ‘No
colour conversion’ so that you don’t
include any colour profile in the
pdf and result in a different colour
to the original design.

Step Six
You can save preset from the
bottom left hand corner for future
use.

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2.8 Artwork delivery methods

• Upload your file to dropbox and share the file link with us by
emailing: [email protected]

• For further information on working with dropbox, please refer to

How to share Dropbox File.

• Otherwise email your file (max 10MB) to [email protected]

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More questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!

The team at EPLOT are always happy to discuss any

technical aspects of your job. Please call us on
1300 660 228 or email [email protected]

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E-Plot
282 Sturt Street,
South Melbourne
VIC 3205

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