Software Compatibility:

Macintosh: THE PREFERRED FILE FORMAT IS AN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR .AI FILE. We do however accept Quark XPress, Freehand, and InDesign. Additional charges may apply for Pagemaker file - Please note that Pagemaker may not fully facilitate out Flexographic trapping requirements.

PC: While Macintosh is the preferred platform for our graphic designers, we can accept the following PC file formats: Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. PLEASE BE SURE TO CONVERT ALL TEXT INTO OUTLINES BEFORE SENDING YOUR FILES. PLEASE PROOFREAD YOUR ART CAREFULLY AS THESE FILES MAY TAKE LONGER TO BE EDITED.

Additional handling charges may apply to PC format artwork. If you use any other software please consult your customer service or sales representative to verify compatibility. Note: See “Screens/Tints/Gradients” and “Fonts” below.

Disks:
CD’s, 3.5” diskettes, 100 mb Iomega Zip disks. Other disk types may be subject to a conversion cost. Always send a copy of your files, do not send us your original files. Always send a printout along with the disk.

ORIGINAL ART/SCANS/TEXT:
Please include placed graphics and photographs on your disk. Scan resolution should be a minimum of 250 dpi at final scale. When supplying paragraphs of text converted to curves or rasterized into a bitmap format, please include original text (.txt) files on your disk.

TYPE SPECS:
4.5 pt. minimum. Avoid fine reverse type. Avoid process builds on type smaller than 12 pt. Please do not set type or layout your label in Photoshop, rather set type and compose file in Illustrator. JPG and GIF files cannot be used to produce labels from.

FONTS:
Include all fonts used in your artwork on disk. Where Postscript fonts have been used include both printer and screen fonts. We recommend Sanserif fonts for small type (4.5 to 7 pt.)

IMAGE AREA:
Maintain 1/16” margin from die line for all art, unless it is an intentional bleed.

COLOR SPECIFICATIONS:
Specify required PMS numbers on spot color artwork.

COLOR SEPARATIONS:
Before sending your disk to us for output, please ensure that you print out ALL separations to your laser and check that each separation shows the intended art.

SCREENS/TINTS/GRADIENTS:
Screens may range from 100% to a minimum of 2%. Any values that run below 2% may not reproduce correctly and will deteriorate the quality of your print job.

TRAPPING:
Black: Set to overprint all colors.
Colors: All traps should be set to a minimum of .5 pt. Remember to spread the lighter color into the darker color.

LINES/RULES:
Minimum setting .35 pt. When printing negative (reverse) lines/rules .75 pt is the minimum recommended.

BLEED:
Standard 1/16” beyond the die line or crop marks.

NUTRITION FACTS:
Please contact the Food and Drug Administration for necessary requirements for your particular application.

BARCODES/UPC’S:
Bar width reduction should be at .002” when created at 80%, and .003” when created at 100%. We do not guarantee scanability of barcodes smaller than 80% scale.

DIES:
Be sure to contact one of our customer service representatives for a listing of the available die shapes and sizes which are stocked in-house. NOTE: Custom shapes and sizes can also be created for you. Prices vary.

PROOFS:
Please submit an accurate color print (or matchprint) as well as black and white laser separations.

QUESTIONS/ADDITIONAL INFO?:
We would like to help. Please contact your customer service representative. To complete your job cost effectively, quickly and with the highest degree of quality; please follow these flexographic computer specifications.
We will finish incomplete flexo artwork billed at $80/hour based upon the time required to adjust your art to the above specifications.