RESOLUTION

In order to avoid a loss of quality, your data (excluding the exceptions listed below) should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi in the original size.
Logos, text blocks and graphics that are integrated into the document must be embedded as a vector or as an image with at least 300 dpi, because they will otherwise appear pixelized or unfocused.

BLEED

3 mm circumferential (unless otherwise specified)
The trim serves as tolerance for cutting differences in production.
Paper is a natural material that is subject to certain variations due to environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. This may result in deviations of up to one millimetre in final trimming. Please note that these cutting differences can also affect folded products and their fold.
We recommend that you allow for a distance of 4 mm from the edge in the final format for essential information and text that must not be cut off.

Summary:

1. Create a circumferential trim of 3 mm
2. Account for trimming tolerances of up to 1 mm
3. Create your data without markers and auxiliary characters
4. Position text and important information such as logos, addresses, text, etc. at least 4 mm away from the edge

SPELLING AND TYPESETTING ERRORS

We as online printing facility have specialized in the inexpensive production of printed materials, and ask your understanding that we cannot proofread or typeset your material. Should you need assistance of this nature, please contact your nearest typesetting studio or agency.
Summary:

• We will not correct spelling and/or typesetting errors.
• Hyphen positioning will not be checked.

FILE FORMATS

PDF
PDF files (Portable Document Format from Adobe) have become a worldwide standard for the exchange of printing data. If you want to process vector data, we can only do so with PDF files. All fonts and graphics must be embedded in the PDF file!
Please observe the following standards to the greatest extent possible when creating a PDF file:
PDF/X-1a:2001
PDF/X-3:2002
PDF/X-4:2008
Please also observe our tips for creating printing data.

TIFF
“Tagged Image File Format” (TIFF or TIF) is a file format for saving image data. Originally, the TIF format was developed by Aldus (taken over in 1994 by Adobe) and Microsoft for scanned raster graphics for color separation.
If you create your printing data as a TIFF, we ask that you observe the following topics:
For TIFF files with several pages, only the first page will be used. The rest of the pages cannot be processed!
All layers must be reduced to the background layer
For a high quality product, use a lossless compression such as “LZW”.
You may also select JPEG with maximum quality as an alternative compression method.

JPG
Please observe the output quality when exporting JPEG files. Select the highest possible quality level, or the lowest compression rate, so that a high quality output of your data is possible.

Quick overview:

• Maximum quality
• Baseline (Standard)

ZIP/RAR
We can process Zip archives, with the exception of SIT files. Please ensure that no password is assigned to the archive, so that we can decompress the files.
Quick overview:
No StuffIt files (SIT)
We can process ZIP and RAR files
No password protection
Propritary typesetting files
Due to our automated workflow, we can only process PDF, TIFF, or JPEG files. You must convert proprietary typesetting files or files from Office programs into a file type (PDF, TIFF, JPEG) that we support.

Quick overview:

• No non-proprietary typesetting formats
• No files generated by Office programs
• Please convert your files to one of the following formats: PDF, TIFF or JPEG

PSD
In principle, processing native Photoshop files is not a problem.
BUT: native Photoshop files almost always disrupt our automated workflow. Furthermore, these files require significantly more memory than JPEG files, for example, due to the processing functions such as layers, paths and screens. Save your Photoshop files as JPEG or TIFF. This also prevents unintentional changes or font replacements during processing.

Quick overview:

• It is not possible to process native Photoshop files (PSD).
• Please convert them into a TIFF or JPEG file (no PDF export!)
• No PDF export, because this very often results in problems with our automated workflow.

COLOR MODE/COLOR RANGE

Your print data should be created in CMYK color mode. This mode is the technical basis for the modern 4-color-print. Furthermore, you should provide your print data with the corresponding ICC profiles for the standardized offset print. You can download these color profiles from the ECI (European Color Initiative) website free of charge.

ISO Coated v2 for coated paper (based on FOGRA39)

PSO Uncoated ISO12647 for uncoated paper (based on FOGRA47)

If you place a 4-color order, RGB data and special colors will thus be converted automatically. Since many RGB and special colors are outside this color range that can be reproduced in standardized offset print, color shifts can occur during the conversion. The color conversion assigns a new similar value to the original color value which is not necessarily identical to the original color value. Example: A specific shade of RGB red can appear nearly orange in CMYK.