This page contains all the information needed to successfully send electronic artwork to the Production Department of Newsquest (Watford). It contains examples of dot gain, screen rulings, colour specification, file sizes and deadlines, as well as the many different ways the Production department is able to accept your supplied files.

Followed properly, it helps to ensure your advert appears correctly, time and time again. So please keep it to hand in your own production department.

This document has been compiled over a number of months where a careful study of electronic artwork has been carried out. We have taken into account the various formats available within the market place, and feel we have made ourselves more than accommodating, offering many options to suit a range of clients. There are some agency practices that we are unable to accommodate but we feel comfortable that these guidelines will be welcomed by many of you and in turn will be beneficial to your customers as well as our own production department.

All documents we are sent electronically, whether they be on disk or via ISDN or ADS, are in turn sent electronically using our ISDN line direct to our print sites. This gives us the added complication of making sure that the files we can accept are also compatible with our print site requirements. If the attached information is not followed clearly we cannot guarantee the advertisements appearing in our titles.

We would ask that you bear in mind the differences which exist between all origination centres/press output centres in terms of the level of equipment and software used. According to the set-ups employed, a file which reproduces perfectly at one centre may cause errors at another. We always endeavour to error-trap and alert the supplier. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, this is not always possible. Two of the most common errors encountered are “knockout” items failing to appear and font embedding issues. We therefore ask that you refer to the sections relating to these issues.

If further information is required please do not hesitate to contact Denise Smith on 01923 216358 or email dsmith@london.newsquest.co.uk.

The following deadlines are designed to give both advertisers and production the required time to prepare complete electronic artwork ready for application.

If any of these deadlines are missed by the customer the production department reserve the right to exclude the advert from the booked publication.

Any client who supplies an incorrect advert to the production department within deadline will be notified and given a reasonable amount of time to re-supply correct artwork. If the artwork is incorrect and late there will be no phone call and the paper will be filled with an appropriate ‘in-house’ filler. The full amount will still be invoiced.

As with all enquiries please call the production department on 01923 216358 from Monday to Friday 9am - 5.30pm

MIDWEEK Title code MW
All sections 1.00pm Friday

SOUTH BUCKS STAR Title code ST
All sections 5.00pm Tuesday

BUCKS FREE PRESS Title code FP
All sections 5.00pm Wednesday

UXBRIDGE/EALING TIMES Title codes UT and ET
All sections 5.00pm Tuesday

LIMITED EDITION South Bucks Edition (Monthly magazine) Title code LE
All sections 5.00pm Monday prior to press day

When sending artwork where possible please send as an electronic file, following the various formats listed attached. Newsquest (High Wycombe) is fully electronic and supplied film or bromide causes issues with time and transmission to other press sites. If film or bromide must be supplied please contact your advertising representative and inform them of this. Agencies wishing to confirm receipt of their electronic file please use 01923 216366

The preferred means of supplying artwork is via AdFast. - an impartial company that acts as a go between for agencies and production departments. Colour and mono files can be converted in to PDFs (Portable Document Format) and uploaded for the production department to download. This process provides checks on the file and confirmation of receipt of files from both parties. Please visit www.adfast.co.uk to register.

Other forms of media are however accepted, these include:

ISO 9660

• CD Rom Discs

When sending disks please send directly to the ad rep responsible for the booking. They will then forward this to the production department with the relevant paper work.

Please send a stamped addressed envelope if you would like your disks returned.

When sending files they must be named in the following format:

Edition Code (e.g. FP - [Bucks Free Press], ST - [Star]) then ADID/URN (Advertisement Identity) followed by the date of publication (e.g. FP1234567 25-6-2001)

This production department will not accept responsibility for errors caused on files that DO NOT use this naming convention.

Electronically supplied artwork must be saved as an EPS graphic or PDF file and have all fonts embedded within it. This also applies to “nested” graphics within the file (see notes on NESTED GRAPHICS).

Do not supply fonts separately on disk, this is illegal. Any file supplied with separate fonts runs the risk of having them substituted with similar styles from our current font list or the exclusion of the advertisement altogether. In this case we cannot accept liability for any errors.

Many artwork packages will allow the user to embed the fonts when they initially save it as an EPS or PDF. If the package does not allow this we suggest downloading font embedding software from www.fontincluder.com (This site also offers a 30 day trial). The benefit of using FontIncluder is that when unable to locate a font for embedding it alerts the operator with the font name and will not allow creation of the EPS file.

If Acrobat Distiller is used to embed fonts, please be aware of a known problem. Sometimes the program will omit fonts even though they are shown within the font folder. It is best to set Distiller’s preferences to cause the file to “fail” when this occurs and therefore alert the operator. Please note that this error can usually be overcome by placing the font concerned into the resource folder within Acrobat‘s program files.

Please note that if your files are produced in Illustrator or FreeHand it is advisable to convert all fonts to paths or outlines to guarantee their inclusion. This will then remove the requirement for processing the EPS file through separate software for font embedding. Microsoft Publisher files must be checked for font license issues and then saved as a PostScript (PS) file. If it is not possible to save a PS file the document must be saved using the “Pack and Go” function, selecting the option to “Take to a Commercial Printer”. Failure to do this may lead to font substitution or rejection of the supplied file.

When the artwork that is supplied includes full colour or spot colour in any of the above formats, then the client has to ensure that all colours including custom colours are converted to CMYK process colours. If this does not happen the customer runs the risk of having certain colour separations missing from the printed product. RGB and Pantone ARE NOT acceptable. This also applies to graphics (often logos) “nested” within files which are then saved as EPS.

Maximum file size:- 30Mb. Anything over this file size can cause difficulties in outputting and may result in an incorrect reproduction or even omission from our publications. With full colour ads this file size quadruples and takes a great deal of time to output. If the document is too big or corrupt Newsquest (High Wycombe) will contact the sender. This will only apply if the deadline has been met. However if the job is incorrect and the deadline passed, the omission from the paper rests solely with the customer.

Colour files saved in Photoshop format should be PhotoShop EPS : (NOT PhotoShop DCS1 or DCS2)
DCS = Off (PhotoShop 4 and older)
Preview = MacIntosh 8 bit/pixel
Encoding for both colour and grayscale files = Binary

Screen resolutions for graphics used within files are:

• Bitmap (Lineart) = 600 dpi
• Grayscale = 150 dpi
• Colour (CMYK) = 200 dpi

Please note that these settings ALSO apply to all images (colour and mono) used within a document which is eventually saved as an EPS. We have experienced issues where such ”nested graphics” have been saved with the Encoding set to JPEG, in the belief that this encoding will be converted when the EPS of the document is produced. Unfortunately this is not the case. During output of these files the RIP will be unable to correctly interpret the colour or mono information and errors will result. (For example, mono images appear with the same halftone information repeated on all four colour plates).

KNOCKOUT We have experienced issues with files which employ white type on coloured backgrounds. It appears that the ”knockout“ is sometimes preserved ONLY on the black channel of the EPS. The result of this being that the screen image is correct (and therefore composite proofs are also correct), but the cyan, magenta and yellow inks effectively blot out the white type when printed.

Please ensure that all white type is set to ”knockout“ correctly before generating an EPS of the file.

WORK AROUND To remove any element of risk associated with ”knockout“ items, create a colour which consists of 1% black. Add this to your colour table/document colours and apply it to the items which are to print white.

“Nested” Graphics are individual stand-alone graphic files which are elements of the EPS or PDF which you supply. For example, you may have produced a corporate logo for a motor dealer using Illustrator that combines type and a photo of a sports car. This logo is then saved as a graphic for multipurpose use and in this version is included in the advert you are supplying to pre-press.

It is important to remember that the rules which apply to fonts, colour and format apply equally to any “nested” graphics of this type.

In the example of the motor dealer logo, the fonts MUST be embedded when the graphic of the logo is produced. If this is not done then the EPS of the completed advert WILL NOT have the logo fonts embedded and we will be unable to substitute them. This will result in the default font, Courier, being used and may have further display issues resulting from the change in character width.

Colours used in the “nested” graphic must conform to the rules in the section headed COLOUR FILES. Failure to do so will cause colours to be omitted or reproduce incorrectly. Note that converting the colours on your document to process CMYK will not convert Pantone, RGB or spot colours used in “nested” graphics. This applies to text, and pictures contained within the “nested” graphic.

Please note that any Photoshop graphics which are “nested” or form part of “nested” graphics must conform to the rules given in the section headed PHOTOSHOP GRAPHICS. This is especially true of the encoding as this is NOT overridden by the final document being saved as an EPS or PDF. Our page creation system is unable to process JPEG files and even an EPS saved with JPEG encoding will be omitted when output to press. This occurs even when JPEG encoding is used on a “nested” graphic within supplied artwork.

If you wish to send in artwork or copy via email please follow these guidelines.

1. Always send the email to your company representative for processing. They will then forward this to Pre-Press. Please do not send direct to Pre-Press.

2. We can only accept PDF or EPS* (with fonts embedded) as full artwork. With the exception of Publisher, there is no way to convert any other Microsoft application format. Files from those applications will be re-set as close as possible to the original.

3. If you wish to send Word (.doc), PowerPoint (.pp) etc, please attach any pictures or graphics/logos used in the document as separate attachments as well.

4. If you wish to send Publisher documents (.pub), please “Save As...” PostScript. Ensure that you have checked the document for any font licensing issues. (Please refer to the final paragraph of the section headed FONTS).

5. Please send all files/information within one email.

6. Please remember we can only use fonts for which we hold a licence. We may not be able to match fonts but will try to replace with close or suitable alternatives.

7. Please check that pictures, logos and graphics are of print quality.

If you are unsure of your software compatibility, please contact this office for advice.
* Or PS (PostScript) file in the case of Miscrosft Publisher.

Screen Angles: Cyan: 75° Magenta: 45° Yellow: 90° Black: 15°
When producing separations the following should be noted: all presses are COLD WEB OFFSET

Screen Ruling: 100 lines per inch (40 lines per centimetre) with round dot

Ink Coverage: The total coverage in any given area must not exceed 260%

Dot gain: Allow for 35% plus or minus 5% dot gain at 50% tint and 20% plus or minus 3% dot gain at 75%

Target Densities: Cyan: - 0.9 Magenta: - 0.9 Yellow: - 0.8 Black: - 1.2 Measured with a polarised T densitometer Dot Size: For newsprint from 45gsm to 55gsm highlight Cyan 2%, Magenta 1%, Yellow 1%, dropping out on catchlights completely.

Shadow: 85% maximum

In-House Setting - Copy can be set in house for all adverts but the quality of any original materials for scanning must be good.

If artwork is sent the wrong size, where possible the production department will proportionately reduce/enlarge to the width or depth required. The production department will not anamorphic any advertisement.