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Artwork Setup - Portfolios

When ordering a Portfolio, please follow the guidelines below depending on which type of binding you choose.

We assume you're using Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign. If you're not familiar with these programs, Microsoft Word can also create the file type we need - PDF.

 

InDesign Export Settings

You can download the correct pre-defined export settings (called "Job Options") and load them into InDesign directly - it's quick and easy. Simply download this file, then visit this page for instructions on loading those settings. It's a good idea to set your "Bleed" to 3mm on all sides before you start creating your design - see "Bleed" below for more info. 

 

Bleed

Bleed is the act of making sure that any artwork that goes right to any edge of a page, actually goes a little bit over the page - usually by 3mm on all edges. We need this because when we print and cut your product, there will always be a bit of mechanical movement/misalignment from page to page. Having this bleed buffer area means you won't end up with nasty thin white borders on some or all pages if a page isn't cut exactly on your crop/trim mark.  

Not only do you need to ensure that bleed is set correctly in your export settings (see above), but you also need to make sure you scale and drag your artwork big enough so that it completely fills the additional bleed area.

For example, if you want an entire A4 page (210x297mm) to be pink, the rectangle shape you create to fill with pink colour will need to be offset by 3mm on all sides, so it will be at least 216x303mm in size.

If you don't include bleed properly, we may choose to cut your product 1-3 mm smaller than specified to effectively chop off any thin white borders that may appear.  

 

Type

Please ensure all type is outlined. Although we don’t always need outlined type, this process ensures there is no risk of font changing during pre press and avoids any licensing issues related to the font.

Once the text is outlined it will convert to a vector and will no longer be able to be edited so please make sure you only outline your final file or keep a back up available. 

 

Overprint

This is the most common reason that a physical print might look very different to the way you see it on screen. We highly recommend giving yourself enough time to order printed proofs, especially if you have a lot of overlapping shapes or images, or you have changed the opacity of overlapping elements so that something underneath shows through. 

We recommend that you do not manually set anything to overprint unless you know exactly what you're doing. You can learn more here if you're curious.

 

Banding & Large Area Solid Colours

Digital printing, even on the most advanced machinery, has drawbacks. Large areas of single solid colours don't always print perfectly even, and they can show scratches/marks/oil stains easily (especially on covers). There's nothing we can do to avoid this, so we suggest you avoid large areas of solid colour (particularly on your font & back covers) if you are very picky about print quality. If we think your artwork will have these issues, we may decide to matte celloglaze your covers on a case-by-case basis, time permitting.

 

Pad Binding

This is the easiest to set up for, and a good option if you're not super confident with graphic design or InDesign / Illustrator. The portfolio will hinge/open on the extreme left edge of the book, so nothing gets hidden in a "gutter". The gap between opposing pages when the book is fully open (laying flat) will be less than 1mm, which is such a small amount that you don't need to include a gutter.

**Please note: Pad Bound book spread lineups can not be guaranteed due to movement in the print and binding process. We will do our best to provide you with the best possible product using this method.

 

PDF settings as follows:

  • Supply 1 document only that includes both covers and internal text pages.
  • Include 3mm bleed on all sides.
  • Include crop marks (offset by 3mm).
  • Supply as single pages (not spreads).
  • We assume all pages will be printed back-to-back / double sided - include blank pages in your PDF if required.
  • The first page of your PDF will be the front cover. The second page will be the inside of the front cover.
  • The last page of your PDF will be the back cover. The second last page will be the inside of the back cover.
  • No bleed marks, no centre registration marks.

 

Side Sewn

A little more difficult to set up, but only because this portfolio hinges along the stitching, which doesn't allow the book to open all the way. What this does is effectively trap and hide some of your internal page artwork within the spine area. This hidden area is called the "gutter", and will be 14mm wide. 

When we bind your portfolio, we will stitch down the crop marks on the left side of the portfolio, and leave about an extra 7mm hanging out. Now, in terms of the front and back covers, you'll be able to see this additional 7mm beyond the stitching, so make sure your covers bleed 7mm into the gutter to account for this extra space. The internal pages only need to bleed 3mm into the gutter because you won't really be able to see past the stitching when the book is open. 

PDF settings as follows:

  • Supply 2 separate documents. One with the covers (front, back and insides of each - 4 pages total), and one with the internal text pages.
  • Covers - 14mm gutter with 7mm bleed into the gutter. 3mm bleed on other edges.
  • Text Pages - 14mm gutter with 3mm bleed all around.
  • Include crop marks on all pages (offset by 3mm).
  • Supply everything as single pages (not spreads).
  • We assume all pages will be printed back-to-back / double sided - include blank pages in your PDF if required.
  • No bleed marks, no centre registration marks.

    Wire Bound

    Very easy to set up for - another good option if you're not confident with graphic design or InDesign / Illustrator. The portfolio will hinge/open around the wire loop that holds the book together on the left edge of the book. Anything about 10mm to the left and right of the spine (the gutter) will be obstructed by this wire, so keep critical elements like text well away from the gutter. The gap between opposing pages when the book is fully open (laying flat) will depend on which diameter wire we choose to use (based on your number of pages) - it's likely to be about 2-5 mm max.

    PDF settings as follows:

    • Supply 1 document only that includes both covers and internal text pages.
    • Include 3mm bleed on all sides.
    • Include crop marks (offset by 3mm).
    • Supply as single pages (not spreads).
    • We assume all pages will be printed back-to-back / double sided - include blank pages in your PDF if required.
    • The first page of your PDF will be the front cover. The second page will be the inside of the front cover.
    • The last page of your PDF will be the back cover. The second last page will be the inside of the back cover.
    • No bleed marks, no centre registration marks.

     

    Saddle Stitched

    Very easy to set up for, just make sure you read about "creep" below. The portfolio will hinge/open along the crease of the book as you'd expect. The gap between opposing pages when the book is open is so small it's effectively zero - no gutter. The middle page of the book will open as a continuous spread, however keep in mind that the staples will be visible on this one inner spread (and on the outside covers, along the spine).

    Simply supply your file as single pages in sequential order. You don't need to worry about the order of pages when thinking of it as a booklet - we will handle this for you. 

    Something called "creep" must be considered for this type of binding. Creep means that the pages closer to the centre of the book might be trimmed shorter along the right edge (the edge opposite the spine). For this reason, keep critical elements like text, borders and page numbers well away from this edge. The inner pages of books with 24 pages or less could be approx 3mm shorter than planned, so keep critical elements at least 9mm away from the right edge of the page. 28-52 page books could be up to 6mm shorter, so keep 12mm away.   

    PDF settings as follows:

    • Supply 1 document only that includes both covers and internal text pages.
    • Include 3mm bleed on all sides.
    • Include crop marks (offset by 3mm).
    • Supply as single pages (not spreads).
    • We assume all pages will be printed back-to-back / double sided - include blank pages in your PDF if required.
    • The first page of your PDF will be the front cover. The second page will be the inside of the front cover.
    • The last page of your PDF will be the back cover. The second last page will be the inside of the back cover.
    • No bleed marks, no centre registration marks.

     

    White Ink

    See this page to learn how to set your artwork up for white ink.

    Note: White ink can only be printed on the covers (front and/or back, inside and/or outside), not on any internal pages. That's because all internal pages of all portfolios will be printed on white paper, and you won't see white ink on white paper. White ink only works when the actual stock itself is a colour other than white. If you want internal pages to appear as white art on a black background, then you'll need to make the background of those pages black, and the artwork white.

     

    Get in contact if you have problems setting up your artwork. We can set up artwork for you at a rate of $143.00 per hour.