Graphic Design
Submitting
Files - Final Checklist:
CDman
considers 'final' design files to be electronic artwork
submitted using our templates and created on one of the following programs:
Adobe Illustrator (version CS or newer)
Adobe InDesign (version CS or newer)
These main layout files should be saved in their native
format. Do not export as .EPS, .PDF, .JPG etc. If
you do not have the programs listed above, Adobe offer
FREE 30 days trials of these titles from their website www.adobe.com
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ARTWORK
ISSUES ARE THE #1 REASON FOR ORDER DELAYS & EXTRA
CHARGES.
1.
Use Our Templates
2.
Follow Our Artwork Guidelines - Read This Tutorial
3.
Do Not Send Us Artwork Files That We Do Not Support
Click here to review our software requirements, listed
earlier in this tutorial. |
Avoiding
Delays
To
avoid hassles with fonts and missing images during
pre-flight, before you save your Illustrator or InDesign
files:
- Convert
all text to outlines
- Embed
all images
Embed
Your Fonts: (Illustrator
or Indesign) First be sure you have made
backups. Now, make sure all your artwork elements and
layers are unlocked, then from the menu bar, choose
SELECT > ALL (select all). Now everything is
selected. From the menu bar choose TYPE > CREATE
OUTLINES (older versions say, "CREATE PATHS").
This
turns all your text (which was looking up it's shapes
and style via a font file in your system folder) into
self-contained lines on the page. When CDman outputs
your job you will never get a hold with "font files
not found" error messages. Be sure to save a backup
with fonts so that you can fix typos later if need be.
You can not use the text tool to modify text once that
text is outlined.
You can verify if the procedure worked by opening your
Document Info pallet: WINDOW , DOCUMENT INFO (older
version access this palette via FILE , DOCUMENT INFO,
then click the top right arrow, fly out menu, and turn
off the "Selection Only" check box, this will
give you info on ALL the Fonts:
If
you still see fonts listed after converting to outlines,
some text is either locked on the page layout or on a
locked layer. You can use the menu: Type , Find Font, to
help you locate the text using a particular font.
| FYI:
If you use the text tool and don't end up adding
text with it, that text 'box' will still sit on your
design page as a 'live' piece of text - even with no text
in it. Use
the Find Font command to locate these empty text
commands. If you don't, and you're trying to outline your
fonts you'll probably miss the empty text, which can cause
problems in pre-flight as it may show up as a 'missing
font'. |
Embed
your images:
Linked images are convenient during the design phase
since changing the image in Photoshop will dynamically
change once you go back to Illustrator and see your
changes. Once you are done and are ready to submit your
final layout file, there is no need to keep these images
linked since it is much easier to upload a single
Illustrator or InDesign file.
First
verify if you actually have linked images:
(menu: window, document info)
The
document info palette is a very important tool. Use it
to avoid problems. You can see in the above screen shot
that we have a linked RGB image which needs to be
converted to CMYK for printing and that it's resolution
is too
low. It should be minimum 300 dots (pixels same
thing) per inch.
Once
you have verified your images are all good and your
fonts are converted to outlines choose: File | Save As
Save
your file using it's native *.ai (Illustrator) or *.ndd
(InDesign) extension in the file name. (new CS2 versions
may indicate Adobe PDF) but the extension should NOT be
PDF.
Then,
ensure the 'Include Linked Files' is checked:
If "Include Linked Files is greyed out, it means
your images are already embedded and you can proceed.
By selecting 'include linked files' your saved document
will now contain the images and therefore you do not
need to include a folder of images, just the final
Illustrator or InDesign file is needed.
We accept artwork in the following ways:
- Web
Upload (see link bottom of this page)
- CD-R
Price
list for file fixes:
Quick
typos (eg. 1 or 2 simple spelling mistakes) Image
replacement (eg. 1 or 2 images in ONE file) Or fixes
requiring less than 10 minutes tech time = FREE
Multiple
typos Multiple image replacement Or fixes requiring more
than 10 minutes Billed at $100 per hour in 15 minute
increments (min charge = $25.00)
**Note
that the time required to make modifications is
determined at our sole discretion. Please be aware that
fixes that might take you or your designer 5 minutes
could take us longer for something as simple as having
to load fonts and restart an application. To avoid
additional charges, please be sure to carefully
proof-read all of your text and prepare your archive
properly - be sure to provide us with everything in its
final state so you won't have to bother with changes and
fixes.
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