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Submitting Recommendations

Color critical files - Color management
Please contact us if you are working with a color critical job. We will provide advise on how to best setup your files according to workflow.

Contact Mike Benson at:
mike@pixartprints.com

VERY IMPORTANT > Be sure to set your application's color setting to utilize the Adobe RGB (1998) working space. Not doing so will cause your colors to shift.

Using PDF
The ability to produce reliable, consistent, and predictable output is vital for every graphic design professional. However, because of the enormous diversity of operating systems, printing devices, fonts, and software, it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce reliable, consistent, and predictable output. Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) can help address many problem areas making printing easier and more successful.

In the past, jobs were submitted to a printer or service provider with all images, fonts, and source documents. Often files or fonts were missing, causing the file to print incorrectly. Each occurrence cost time, supplies, and of course money.

PDF's can address this issue because they are stand-alone files that embed all elements needed to print the document. For example, when a designer creates a brochure using QuarkXPress, he/she imports a variety of graphics and may use a few fonts. These fonts and graphic files are needed in order to successfully print the document. However, if the designer saves (or exports) the files as a PDF document all the elements such as fonts, graphics, and images are saved together as one PDF file.
This file can then be transported either on disk or e-mailed depending on the file size. The benefits of PDF are as follows:

1. They are highly portable
2. They are stand-alone, meaning they contain all elements needed to print the document
3. They are editable ( Only with the Full version of Acrobat )
4. They can be opened and printed on multiple operating systems.
5. They are platform and device independent.

If you ned help converting your file to pdf, checkout our directions online.

Image Quality
Jpg, giff, png, and BM are compressed file and generally will result in poor quality when printed.We highly recommend using:

The best image format for printing are:

EPS - Especially if text is included in the graphic
Tiff - Best general use graphic format

Please note that if you start with jpg, giff, PNG, or BM format and then convert the file to Tiff or EPS, the image quality will still be poor. The only exception is when you start with a large (dimension size) jpg image and downsize it with re-sampling off.

Illustrator and Freehand Issues
Please flatten all layers, convert file to RGB, converted all fonts to outlines, and include all linked image files. It is generally best to place all files within one folder and then create a compressed file of the folder using compression software. If you save the file as an eps, please include all utilized fonts. VERY IMPORTANT > Be sure to set your application's color setting to utilize the Adobe RGB (1998) working space. Not doing so will cause your colors to shift.

Photoshop Issues
For color management purposes, when in Photoshop, it is generally best to work in Adobe RGB (1998). Doing this provides workspace consistency, in addition to a large color gamut. Once your image is complete and ready for printing, please submit Photoshop files with the Adobe RGB (1998) profile. If you are not already working in Adobe RGB (1998), please convert your image. To do this, once the file is open, go to

Image Menu > Mode > Assign Profile > Profile > Adobe RGB (1998)

Additionally, when submitting a photoshop document, please flatten all layers. Pixels per inch (ppi), should be a minimum of 150 ppi at the printed size, however, we recommend a maximum resolution of 300 ppi at the printed size. For example, an 8 bit, 24" X 36" image at 150 ppi, should be approximately 56 mb. An 8 bit, 24" X 36" image at 300 ppi, should be approximately 220 mb. Files this large should be burned on a CD and mailed.

Package files with Compression Software
If you want to upload your files through our file transfer system, please use compression software to reduce file size and package the files. Compression software creates a single compressed file, with all of your files held within it. You can locate and download compression software at the following websites:

Allume Systems - Creator of Stuffit, DropStuff, DropZip compression software for both Macintosh and Windows.

Versiontracker.com - A great search tool to find freeware and shareware software. Just select your operating system and search for "Compression software".

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