Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are crop marks and colour bars needed?
A: Crop marks and colour bars are not needed
Q: How much bleed do I need?
A: We assume 2mm bleed all around on jobs that need to be cut to colour.
Thus a file for an A4 sheet would be 301mm x 214mm
Q: What is the largest page size you can
print to?
A: We print on sheets up to SRA3 (450mm x 320mm)
Q: What if I need a job finished to an exact
size?
A: If size is critical please let us know when sending the file
Q. What if I have a rush job and
need to collect?
A. We are happy to try and meet your requirements, be they for
evening or weekend service. Collection or delivery outside the
normal delivery service can be arranged if possible. This
particularly applies to printing for the Holywood, Bangor,
Newtownards and Belfast region of Northern Ireland.
Q. What is the most cost effective quantity?
A. Digital print is competitively priced for short-run jobs (typically up to 1000 SRA3 sheets). However, even for larger quantities, if rapid turnaround is required, digital print is a good option.
Q. What is the estimated delivery time for orders?
A. Unlaminated jobs before 2pm will normally be ready for collection or dispatch the next working day. Laminated, large jobs and/or complicated finishing may require up to 1-2 extra days.
Q. Can you print specific Pantone colours?
A. Unlike offset/litho printers, who can use specific inks to match specific
colours, our digital press uses a combination of CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and
blacK) dry inks ("toner"). We can get close to specified colours, and can consistently reproduce that colour, but we cannot guarantee an exact match.
Q. What format should I submit my files?
A. We recommend PDF version 1.3 files, although we are happy to help with conversions or provide advice on the best format for any specific job, so do ask us. It is important that ALL fonts must be FULLY embedded, embedding multiple subsets of fonts can lead to font substitutions by acrobat.
Q: Why must pdfs be saved at version 1.3?
A: PDF versions higher than 1.3 contain information to allow editing of the pdf, along with many other features. Some of this information can interfere with the printing process. We recommend that if you are in any doubt you use the “preflight” option in Adobe Acrobat to confirm your settings. (Tools > Print Production > Preflight > Digital Press (Colour)).
Q. What page size do you print on?
A. Both laminated and non-laminated jobs are printed on SRA3 (450x320mm).
Q. What is the maximum printable area on the SRA3 sheet?
A. There is an un-printable margin of 7mm on all edges. Therefore the maximum printed area is 436x306mm.
Q. Can you number tickets or print variable data?
A. We can use the information contained in a spreadsheet to create personalised
prints. These may be sequentially numbered tickets, addressed cards, or indeed
any variable data. Please do call to discuss.
