GPO Guide for Submission of Digital Files.Pdf
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The Guidelines Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Design & Prepress Files U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I KEEPING AMERICA INFORMED 732 North Capitol Street NW ■ Washington, DC 20401-0001 ■ www.gpo.gov Publication 300.6 Rev. 07/04 Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Design and Prepress Files 1 To Our Customers, The United States Government Printing Offi ce (GPO) is dedicated to providing you, our customers, the best possible publishing product at the lowest possible price, while meeting each customer’s important deadline. To do this effectively, the GPO will develop customized solutions for meeting your publishing needs and services. These solutions will offer a fully integrated approach, including creating, packaging, disseminating, storing, preserving, and authenticating information. GPO’s new National Sales Program is committed to creating awareness of GPO’s product and service offerings, which will promote the full spectrum of GPO’s services to you, our agency customers and partners. In doing so, the program will showcase creative services, electronic publishing options, dissemination strategies and other valuable services. We are committed to providing you with support and solutions to meet your publishing needs. As always, we will continue to keep you informed. Jim Bradley Managing Director Customer Services Support Through GPO Table of Contents The goal of this publication, The Guidelines Platform 3 — Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Other Platforms 3 Design and Prepress Files, is to provide best File Submission 3 practice guidance to customers who are Media 3 creating publishing products via desktop Electronic File Transfer (ETF) 3 computers. As always, the ePUB Support Commonly Accepted Publishing Software 3 Group is available to answer questions Macintosh Platform 3 regarding electronics and publishing. Windows Platform 3 Current Software Versions 4 GPO’s Electronic Publishing Support Group File Formats for Print 4 is an in-house desktop and electronic Native Applications Files 4 publishing consulting group. We service Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) 4 all Federal Government agencies who use PostScript Files 4 GPO’s Printing Procurement process, as well Digital Deliverables 5 as our in-house and regional personnel. File Formats for Repurposed Deliverables 5 HTML 5 Please note that the basics of proper file Acrobat PDF 5 creation, unlike technology, stay fairly Press Optimized PDF 5 consistent. While no specific “recipe” Screen/Web Optimized PDF 5 exists for creating the perfect electronic SGML & XML 5 file, the suggestions provided in this Fonts 6 publication will simplify the process and PostScript Type 1 6 minimize potential problems. Open Type 6 Fonts Used in Graphics Files Please direct questions, comments or Converting Fonts to Outline Paths or Curves 6 suggestions for improving this document Color Issues 6 to ePUB: RGB 6 Four-Color Process (CMYK) 6 phone 202.512.1491 Spot Colors 7 e-mail [email protected] Grayscale 7 website www.gpo.gov/procurement/ditsg Duotone Images 7 Color Expectation 7 Images 7 NOTE Scanning 7 This edition of The Guidelines was revised July of Scanning Resolution (color and grayscale photographs) 7 2004 and replaces the previous version revised in August of 2001. This revision includes updated Scanning Resolution (line art) 8 information regarding software, processes, and the Scanned Image File Formats 8 latest trends in industry. Digital Cameras 8 Resolution Capture 8 Formats and Compression 8 Image Manipulation 8 Cropping, Rotating, & Scaling 8 Layers 8 Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Design and Prepress Files 1 Education Through GPO Graphics, Maps, Charts, and Appropriate File Formats 9 The art and science of producing printed Establishing Links 9 publications using commercial offset Updating Graphics 9 lithography or the new digital means Nested Graphics 9 requires very structured files. As an Clip Art 9 example the “colors” produced by these Copyright & Artwork 9 reproduction means are very different and Maps 9 often limited compared to typical desktop Graphs and Charts 9 printing. Understanding the requirements Appropriate File Formats 9 and limitations of commercial reproduc- Proofing 10 tion is often the difference between bring- Conventional Proofs 10 ing a project in on-time and being late, Standard Digital Proofing (SDP) 10 and will definitely effect it’s final cost. Two-Step Proofing 10 Prior to Production Samples (One-Off Proofs) 10 The practices described in these guide- Miscellaneous 11 lines, and many tips and tricks of publica- Extraneous Images 11 tion design, are covered in detail in classes Designer Responsibility 11 taught by GPO. For anyone involved with Printer-Ready Files 11 Gradients 11 producing printed publications basic print Tint Screens 11 production training is recommended. For Rules 11 those designing pages, “responsible page Bleeds 11 building” is also a must. Compressing Files 11 Backup Copies 11 GPO Training Provides Clipping Paths 12 Electronic Design and Prepress Courses: Documentation 12 Adobe Acrobat –PDF for Press, Checking Form 952 12 Desktop Publishing Files—Preflighting, Marking Visuals 12 Getting the Best From Desktop Publishing, Current Visuals 12 Printing Processes and Terminology, and Color-Separated Visuals 12 others including software specific classes, tutoring, selfpaced learning aids, and on- line training. Electronic Publishing Courses: courses in electronic publishing such as CD Publication, XML for the WWW and Dreamweaver are also provided. For training classes, contact the Institute for Federal Printing and Electronic Publishing (IFPEP) at GPO: phone 202.512.1283 e-mail [email protected] website www.gpo.gov/ifpep/ifpep.html 2 Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Design and Prepress Files Platform Electronic File Transfer (EFT) If desired by the ordering agency, GPO contracts can Electronic files should be created using either the include the electronic submission of files. Electronic Macintosh or Microsoft’s Windows operating system submissions include, but are not limited to e-mail (OS). When using the Macintosh OS, use system 10.2 and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Proprietary solutions or later. When using the Windows OS, use Windows (e.g., Wam!Net) can be accommodated if requested 2000 or XP. by the ordering agency. Tip: GPO will accept files from either platform; however, Caution: Attachments to e-mail can be particularly the Macintosh is the primary platform used by the print troublesome due to common file size limitations publishing industry. GPO’s experience has shown that associated with attached files and encoding issues. most service providers (and printers) are Macintosh based. Consequently, files created on the Macintosh Tip: It is important to clearly state the method and process with fewer problems and typically with lower restrictions of any desired EFT on the Standard overall costs. Form-1 so that suitable vendors may be invited to participate in the bidding process. Other Platforms Agencies using alternative platforms such as Unix should discuss the project in advance with GPO, so that suitable vendors can be invited to bid. Commonly Accepted Publishing Software File Submission The programs listed on the following pages are used to create a majority of the print publishing work Files can be submitted for procurement on any received by GPO. They are also the preferred commercially established media, or by Electronic File programs of the commercial printing industry. Files Transfer (EFT). created using the following software output with fewer problems than files created in programs not Media designed for print publishing. Other programs may Physical media includes, but is not limited to, Iomega be used, but unless they support prepress functions products (all sizes), single-session recordable CD or (e.g., CMYK and PANTONE color, trapping, bleeds, DVD. If submitting a DVD, address compatibility crop marks and color separation) problems will likely issues by making sure that the format of the DVD occur. Customers who use programs other than those drive used by the end user is the same format as the listed below should consider supplying high-resolu- DVD drive used for recording. tion press optimized PDF files instead of native files (see ePUB’s website at www.gpo.gov/procurement/ Caution: DVD–RW drives only record on –R and –RW ditsg for more information on creating appropriate discs, and DVD+RW drives only record on +R and PDF files). +RW discs. Make sure you get blank DVD disks that are compatible with your drive. Macintosh Platform Page Layout: Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Tip: The minus format is the most popular format for Adobe FrameMaker Windows users, and is almost universally accepted by Drawing/Illustration: Adobe Illustrator, Mac users as their standard DVD recordable format. Macromedia FreeHand Image Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop Caution: Customers should be wary of data stored on certain types of removable media (e.g., SyQuest Windows Platform cartridges, 3.5” floppies, etc.) as it may become Page Layout: Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, increasingly difficult to access the information. Adobe PageMaker, Adobe FrameMaker GPO suggests phasing out older legacy media. Drawing/Illustration: Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Macromedia FreeHand Image Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop Best Practices for Submitting Electronic Design and Prepress Files 3 Current Software Versions Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) If possible, use current software. Avoid using any Commonly called PDF