Artwork & Design

Artwork Alterations

As well as offering a new Corporate Identity or Full Brand Re-design, we are able to do basic artwork amends, whether its last minute changes to supplied artwork or you have started a project and you need us to finish it, we are more than happy to accommodate you.

Corporate Identity

A corporate Identity is applied to a company, by way of Corporate Branding across all aspects of the company i.e. Business Stationery, Corporate Sales Literature, uniforms etc. It is usually based on a Logo and a colour scheme. Guidelines are then put together to ensure how the identity is applied and use of colours, fonts, page layouts and other methods of maintaining visual continuity and brand recognition across the board.

Ocean Colour Print are able to meet with you to discuss your company and its requirements for a corporate identity. On understanding your requirement we will proceed onto designing a Logo that would suit your Company's needs. Once a decision is reached we can look into designing your companies Business Stationery, Corporate or Sales Literature, etc. should you wish to do this.

Full Brand Re-Design

If you feel your Company's corporate Identity is aging or feeling a little tired, or you just might be fed up with it, then rest assured, we can help. Whether it is just to freshen up a few things or a complete overhaul of your corporate image then we will be able to help you.

Please feel free to give us a call to discuss your particular requirements.

Supplied Design & Artwork Requirements

We often have a quite a few problems when receiving artwork from customers, as different people do different things. Please help us to help you, thus saving you delays and extra costs, by following these guidelines.

 

  • Guidelines for Supplying Artwork for Print

    Guidelines for Supplying Artwork for Print

    PLEASE NOTE: Artwork supplied to print must be in a finished format. Any artwork received requiring alterations by our Design team maybe subject to artwork costs. If you have any queries regarding accepted artwork formats please contact us.

    Suitable Artwork File Formats

    We have fully up-to-date software and can accept the following file formats:

    • Quark Express - versions 4 - 7
      Please make sure your project is collected for output and all fonts & pictures are supplied
    • Indesign - versions DC & CS3
      Please make sure your project is collected for output and all fonts & pictures are supplied
    • Illustrator - versions 10 - CS3
      ai or eps formats, please make sure all fonts are converted to outlines
    • Photoshop - versions7 - CS3
      psd or tiff formats, please make sure your file is flattened
    • PDF
      Please make sure all fonts are loaded correctly and colours are saved correctly in either their spot colours or as CMYK before making the pdf.

    Low Resolution Files Do Not Print Well

    Files created at 72dpi are NOT good enough for litho printing. Please produce graphics at 300dpi minimum.

    RGB Files Will Not Print

    All litho printing is produced from either spot colour or CMYK. We can convert to CMYK for you, but the colours usually change slightly. We aim to produce the best possible work for our customers with the minimum of delay. We can work from most formats supplied - your handwritten or typed copy, word-processed text file or professional produced finished artwork on disk, However, our quotations are based on the details that you give us when requesting the quote. Any remedial work required to bring supplied artwork up to printable specification and extra costs incurred on unfinished or incorrect digital files will be notified to the customer and will be charged extra. Where artwork files are supplied, although we make as many checks as we can before printing, NO RESPONSIBILITY can be accepted for an unsatisfactory result caused by errors in design, style, spelling, typesetting, layout, tint levels, film output, scanning or any other results outside our control.

    Copy & Text Supplied

    Our quotations assume that all copy supplied will be clear and legible, preferably typed. If illegible, hand written or hard to read copy is supplied, an extra artwork charge may be levied to cover the extra time involved in our studio. Studio time spent altering or correcting any errors caused by misleading copy will be chargeable after proofing. Alterations made by the customer, other than minor corrections, and re-design work after the first proof will be chargeable on a time basis. Any text supplied on disk should be saved as an ASCII file, as well as in word-processor format.. We can accept no responsibility for any spelling or grammatical errors in text supplied on disk and assume that it has been read and spell-checked before we receive it.

    Bleed

    Please always allow 3mm bleed on all edges. This is an industry standard, and should always be 3mm.

    Software Programs

    Our own studio produces all our work using the printing industry standard programs. i.e., Quark Xpress™, Adobe Illustrator™ and Adobe Photoshop™. We are usually able to accept work produced in a wide range of other programs, although the most satisfactory results are always from professional programs rather than from word-processing programs. Please remember that word-processing programs such as Microsoft Word™ are NOT designed for litho printing, as the necessary bleed, tick marks, registration marks etc cannot be accommodated. We can however often convert Word™ files into a suitable format for litho printing at extra cost. Please ask our studio for advice before starting. If we quote you an "artwork supplied" price, it is based on the assumption that the artwork is professionally completed, has been thoroughly checked and is produced in an industry standard program.

    Corel Draw

    If you work in Corel Draw™, we are not able to print directly from your files. Please export the file as an Adobe Illustrator file™ (AI). All fonts should be saved as curves or alternatively a pdf. Please note we will not be able to make any amends to these files.

    Media Formats

    We can accept files on CD, DVD & CompactFlash™ Other media formats can sometimes be accepted. Files (up to 10mb maximum) may be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For larger files, either email via www.mailbigfile.com or send on CD.

    Fonts

    Please supply all fonts used in the artwork that you are supplying. These will be used to output your work and then discarded. Please therefore supply fonts each time you supply artwork. Errors will often occur if you make a font bold or italic by using the shift/command controls. It is essential that you use the Actual Font Families to achieve these type styles. Never use system fonts such as Geneva or Chicago. Please also make sure that you have supplied all the original printer and screen fonts used on every job supplied. Mistakes in spacing and wrap-around may welll occur if different fonts are inserted by ourselves. All fonts within an EPS file should be embedded or converted to curves.

    Tabs

    If tabs are used in Quark Xpress™, it is important that actual tab settings are entered, rather than just using the tab key. Tab positions on the finished work may vary if this is not followed and no responsibility can be accepted for this.

    Colour Separations

    Please check carefully that nothing used in your artwork file, pictures, scans or colours, is in RGB mode. Everything used in litho printing has to be in CMYK or (for spot colour work) in Pantone colour. If you are using spot colour, it is essential that images created in other programs, such as Adobe Illustrator™, are supplied as EPS files in the same spot colours. Extra costs will be incurred if we have to correct files or images.

    Tints

    Please remember that tints may look very different on the final printed job than they do on your monitor screen. Due to unavoidable dot gain in plate making and on the printing press, many tints look considerably darker on the paper than they did on the screen. Be careful never to put any dark type over a dark tint. This may look quite good on the monitor, yet be unreadable on the final printed result. For tints in general, we would advise going no darker than a 50% tint on coated stock, with a maximum 30% tint on uncoated stocks. Graduated tints that start as a solid will show a step, as they start to fill in at the darkest end.

    Never produce an RGB tint or graduated tint in Adobe Photoshop™ and then convert it to CMYK. Banding will result if you do. Always work in CMYK from the beginning. Never produce a graduated tint that runs from 0% to a solid. Banding at the point where the lightest tint ceases to print and where the darkest tint fills in will occur.

    Scans & Images

    Please remember that tints may look very different on the final printed job than they do on your monitor screen. Due to unavoidable dot gain in plate making and on the printing press, many tints look considerably darker on the paper than they did on the screen. Be careful never to put any dark type over a dark tint. This may look quite good on the monitor, yet be unreadable on the final printed result. For tints in general, we would advise going no darker than a 50% tint on coated stock, with a maximum 30% tint on uncoated stocks. Graduated tints that start as a solid will show a step, as they start to fill in at the darkest end.

    Never produce an RGB tint or graduated tint in Adobe Photoshop™ and then convert it to CMYK. Banding will result if you do. Always work in CMYK from the beginning. Never produce a graduated tint that runs from 0% to a solid. Banding at the point where the lightest tint ceases to print and where the darkest tint fills in will occur.

    Laser Proofs

    A laser or ink jet proof MUST please be supplied with any artwork supplied on disk. Failure to do so means that we cannot accept any responsibility for errors.

    Collect for Output

    Quark Xpress™ has a command called "Collect for Output". This command collects all the images and fonts used in your file and puts them in one folder, ready to supply to us.

    Material Stock

    Certain colours may rub, finger mark and scuff on some stocks. In particular, matt and satin stocks may be more satisfactory if sealed or varnished. Our advice should be sought when deciding the stock to be used if you are unsure of the results. Reflex Blue in particular is likely to rub on coated stocks.

    Fine Lines & Lettering

    Please do not create hairline rules or rules of less than 0.25 pt thickness as these will not output as they are too fine. Registration of fine lines or lines produced out of more than one process colour cannot be guaranteed. There is always the possibility of very slight movement during printing. Very fine work is best produced out of one colour.

    Reversals

    Small point sizes, particularly of serif faces, should be avoided when reversed out of a solid or tint.

    Black Solids

    Offset litho inks are transparent, so when producing a solid black area in four colour process, it is advisable to introduce a 30% cyan tint to add better density to the black.

    Cutter Guides

    If your print project requires a forme (cutting tool) to be made, for an irregular shape or new box design. You will need to supply a separate line drawing of the cutting path, with fold lines indicated, so that we can arrange the manufacture of your forme.