Click for Instructions
Step 1 - Trim Edge
1/16" (.0625 of an inch) will be trimmed off each side of your product (example: a Standard Postcard will trim to 4.25" x 6"). Be careful of:
- Elements too close to or over the trim edge.
- Thin borders -- may appear uneven when trimmed.
- Images bordering the trim edge -- Images should "bleed" off the page.
*Borders should be .25" thick from the bleed edge (3/16" or .1875" from trim).
Step 2 - Thin Hairlines
Hairlines thinner than .25 points may not show up when printed. To check a line thickness select the keyline or stroke and go to Window / Stroke (F10).
Be sure to set the line width to .25 points or higher:
Step 3 - U.S. Postal Regulations
If you plan on mailing your postcards (or having us mail them for you), your back layout must meet U.S. Postal Regulations.
Step 4 - Image Quality and Color
Good image quality and color makes a big difference when your order is printed:
Good quality/color
Yuck!
To prevent bad looking images your file(s) should meet some basic standards of quality and color:
- Resolution:
- Image Quality:
- Frontside Color: CMYK
- Also see our Monitor Calibration and Printing Profiles
- Backside Color: CMYK (4/4), Grayscale or B/W (4/1)
Step 5 - "Rich" Black Values
In order for color side black borders, headlines, and text to appear dark and saturated ("rich"), you will need to set your CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) values accordingly:
- C = 90%
- M = 80%
- Y = 80%
- K = 100%
Be careful that black values that appear the same onscreen may actually be vastly different when printed:
Go to Window / Color (F6). Set the CMYK sliders as shown and apply the new color to the appropriate color side black elements.
Step 6 - Update Images
Be sure that all images are properly linked and updated into InDesign® by going to the links palette (Window / Links):
Step 7 - Fonts
To see which fonts are being used in your InDesign® file go to Type / Find Font. Be sure that you DO NOT use Multiple Master Fonts ("MM" in filename - example: "OceanSanMM").
Click for Save/Export Settings
Export PDF
Please download and use our PDF Export Settings. OR Go to File / Export.
Choose "Adobe PDF" as the format and click "Save."
A dialog box will appear. Please read the following instructions carefully:
General
Set Compatibility to Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4), set the Page Range to the page you are exporting, and be sure the following are checked: "Embed Page Thumbnails," "Optimize for Fast Web View," and "Create Tagged PDF." Be sure all other options are off.
Compression
Set all images to "Not Downsample", set image compression to "None", do not compress text and line art, and be sure "crop image data to frames" is selected.
Marks and Bleeds
Do not select any marks, be sure Offset is set to "0" (zero), and that NO bleed is included (bleed is already accounted for by using our templates).
Output
Set Color Converstion to "No Color Conversion" and Profile Inclusion Policy to "Include Tagged Source Profiles."
Advanced
Some options are grayed-out. Please subset fonts and DO NOT use OPI or JDF Options.
Security
Please DO NOT apply security to your PDF file. We will be unable to open it unless you supply us with the password.
You may skip "Summary" and click "Export" -- You will be submitting this file.
After generating PDF files, you may send them to us on disk (Zip, Jaz, or CD) or upload them over the internet. Be sure to compress your files prior to sending them over the internet.
