send us your files

To achieve the highest quality production result when sending us your own artwork files, please consider the following specifications. Need help with your design? Ask your account manager about our in-house design services.

Production Requirements

  • Finished Size
  • Material/Substrate
  • Finishing, Hardware
  • Quantity
  • Single or Double Sided
  • Indicate Pantone® Colors

File Format Requirements

Native or Original Artwork Files

  • CMYK color profile
  • Build file to final output size or make artwork proportional
  • At least 1/4” bleed, 3” for murals
  • Include fonts with live text
  • Images/Links
  • Include Pantone® Colors

PDF

  • CMYK color profile
  • Build file to final output size or
    make artwork proportional
  • At least 1/4” bleed, 3” for murals 
  • High resolution out at 300dpi
    is required

When to Supply Vector or Raster Artwork

Please build your artwork in Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. Graphics or illustrations should always be vector. Photos, images, backgrounds and any other supporting graphics can be raster and should be placed in your Illustrator or InDesign layout. Embedded links are not preferred as we will often need to edit these images for print production purposes. If you choose to embed your links please provide the images separately.

An example of a properly set up file would include:

  • A vector or raster (TIFF or JPEG) background placed in Illustrator or InDesign
  • Illustrator or InDesign layout comprised of text and/or logos and any other vector based graphics
  • Along with the native file, please include fonts, links and original Photoshop background with layers

First, it is important to understand there are two kinds of graphics created on a computer: raster images and vector image

Raster

  • Raster images are composed of a grid of pixels (often called bitmap images)
  • Scaling raster images can cause loss of quality

Vectors

  • Vectors are points, lines, curves and shapes that are based on mathematical formulas
  • Vectors can be scaled without any loss of quality

Raster File Formats

Raster file formats differ by the amount of data contained in the image. The smaller the file, the less data there is. The amount of data affects both the quality and the color of the image. As a rule of thumb, on-screen viewing requires less quality and fewer colors than printed material. To the right is a list of raster file formats, listed from higher quality to lesser quality.

  • JPG
  • PNG
  • TIFF
  • GIF

Vector File Formats

Vector file formats are created using mathematical definitions to produce smooth paths. They can be scaled in size without any loss of quality. They are typically used for type, illustrations and line art.

  • Ai
  • PDF
  • EPS
  • SVG

If you are having any trouble, please contact sales@northeastcolor.com

Resolution

Print resolution is measured in dots per inch or dpi. The higher the resolution, the higher the quality of the printing. 300 dpi preferred (100 percent). Minimum resolution for monochrome line art (diagrams, drawings and graphs) is 1200 dpi at final reproduction size (100 percent) Computer monitors display images at approximately 72 dpi. That means images saved for Web viewing on a computer are not typically suitable for printing.

Video Files

If you are submitting artwork to be animated please submit within a PDF document with 1920 x 1080 pixels minimum. Please also include any supporting vector graphics, photo images, or fonts in the event of editing, or updating a clip or video for a refresh. To submit a video for immediate distribution please provide an MP4 file with a minimum 1920 x 1080 pixels and up to 60 frames per second and a h.264 codec. If you have an Adobe After Effects (.ae) or Adobe Premier (.ppj) project, please gather all assets in a compressed zip file for submission.

Color Modes

CMYK

Primarily for full color printing. CMYK is an acronym for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the standard colors used in printing.

RGB

Primarily for on-screen viewing. RGB is an acronym for red, green and blue, the colors used for computer monitors and video electronics

Monochrome

Images consisting of shades scaled from the luminosity spectrum of a single color.

Grayscale

Images with 256 shades of gray, ranging from black to white.