Mission Statement:

To provide our clients with the highest quality materials and services to enhancetheir business, products, and services through state of the art equipment, technology and education.

Table of ContentsWelcome ............................................................................................................... 2

Equipment.............................................................................................................. 3

Supported Software ............................................................................................ 3

Terminology ...................................................................................................... 5-7

Digital Files ............................................................................................................ 7

Creating and Sending PDFs ............................................................................... 8

Setting up Acrobat Distiller ......................................................................... 9-10

Using Acrobat Distiller .....................................................................................11

Creating PDFs in...Quark Xpress Mac .......................................................................................12Quark Xpress PC .........................................................................................13Adobe Pagemaker PC and Mac .................................................................14Microsoft Word, Powerpoint & Excel - Mac .........................................15Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel & Publisher - PC ....................16-17

File Transfer .........................................................................................................18

File Transfer - How to FTP ..............................................................................19

Helpful Links .......................................................................................................20

Digital Output Information Sheet ..................................................................21

Welcome and thank you for choosing The Print House as your quality printer.

This Prepress Guide is intended to help you prepare your piece for our offset printing

process. We have developed this guide to outline basic prepress and printing rules

and offer suggestions for your choice of media and definitions of some basic printing

terms. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff is always available to assist you

with any questions you may have.

Many of the issues we encounter at our production facility involve the differences

between desktop printing (from a laser or other computer-driven printer) and offset

printing. These differences can cause problems when the time comes to offset print

from a file that you have already printed successfully from your desktop. The basic

reason for these problems is that desktop printing involves a digital process that

produces minute dots on a sheet of paper - usually a row at a time. Offset printing

involves an analog process of merging ink with a plate, then transferring the plates

image to a reverse (offset) image on a sheet of cylindrical rubber known as a

blanket, and finally from the blanket to a sheet of paper. Also, while most color

desktop printers can apply four basic colors simultaneously, offset presses require a

separate image and plate for each ink color used. Because this is a complicated

process, we offer the following tips and suggestions.

As members of Print Image International, we attend several conferences during

the course of the year to keep abreast of the new technologies and trends of our

industry. We constantly strive to be at the forefront of the printing/copying industry

and update our equipment on a continuing basis.

2

The following equipment and software lists are provided for you to use as needed

in planning your job for optimum results.

Hardware

Computers Macintosh G4 and G5 - OS 10.4.10PC - Windows XP and NT

Scanners HP ScanJet 4C Scanner, Single passAGFA Duoscan high qualityPresstek Scanmaster full color scans

Printers HP LaserJet 5000N 1200 dpi Black & white outputEpson Stylus 9600 Color Printer Color proofsHP Design Jet 5500 Large format posters

Digital Platemaker Presstek DPM 2340 Ployester Plate output

Digital Platesetter Presstek Dimension 450XL Metal Plate output

Acrobat 8.0 File conversion

Adobe Illustrator CS3 Illustration, graphic design

Adobe PageMaker 7 Page layout

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Image editing, scanning, graphic design

Adobe InDesign CS3 Page layout

Macromedia Freehand 9.0 Illustration, graphic design

Microsoft Publisher 2003 Page layout

Microsoft Word 2002 Word processing

Microsoft Excel 2002 Spreadsheet, data transfer, mailing lists

Quark XPress 7.2 Page layout

Software Version(Up to)

Please call to confirm compatibility of any software you are using that is not listed.

P Authorized Adobe Solutions Network Provider P

P Authorized Microsoft Publisher 2002 Service Provider P

P Quark Alliance Member P

3

The following is a list of terms with general definitions that will help you follow

this guide and work with The Print House when discussing your job.

Bleed - any ink/image which prints to the edge of a page is said to bleed. The blue

rectangle beneath this paragraph bleeds off the edge of this page. Bleeds are usually

produced by printing on a sheet slightly larger than the finished size, then trimming

the sheet to its final dimension.

Gripper Margin - the unprinted blank edge of paper where

the printing press grips the sheet as it passes through.

Halftone Screen - Photographs are reproduced on offset presses as a series of

variable size dots. By varying the size of the dots, the illusion of a continuous tone

photo is created. Before digital publishing, a special screen called a halftone screen

was placed between a photograph and light source during the exposure process.

Computer applications produce a simulated halftone screen. The interval and spacing

of the dots is specified in lines per inch (lpi). Standard intervals are 85, 133, 150 and

175 lpi.

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

123456789012345678901234567

gripper

black & whitehalftone photo

enlarged halftoneshowing dot pattern

4

Trap - trapping is the process of overlapping color to avoid misregistration.

A job may be printed using overprint, knockout, trap or any combination.

Knockout

(continued)

Overprint Trap

Pagination & Imposition - Documents of more than one page, whether they are

bound or not, often must be printed with the pages arranged differently than one

would expect. For example, an eight page pamphlet actually is printed with pages

coupled 8+1, 2+7, 6+3 and 4+5 rather than in 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 order. When the

pamphlet is back to back and folded, the pages will be in the correct order. This

process is referred to as pagination or imposition.

Sample of a paginated 8-page newsletter

8 1 2 7 6 3 4 5

5

Screen Tint - different tints of the same color can be produced by applying a

percentage of screen tint to an image or to text. See above for an explanation of

halftone screens. By utilizing screen tints, you can create the illusion of a multicolor

job using only a single ink color.

(continued)

Sample of one ink in different screen tints.

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Separations - output for multicolor jobs must be produced as separations, because

each ink color used requires a separate plate for our offset presses. Separations for

an offset printing of the U.S. Flag would look like this:

Separation for blue plate Separation for red plate

Sample of finalprinted piece.

6

The prepress system at The Print House supports both Macintosh and PC files.

We accept the following file formats:

Acrobat 8.0 File conversion

Adobe Illustrator CS3 Illustration, graphic design

Adobe PageMaker 7.0 Page layout

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Image editing, scanning, graphic design

Macromedia Freehand 9.0 Illustration, graphic design

Microsoft Publisher 2003 Page layout

Microsoft Word* 2002 Word processing

Microsoft Excel* 2002 Spreadsheet, data transfer, mailing lists

Quark XPress 7.2 Page layout

* These programs do not support multicolor separation output. Please contact a

Print Consultant to discuss your job.

Fonts

Fonts are not cross-platform nor are they common from one computer to another.

All fonts (both printer and screen) must be supplied to us separately in order for

your job to print as you expect.

Photographs and Graphics

Supplying us with any placed photographs and graphics allows us to enhance them as

needed, and helps to ensure a high-quality finished product. Please use the following

specifications for your digital artwork if possible:

Photographs TIF or EPS file format, CMYK or greyscale, 300 dpi resolutionat proper size.

Line art TIF or EPS file format, Bitmap, 600 dpi resolution at proper size.

7

CREATING AND SENDING PDFs

Portable Document Format (PDF) is the standard for the secure and reliabledistribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world,with a ten-year track record.

PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics, andlayout of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used tocreate it. Adobe PDF files are compact and complete, and can be shared, viewed,and printed by anyone with free Adobe Reader software.

Step I. In order to create Acrobat PDFs, you must first purchase and install theAdobe Acrobat full-version, available online at www.adobe.com/acrobat. AcrobatReader is a free utility available to download. If you only have Acrobat Reader,you will be unable to edit PDFs, save changes to them, or create them.

Step II. Start Acrobat Distiller. Set your job options as shown on page 9. Savethese options as Prepress for later use.

Step III. Create a Postscript file or a PDF file directly from your desktoppublishing software.

Please note: Although we support Illustrator, Freehand and Photoshopfiles, these programs should not be used to create final page layouts,and we therefore do not support PDF files created directly from theseapplications. Please supply us with the original files in these cases.

Step IV. Either email (info@printhouse.com) or FTP (see page 19) your files tous.

Step V. Call an Account Manager at 781-324-4455 to let them know you have ajob on the way. Contacting us as soon as possible is essential in meeting yourdeadlines.

No edits may be made to PDFs once they are created and sent to us. Therefore, ifyou have any doubts about the correctness of your file, the layout, or the proper colorseparation and trapping, please supply us with your original files, linked graphics, andfonts, in case we need to access those for repair.

8

SETTING UP ACROBAT DISTILLER - PC & MAC

Before creating a PDF, you must first createa correct set of Job Options. These JobOptions will help to ensure your file flowssmoothly through our system, and that yourfinal product prints as you expected.

To begin, start Acrobat Distiller. From theSettings pull-down menu, select JobOptions, as shown on the right.

Continued on the next page...9

Tab One Tab Two

Tab Three Tab Four

SETTING UP ACROBAT DISTILLER - PC & MAC(continued)

The fifth and final tab on the JobOptions dialog box is Advanced.At the bottom of this tab you willsee Default Page Size. As long asyou have checked Allow PostScriptfile to Override Job Options, youwill not need to change this page size,it will update itself automatically.

Click on Save As.. after you havefinished with the settings. Namethese Job Options as Prepress, andclick Save. You will always use thePrepress job options whencreating PDFs for The Print House.

You may now close out ofAcrobat Distiller.

10

Tab Five

USING ACROBAT DISTILLER

Acrobat Distiller is used to createPDF files from Postscript files. Some ofthe software listed does not require youto start Acrobat Distiller. When printingto the Acrobat PDFWriter, some driverswill automatically start up Distiller, createyour PDF, and quit out of Distiller.

If you have created a Postscript file(such as from Quark - see pages 12-13),you will need to start the AcrobatDistiller application.

When Distiller has started, be sure your Prepress job options is selected, asshown above. (See pages 9-10 - Setting Up Acrobat Distiller.)

Go to File -> Open and select your postscript file. Next, select the destinationfor your PDF file. and click Save.

Distiller will now create a PDFon your harddrive.

NOTE: Always open your PDF inAcrobat before sending it to us to besure your PDF looks as you expected.

11

POSTSCRIPT FROM QUARK XPRESS - MAC

For a quick, easy way to create a postscript file from Quark Xpress, click here to

download the Creo Prepress Xtension, or go to http://www.printhouse.com/creo.sit

Once youve downloaded the .sit, unstuff it and it will create a Creo Installer icon.

Double click on the installer icon. (Be sure Quark is not running.) You will now have

a folder called Creo PXT. Open the folder and drag the file called Creo PXT 3.2 into

your Xtensions folder inside your Quark Xpress folder.

Re-launch Quark Xpress and open your completed

artwork file. Go to the Utilities pull-down menu and select

Export to Prepress 3.2... as shown on the right.

Adjust your settings as

shown on the left. You also

have the option to export EPS

files, but for multi-page

documents, postscript is the

most manageable.

Click on Save, and save

your postscript files.

Now youre ready to launch Acrobat Distiller and create your PDF. See Using

Acrobat Distiller on page 11.

12

POSTSCRIPT FROM QUARK XPRESS - PC

For a quick, easy way to create a postscript file from Quark Xpress, click here todownload the Creo Prepress Xtension, or go to http://www.printhouse.com/creo.exe

Once youve downloaded the .exe, double click on it and it will create the Xtensionfor Quark. (Be sure Quark is not running.) You will now have a file called Creo PXT.Drag the file called Creo PXT 3.2 into your Xtensions folder inside your QuarkXpress folder.

Re-launch Quark Xpress and open your completedartwork file. Go to the Utilities pull-down menu and selectExport to Prepress 3.2... as shown at right.

Adjust your settings as shownhere. You also have the option toexport EPS files, but for multi-pagedocuments, postscript is the mostmanageable.

You will need to SET FONT PATHSthe first time you run this Xtension.This means you must locate yourfonts directory(ies) on your harddrive. Without this, Quark will beunable to find your fonts.

Once you have set your font locations, click on Save and save your postscriptfile to your harddrive. Now youre ready to launch Acrobat Distiller and create yourPDF. See Using Acrobat Distiller on page 11.

13

PDFs FROM ADOBE PAGEMAKER - PC & MAC

Because Pagemaker is an Adobe product, it hasthe ability to generate a PDF directly from the programitself. For this example we are using Pagemaker 7.0.Previous versions of Pagemaker will slightly differ.

Once you have completed your artwork and savedit, go to File -> Export -> Adobe PDF pull-down menu,as shown on the right.

Set your options in the PDF Options dialog boxas shown below. In this example, PDF Style becameblank once we selected Prepress for the Job Name.

The Job Name in this instance refers to the type of Distiller Options you are goingto use to create your PDF. If you have not already set up your Prepress options inDistiller, please refer to pages 9-10. You must complete this step before proceeding.

Once you have setyour options asshown on the left,click export andchoose thedestination for yourPDF.

NOTE: Always openyour PDF in Acrobatbefore sending, to besure your PDF looksas you expected.

14

PDFs FROM ADOBE INDESIGN - PC & MAC

Because InDesign is an Adobe product, it has theability to generate a PDF directly from the programitself. For this example we are using InDesign CS2.

Once you have completed your artwork and savedit, go to File -> Adobe PDF Presets ->Printhouse,as shown on the right.

The Job Name in this instance refers to the type of Distiller Options you are goingto use to create your PDF. If you have not already set up your Prepress options inDistiller, please refer to pages 9-10. You must complete this step before proceeding.

Once you have setyour options asshown on the left,click export andchoose thedestination for yourPDF.

NOTE: Always openyour PDF in Acrobatbefore sending, to besure your PDF looksas you expected.

14

PDFs FROM MICROSOFT WORD,POWERPOINT AND EXCEL - MAC

Microsoft Word and Powerpoint are best used for simple forms or documentswithout graphics. They are not meant to be used for high-end print documents. Weaccept these files or PDFs from these files solely for black and white jobs, color copyjobs, or posters. Word and Powerpoint are unable to create spot color files. Weoffer desktop publishing and design services if you are unable to create the correcttype of file that would best work for your job.

To create a PDF from your Wordor Powerpoint file on a Macintosh, goto your Chooser and select theAcrobat PDFWriter. If it is not in yourChooser, you will need to re-install theAcrobat software.

After you have selected the PDFWriter in the chooser, open your completeddocument. Go to Print and the dialog box below will come up. Set your settings asshown below in the corresponding figures. Print your PDF to your hard drive.

NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending it to us to be sureyour PDF looks as you expected.

Figure 1 - Microsoft Word, Mac Figure 2 - Microsoft Powerpoint, Mac

15

PDFs FROM MICROSOFT WORD, POWERPOINTEXCEL AND PUBLISHER - PC

Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint are best used for simple forms ordocuments without graphics. They are not meant to be used for high-end printdocuments. We accept these files or PDFs from these files solely for black and whitejobs, color copy jobs, or posters. Word, Powerpoint and Excel are unable to createspot color files.

Microsoft Publisher was created for at-home desktop publishing. Publisher isunable to create spot color PDF files. We offer desktop publishing and design servicesif you are unable to create the correct type of file that would best work for your job.

To create a PDF from theseprograms on a PC, first openyour completed file. Go to File-> Print and select PDFWriterfrom your Printer list, asshown to the right.

The Print dialog boxes foreach program may vary slightly.The Properties button,however, is common withinevery Print dialog box.

After you have selected the PDFWriter, click on theProperties button.

See the next page for specifics on how to set up the correct Properties.

16

The first tab shown is the Page Setup tab. Enter in the correct page size andorientation (tall or wide) for your job. Set the resolution to 600 dpi.

PDF FROM MICROSOFT WORD, POWERPOINTEXCEL AND PUBLISHER - PC

(continued)

NOTE: If your document size is too large,the dialog box will prompt you to changethe size to fit within its parameters. If this isthe case with your file, set your file size to50% of what it is now, and set your Scalingoption to 50%. For example, a 50x30 inchposter may have to be printed at 25x15, at50% scaling.

Next, click on the Compression Options tab and choose the settings as shownbelow-left. Then click on Font Embedding and choose the settings as shown below-right. Remove as many fonts from the Never Embed list as possible. Fonts shownin red are unable to be embedded. Click OK to save these properties, and click OKagain to print your PDF to your harddrive.

NOTE: Always open your PDF in Acrobat before sending it to us to be sureyour PDF looks as you expected.

17

We are able to receive both PC and Mac files on disk, via email or through FTP.

Here is a list of acceptable methods and the limitations of each:

3.5 in. floppy disk 1.44 MB per disk

Iomega ZIP disk 100 MB per disk

CD 700 MB per disk

DVD 4 GB per disk

Email Use Zip or Stuffit to compress files before transfer.

FTP (Fetch) Use Zip or Stuffit to compress files before transfer.

Customer password required to upload files, please

call a Print Consultant to assist you - 781-324-4455.

When sending any file that you have created, please include or fax us a hard copy

proof of the job. To ensure correct output, please download, fill out, and fax us the

Digital File Checklist. (See page 21.)

Please call a Print House Print Consultant to receive a User ID and password.

18

(How to FTP: PC or Mac)

Instructions: Start your FTP program. A Properties window will come up. Fill inthe dialog box as shown. For Host Name enter ftp.printhouse.com. Enter youruser ID and password and click OK. If you do not have a user ID, please contact anAccount Manager at 781-324-4455.

Each FTP program slightly varies in the way files are transferred and/or downloaded.The most common method is drag-and-drop. Simply locate the stuffed or zippedfiles on your harddrive, and drag them into the appropriate folder shown in yourFTP window.

Alternate Method: Launch your web browser, and type ftp.printhouse.com in theURL field. Or you can click on this link. Type in your user ID and password and clickOK. Open the proper directory/window for your company, and drag and drop yourfile(s) into it.

If you have any questions on how to FTP, please contact us at 781-324-4455.

19

A variety of sources of information about offset printing and prepress guidelines

are available. Among the best sources are the manuals and online documentation

included with computer applications. Adobe Systems Incorporated bundled its

excellent Print Publishing Guide with the manuals for Illustrator, Photoshop,

PageMaker and InDesign. The world wide web also provides hundreds of pages of

information about printing and graphic arts. You can also call The Print House with

any questions you may have about preparing a job for our quality printing services.

Adobe Systems Incorporated

www.adobe.com

Graphic Arts Information Network

http://www.gain.net/

Desktop Publishing

http://www.desktoppublishing.com/open.html

20

Company Job #

Contact Name Date

Phone Fax Email

Platform:o Macintosh o PC

Transfer Method:o 3.5 Floppy o CD/DVD o Zip 100o Other ________________________________o Email o FTP

Software Used:o Quark XPress o PageMakero Publisher o Illustratoro InDesign o MS Wordo Freehand o InDesign

o Saved as postscript o Saved as PDF

Fonts Used:o All screen and printer fonts provided on disk

List fonts used:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Graphic Images:o All EPS and/or TIF files included on disko Scanning needed, from:

o photo originalso 35mm slideo photo negative

File Information:o File(s) to output:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________o Do any images bleed to the edge?o File to be output at 100% size?

File size _____ x ______

File set up as:o Process color (CMYK)o Spot color(s)

List any spot color(s) used:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please Provide the Following:o Color separated laser proofs

at 100% size, final versiono Composite laser proofs

at 100% size, final version

Proof Type:o Black & White Lasers (faxed)o Black & White Lasers (delivered)o Color Laserso Bluelineo MatchPrint

Special Instructions:

Please print out this form, fill in your information, and fax to us at 781-324-2777 with each job.