Printing Services

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• Printable Order Form (PDF)
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  (EID required)
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  (EID required)

• Bindery
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• Wide-format Printing
• File Submission Guidelines
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University Printing Services
2100 Comal St.
Austin, Texas 78722
512-471-5464 phone
512-471-1876 fax
Campus Mail E3500

PDFs require the free Adobe® Reader® or compatible software.

How to Submit Your Files for Printing

Our goal is to make electronic file submission as easy as possible for everyone. To help make the prepress phase of your projects trouble free, we have assembled these electronic file and prepress guidelines.

If you find any of the terminology in these guidelines confusing, please feel free to contact our customer service representatives who are always available to help you sort out important details and produce the best quality print product.

Types of Media to Submit

• We accept both PC and Macintosh files.
• You may submit files by: zip disk (100MB or 250MB), CD, USB flash drive, or e-mail.

Supported File Formats

• We accept native file formats of the following popular software: QuarkXpress, Adobe Creative Suite, InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator, and Acrobat.
• We accept PDF files, but editing them is limited.
• We accept scan-ready copy.

Please provide a hardcopy dummy/mock-up at the time you submit your files so we may compare it to our proofs. This will help avoid problems and save time.

Submission Guidelines

Documents

• Only send the documents that you want us to output. If possible, delete all other files from the disk you supply to us.
• Make sure the document is the actual size being printed. If not, please specify enlargement or reduction for imaging.
• Gather all output (documents, fonts and support) and place them into three individual folders.
• Always supply laser prints with your job. We need these to compare to the proofs.
• Write your name, address and phone number on media or proofs that are sent to us.
• General guidelines for preparing PDF files:
  • Do not down-sample images
  • Embed all fonts (without subsetting)
  • Select “no color conversion”
  • Include bleed when used
  • Omit any security settings
  Please call and we will answer any questions concerning settings.

Fonts

• Supply all fonts used in the job and its linked graphics, and provide the screen and printer components. We accept Type 1 (Postscript) fonts, Type 3, TrueType, OpenType, and dfont formats.
• Avoid assigning type attributes (bold, italic, bold italic). Instead, use the correct font (for example, use Adobe Garamond Bold instead of Adobe Garamond with boldface applied). This will avoid using a type style that has no actual screen and printer font.
• Avoid multiple master fonts if possible. Some will work, but problems are common.

Graphics

• Bleeds: any image that bleeds off the page must extend at least one-eighth of an inch (.125”).
• Live area: this includes graphics and type that cannot bleed, and this area will be trimmed during finishing in the bindery. All type and graphics not intended to bleed must be a minimum of three-sixteenths of an inch (.1875") clear and free from the head, foot, face, and gutter or trim area.
• All photos should be at least 300 dpi. All line art or bitmap images should be 1200 dpi.
• Supply all fonts and placed images with your linked supports.
• Use the path tool when creating silhouettes. (Remember to turn clipping path “on” and flatness setting of “3” when saving your EPS.)
• Rotate and size images in the original program (Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop) before importing into InDesign or Quark, so they will image faster.
• Do not embed graphics. If graphics are already embedded, supply the original graphics with the job.
• In older versions of Quark, when placing Tiff images in boxes, make sure the background is set to white. If the background needs to remain at none, then create a clipping path if a silhouette is needed.
• To reduce banding in gradations, use a broad range (for example, use 5% – 95% as opposed to 40% – 60%).
• Do not use JPEGS, because they lose information every time they are saved. Support files should be EPS or TIFF files.
• Remove extra channels and layers from Photoshop files.
• All images should be in CMYK mode or grayscale.
• Note: some Pantone colors are outside of the CMYK color space and appear different when printed as process color. Please view your screen after conversion for a rough idea of how that color will appear.