Pictures on the web are usually GIF's and sometimes JPEG's. Don’t worry about the names, they collectively come from a graphics construction known as Bitmaps. However, there are limitations when it comes to printing GIF's because they are not designed for printing, only for viewing on a screen.

Bitmap images are made of little dots (pixels) of a specific size. If you try to resize the image upwards these dots become distorted and you lose the quality of the image.

Images on the web are almost entirely fixed at 72ppi (pixels per inch), but to print a really clear image we need 300ppi - known as high resolution (hi-res). Therefore images from the web or that have been created for website are of no use for printing.

As a guide …
If you need to resize GIFS make them smaller not larger.
The best graphics for printing are EPS, TIF and JPEG.
Try to supply your pictures/graphics at the actual size for printing at 300ppi

As used in printing and publishing, resolution refers to the dots of ink or pixels that make up a picture, when it is printed on paper or shown on a screen.

DPI (dots per inch) is just one measure of resolution, others are PPI (pixels per inch), SPI (samples per inch), and LPI (lines per inch).

As well as colour dots there are also black dots.

In black and white printing, the size of the dots and how close or far apart they are printed creates different shades of grey.

The more dots that are used the clearer the picture and therefore the larger the size of the graphic file. Resolution is measured by the number of dots in a horizontal or vertical inch.

To change the print size of digital photos use photo editing software. There will be a "Image Size," "Print Size," "Resize," or "Resample" command. When you use this command you will see that you can change print size, pixel dimensions, and resolution (PPI).

Your computer screen operates out of the colours Red, Green and Blue - RGB. They work together to create bright, vibrant and vivid colours.

Full colour printing uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK).

If you are supplying any sort of artwork file created in Publisher, Photoshop or one of the common graphics packages you must change your artwork fromRGB to CMYK.

Once altered to CMYK the colours you see on your screen will seem a bit flatter and less bright, this is a side effect necessary to make your artwork/pictures print correctly.

Bleed is a term that refers to an image that prints off the edge of a trimmed page - so if your design calls for a picture, solid or even text to extend right to the edge of the paper (the "trim"), the ink is "bleeding" off the page and you need tobuild a bleed margin into your artwork.

Print that have a white border or white around the edges DO NOT bleed, but if you have images or backgrounds that you want to print right to the edge of the paper you must design your job larger than the final finished trimmed size.

To achieve a full bleed document we need to actually cut through this area of extended image/background.

To create a bleed add 3mm on all four sides of your document, in most cases this can be done by extending a picture box outside the trim marks, this will leave enough bleed area for us to trim in to - but if in doubt, give us a call.

Should your technical knowledge not extend this far, or you would like us to amend or tidy up your design please ask us as this is all part of the Imperial Printers service. Obviously we will have to charge extra for this service.

Press ready PDF - with fonts embedded
Indesign - fonts converted to outlines
Quark Express – supply fonts and images
Photoshop – layers flattened, at least 300 dpi, JPEG or Tiff
Illustrator – fonts converted to outlines
Freehand – fonts converted to paths
Corel Draw – fonts converted to curves and then export as Illustrator AI

Please call production to discuss on 020 8894 2171

When supplying native files e.g. Indesign, Quark Express, please ensure all images, document, elements and fonts are in one folder and please compress using Stuffit or similar to .sit or zip files before sending.

We prefer artwork to be supplied in high-resolution PDF format.
PDF's have become the standard file format for transmitting files for printing, however it is imperative to prepare your PDF file in the correct way.

When creating a PDF in Acrobat, there are file options which must be set for printing. These include resolution, compression settings and font embedding.

Make sure that you choose high resolution. Compression settings for colour and greyscale should be down sampled to 300dpi with "auto compression" set on high. Bitmapped (black and white - monochrome: i.e. line art) images should be set at 600dpi. Font embedding should be set to "embed all fonts."

Please supply artwork at the finished size and include crop marks. If this is not possible, let us know and we will amend the artwork as required.

Make sure that there is a 3mm bleed all round the PDF. Crop marks must be included. If it is not saved in this way, we will not be able to use it for printing and if changes are required, you will have to amend and re-supply the artwork.

Include all fonts you have used in your job. We have an wide range of fonts, but there is no guarantee that the version we have will match yours. This can create problems with line lengths and spacing of the type and cause text to overflow.

Imperial Printers will assume that all fonts supplied are licensed and we take no responsibility for embedded fonts.

Screen tints may range from 90% down to 5%.

Anything above 90% or less than 5% will in most cases not be noticeable to the naked eye.

Most Important - CMYK not RGB
Please ensure that ALL embedded images are CMYK. RGB images may look good on your screen but output for print is always in CMYK. (Warning images left as RGB may not print).

When creating a PDF from a MS Publisher or Word files, please ensure that spot colours are created correctly in your original documents. Do not set to RGB.

Our prices include "pre-flight checking" your artwork and submitting a PDF proof for approval. During this process we will correct any easy to remedy problems that we spot free of charge.

Amendments or corrections are charged at £40.00 per hour.

Please do not supply imposed pages or "printers pairs" because our production process includes imposition software that will impose your job dependant on the exact process we use.

If you are supplying a multi-page document, please save the front and back cover of the document as a separate file and supply pages as single pages in page order. We suggest that you keep all text and copy at least 5mm away from the trimmed edge of a page to allow for "creep" – pages in the centre of a document are not as wide as those on the outside due to the folding and thickness of the paper.

Files should be sent to info@imperialprinters.co.uk please include all applicable information to do with the job. Our preferred maximum file by email is 10mb, files larger than this should be sent on disk.

If file size is greater than 10MB please call 0208 894 2171 for details of how to upload large files.

CD Rom, DVD, and USB memory sticks should be sent to: Production at Imperial Printers, Albion House, Albion Road, Twickenham TW2 6QL

Please include a hard copy of your artwork for reference including full instructions.

We will supply a PDF proof free of charge. If you require a digital proof (high resolution) these can be supplied and will be charged extra. These Epson proofs are colour calibrated to our printing presses.