Design, Illustrator and Corel Draw are the graphic programs considered to be the industry stardard for commercial print applications. When using other programs it is important to adapt your files to make them compatiable for commercial printing.

 

Microsoft Publisher is one example. It is possible to produce high-quality printed items from Publisher files, but you need to take different steps during the production process when preparing files to be commercially printed.

 

Regardless of the commercial printer you choose, your Publisher files will not output correctly unless you meet certain requirements. You have to make sure your layout file is in the appropriate color space, that bleed is included, and that the fonts and images are supplied in the correct format. Without these key pieces additional costs may be incurred in order to get the file ready for print.

 

Color Space
By default, Publisher works in the RGB color space, but of course, commercial presses don't print in RGB. Before sending us a file, go to Tools > Commercial Press Tools >Color Printing and select the correct color space, CMYK. You can change the color space at any time but for ultimate control, do it before you begin your design.

 

Creating Bleed
If anything on the page goes to the edge of the sheet the background image/colour needs to extend beyond the trim marks. This is referred to as bleed. Publisher does not accommodate for bleed, so you will have to do it yourself. Our standard bleed requirements can range from 3mm to 5mm so please check before starting on your design, so that you can build it into your design. For example, let's say that we require a 3mm bleed. If you're working on a 100mm x 150mm postcard, your custom page size should be 106mm x 156mm.

Remember to keep all content you don't want cut off 3mm - 5mm inside the trim edge. In the postcard example, all content should be inside a design space of 90mm x 140mm. Please ask us for the trim, bleed and design space for your particular job before starting your project.

 

Fonts
To find out which fonts are in your completed project, go to Tools > Commercial Press Tools > Fonts. In some cases it may be necessary to send copies of the fonts along with the layout file.

 

Images and Clip Art
As with fonts, we must have the images in your design to print your job correctly. But unlike fonts, Publisher embeds images in files by default. To make sure all images are embedded, go to Tools > Commercial Press Tools > Graphics Manager and check this option is selected.

 

It's not enough to embed images. For clear and crisp printing, all CMYK images should be 300dpi at the final size in the layout. You can check resolution in the details area of the Graphics Manager.

 

You're Almost There
Right before you send your files to Zacks, run Publisher's Design Checker by clicking Tools > Design Checker. This utility checks your layout for accuracy, including text cut off within a text box, information flowing off the page, overlapped items, and so on. Running this utility ensures that the necessary items for your design are in place, that extra items are removed and your content is displayed correctly.

You may also want to check the file size of your layout. Any file larger than 8mb will need to be sent the old fashion way, for example by post or you can use an ftp site like www.mailbigfile.com.

 

Send file to ZACKS
Now that you've properly prepared the file, there is just one last thing to do.

Commercial printers do not accept files in native Microsoft Publisher (.PUB) file format as the risk of the file changing on different computers is too great, so we require a PDF file instead. To create a PDF file 

 

Pack your publication by using the Pack and Go Wizard

On the File menu, point to Pack and Go, and then click Take to a Commercial Printing Service.

 

In the Take to a Commercial Printing Service task pane, in the How will this publication be printed? list, select the option: Commercial Press.

 

Click Printing Options. In the Print Options dialog box, make any needed changes, including printer's marks and then click OK. Ask us if you need to select the Printer's marks options. (printer's marks: Marks printed outside the printable area on each page of your publication to help with commercial printing service: trim, align, and control color in your publication.)

 

Under Select an item to fix, repair any problems that Publisher has identified.

 

To create a PDF file, under Export, select the Create a PDF check box. (PDF: Portable Document Format. A PostScript-based electronic file type. You can save most documents as PDF files and share them with other users on any computer).

 

You can save your publication as a compressed file that includes a Publisher file, a PDF file, or both. Both are selected by default. We only need the PDF file, so choose PDF.

 

Click Save. In the Pack and Go Wizard, choose the location to which you want to export the file, and then click Next.

 

Select or clear the Print a composite proof check box, and then click OK. The Print a composite proof check box is always selected by default. Use the composite proof to review and catch any errors in a printed version of your publication before you send the file.

 

Note: If you make changes to your publication after you pack your files, be sure to run the Pack and Go Wizard again so that the changes are included in the publication that you send to Zacks.