Graphics Specifications for Printing on Plastic

We accept electronic art on 3.5" Mac formatted floppy disks, Iomega Zip 100 & CD's.

E-mail address: (Use this only to send artwork, But please specify your Account Representive).
art@customplasticcard.com

All E-mail correspondence should be directed to your account representative.
Please use PKZIP, WINZIP or Stuffit Deluxe for compression when E-mailing.

Art Specs for Electronic Files Preferred Programs on Mac
(in order of preference)

Quark Express 5.0 - If you are sending a Quark.eps, please send the originating file. If there is a problem, with the eps, it cannot be opened. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or lower Adobe Illustrator 10.0 or lower Macromedia Freehand 10.0 - If you are sending a Freehand 3.0 eps, please send the originating file. If there is a problem with the eps, it cannot be opened. Adobe Pagemaker 7.0 or lower - Please provide all the placed files separately along with the Pagemaker file. If there is a problem with a placed image, it cannot be accessed through Pagemaker.

IBM Programs (if Mac is not available)
(in order of preference)

1. Quark Express
2. Adobe Photoshop
3. Adobe Illustrator
4. Macromedia Freehand
5. Corel Draw 10 - When possible, please use Adobe Type 1 fonts. Please include printer and screen fonts that you used to create your file. All type should be changed to curves to avoid font problems. If you have placed art, include that image file. The entire document needs to be exported in eps format.
   We CANNOT accept Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint

Placed Element Formats
Please save all elements in your files in these formats:
1. EPS (Mac or PC) - Use for vector art
2. Tiff (Mac or PC) - Use for CMYK and Halftone Only
Files saved in any other format can cause problems.
DO NOT send RGB images. If we must change to CMYK, your image may change to an undesirable color intensity.

Placed Element Specs

1. CMYK & Halftone images should be scanned at 300 res (calculate for final size) for output at 150 lines.
2. Line art should be scanned at 1200 res (calculate for final size)

Fonts
Font problems are common because of the large variety of font manufacturers. Please include all fonts and screen fonts used in your document to ensure that your job prints to your specifications (even the most common fonts).

Trapping
We use .144 pt for trapping in QuarkXpress. In Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand we set the trapping between 1 pt and 1.5 pt depending on the image. We can adjust or set the trapping for you.

Colors
Please make sure that your art colors are specified as you would like them to print. A PMS color should not be separated as process.

Client Checklist (Very Important)
o Are all of the files, support files and embedded files to be output on the disk?
o Did you make a backup of all of your files?
o Did you label all disks?
o Did you include a laser copy proof of all files?
o Did you include your screen and printer fonts?
o Did you indicate on your Print/Proof FPO?
o Did you link all graphic files and are they indicated on your print/proof?
o Did you indicate color elements - Pantone or CMYK values?