Back to Dye Printing Tricks & Tips
Macintosh:
InDesign CS2, CS, 2.0
PageMaker 7.0 (6.0 & 6.5)
FreeHand 10.0 (8.0 & 9.0)
Illustrator CS, 10.0 (7.0)
PhotoShop CS 7.0 (5.5)
Quark 6.5PC:
PageMaker 7.0 (6.5, 6.0)
Quark 4.04
Illustrator 9
And while we don't recommend it for imaging film, we also have MicroSoft Word icky old Publisher 2000.
Linked Files
Include all files you used to create your document. Remember, we don't have the same clip art you do, so if you don't include it, our system may link your "photo9135.tif" to something totally different than your "photo9135.tif."
Be sure to check for "nested" files (files placed within placed files). A TIFF used in a graphic made into an EPS file placed in PageMaker would be nested--providing only the EPS file would leave a hole in your graphic.
Fonts
Convert your fonts to paths. If you've used something we don't have and image the film, you will be stuck with "Courier."
If you can't convert your fonts to paths (or curves, or outlines) be sure to distill a PDF to PRESS quality (eBook, Screen, and Print modes are not high enough resolution). In the distiller menu be sure to "EMBED ALL FONTS" this allows the font information to be included in your PDF. If you don't do this step, Acrobat will substitute your fonts for whatever is closest on our system. That's how it works, PDFs are meant to be transportable for viewing, not an exact replica of your job. It substitutes fonts on purpose if it can't find a missing font. This is not the printer's fault.
Inks
If we are printing your job full color, distill all your spot colors to the process equivalents. If you are printing spot color, make sure you have each spot correctly assigned and labeled. Print laser separations of each plate of each page before you send us the file so you can see what we will run. Beware of RGB!
Shipping?
All files can be placed on a diskette, Zip, CD, or USB storage devices. While some programs set up special folders for fonts and images or art you do not have to segregate your various files by hand.
If you need to send a file by email you can try our regular email address: dyegang@yahoo.com For larger files, send us a quick email warning us a large file is coming, so we can clear out room. We'll respond to your email, so if you don't get a confirmation we didn't get your file.
Again, if you have current layout programs, you can distill a Press-Quality PDF that will probably work. Again all your fonts have to be embedded, all your color swatches have to be correct, and bleed provided (just making a PDF doesn't fix everything, nor will we be able to make many adjustments to your PDF).