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For FAQs related to book printing go here.

 

What exactly is a (print ready) PDF file?

This is a PDF (Portable Document Format) file that is created by Adobe Acrobat software to comply with printing industry standards of design, layout, quality and technical specifications. It covers a wide and complex range of variables and technical requirements. Below is a list of the minimum requirements for the most common issues in a "Print Ready" PDF file, although there are many more not listed here.

Image resolution
300dpi (dots per inch also known as "ppi" pixels per inch)
A lot of the time images are below this resolution and cause the prints to be "blurry" or "pixelated" (the actual square pixels are perceived by the eye when viewing the print) e.g. if you have used images from the internet they are likely to be only 72dpi

Colour Space
CMYK (cyan/magenta/yellow/black)
These are the real colours interpreted and used by the printing machine. A lot of the time files are supplied in RGB (red/green/blue) this is the default colour space of Digital Cameras, Clip Art, Scanners, Website Graphics/Images.  RGB gives false indication of colours when your document is viewed on screen, usually the CMYK print result will be less saturated and less bright.

Bleed & Crop Marks
All pages of the book (cover & internals) must be supplied with 5mm bleed and crop marks. See explanation of bleed below in the FAQ's

Fonts
All fonts must be "embedded" in the PDF file.  This means that when your PDF file is created you must instruct the program that you created it in to copy all of the fonts used in your document from your computer and embed them into the PDF file so that they can be accessed and replicated by the software at the print production stage.  If this is not done the font may be automatically "replaced" by a default font which more than likely won't be the font you had chosen.

Blacks & Greys
If your book is to be printed in black or shades of grey e.g. black and white photos, borders, tables etc. These must be supplied as black "K" artwork only.  Sometimes text, images & graphics are supplied as full colour (usually in RGB (red/green/blue) or "Rich Black" even though they appear black/greyscale on screen. Because the printing machine is setup to print in black ink only, problems can occur during the conversion from RGB to K (black) only artwork. e.g. white backgrounds of cropped images may turn a light grey colour, shadow areas may go darker or greys may appear warm or cool looking in colour instead of neutral.

How fast can you get my project printed?

After we have completed a print specification for quote, we can give you a better idea of turnaround times. Below will give you an indication of average turnaround times for general printing.
Digital Printing - 2 to 6 days
Offset Printing - 4 to 8 days
Offshore Printing - 5 to 8 weeks

Do you deliver or do I pickup?

All of our quotes include delivery to your door as standard, your print is dispatched from one of our quality production facilities via courier or post with a minimum of 1 working day for transit. This delivery can also be directed to our office in Albion for pickup by you.

Do I have to sign for my delivery?

Yes, if possible but it depends. If your job is delivered via courier they will look for someone to sign for the delivery, If no one is available to sign they are instructed to leave the package at the address.

Can I pay by credit card?

Yes. Let us know and we will send you a Paypal Send Money Request via email where you can pay your invoice online via the secure Paypal credit card payments page.

Can I check a proof before printing?

Yes. proofs are delivered to you as part of our multi-stage approval process. For larger jobs a physical hard copy press match proof is provided for you to approve before printing.

Depending on your job, you will either receive a:
PDF PROOF (VERIFICATION OF ARTWORK softcopy) Your supplied artwork has been checked over and is all OK for printing

PDF PROOF (PRE-PRESS CHECK & FIX softcopy) Your supplied artwork has been checked over, technical issues have been found and fixed, this is a final check before printing.

HARD COPY PROOF (LOOSE SHEET PRINT hardcopy) Artwork has been printed out and delivered to you to check colour and trim size

What if my artwork is not (Print Ready) setup correctly?

A fabulous print result always start with high quality, best practice design of your artwork. We want to be sure you're 100% happy with your final printed result and there are no nasty surprises caused by faulty artwork setup like: incorrect fold/trim size, wrong colours, missing objects, things cut off/close to the edge, blurry images, changed fonts etc.
To maintain our high quality standards, low print prices, efficient production, and most importantly; customer satisfaction we always meticulously check your artwork manually by eye and with our specialised Pre-Flight software before it is sent off to print. On occasions where your supplied PDF file has technical or design errors which will cause a poor and unacceptable print result (e.g. low image resolution, no bleeds or margins, spot/RGB colours etc.) we will fix these errors (charged at our fixed pre-press rate) and send you a revised proof (with the changes listed) for approval.

What are RGB and CMYK colours?

RGB (red green blue) colour mode is used to display images on a computer monitor, iphone etc. CMYK (cyan magenta yellow blacK) colour mode is what is used to print ink onto paper. The conversions between these modes is what effects the final colour of your print.

Word Doc headings & text jump pages after making a PDF file!

This can be caused by issues with fonts, paragraph spacing and margins within word.

1. irst thing to do is turn on show/hide hidden
characters by clicking this button

show-hide.JPG
found in the HOME or FORMAT or PARAGRAPH
menu's (depending on your version of word)

2. The next step is to make sure you insert page
breaks with this button
pagebreak.JPG
when you want to end and force to start a
new 
page for example 
a new chapter
section or story.


3. Then just re-save your word doc as a PDF file.

Testimonial

Working with Paradigm Print Media has saved me so much time and has literally made my life easier. I know they'll always get me the best price.
Anna-Maria Masci
Uniting Care Community

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