Prepress Resources

General Guidelines

Guidelines for Input Media: General Guidelines

To avoid schedule delays and additional charges, please submit all specifications and copy together, including art, illustration negatives, digital files, and any needed proofs. Late work will be considered as corrections.

Provide a pagination list that notes frontmatter pages, part openers, unfolioed and blank pages, index pages, tips, wraps and inserts with your specifications. Include all special instructions, such as those that pertain to screens and dropouts.

Be sure to supply head and gutter margins with all disks, negatives or copy. Pages with non-standard format require accurate corner marks to indicate placement by head or gutter. Use reproducible (black or red) ink to note corner marks on your reflective copy.

To eliminate all white space at the gutter on double-page spreads, place the images flush to the inside edges. Up to a 1/16” gutter margin may be used on adhesive and fiberbond books bulking over 1-1/4” to permit more of the spread image to be viewed.

Please be sure to note the existence of bleeds as part of your print specifications. (Note: A bleed is any image that prints to the trim, or is less than 3/8" from the trim edge.) Bleed images require a larger paper size than non-bleed images for the same trim size. Therefore, bleed pages must be identified in advance so that the proper sheet size can be ordered. Extend the trim by 1/8" on all bleed pages.

Electronic Prepress

Guidelines for Input Media: Electronic Guidelines

The recommended format for all job submissions is PDF, and particularly the accredited PDF/X-1a standard which is specifically intended for print. We will certify the PDF through Pitstop. Click the Certified PDF tab above for more information.

Maple Press supports PostScript input (Level 1, Level 2 or PostScript 3) and application-only files, but these formats are not recommended. Maple Press will PostScript your Quark, InDesign files at an additional charge. If PDF or PostScript files are not available, please contact your Customer Service Representative in advance to ensure that Maple Press is able to support the software programs and extensions you plan to use.

Please send your PDF or PostScript files with crop and registration marks noted, along with copies of your application files. Set crop marks 18 points away from the trim. If providing only application files, send a complete set of final, full-size laser proofs with crop marks noted, along with the electronic media. For best results, we recommend that you use only Adobe PostScript Type 1 fonts.

When supplying files that use a new version of application software, please send us live, representative files in advance to test so that your final files can be processed successfully. A 32-page section that incorporates all of the included elements is definitely recommended. For two-color jobs, please provide with your electronic media two sets of final laser output, one composite and one second color.

Post your files on the Maple Press FTP site or send them on CD/DVD. Supply a separate file or CD/DVD for components such as bookjackets, papercovers, four-color inserts and stamping dies.

Label and number each piece of media with your company's name, the book title and author, and any specific file identification, giving each file a unique name.

Increase the trim size by 1/8" on all bleed edges, and use the same trim size for the entire book, whether or not a bleed occurs on every page. Be aware that jobs with bleeds may require a larger sheet size for printing, and thus must be identified in advance so the proper paper is ordered.

For electronic art, be sure to include proofs of previously-approved scans. If not received, additional proofs can be made.

Refer to the EPP File Specifications and Standards sheet for more detailed information.

Conventional Prepress

Guidelines for Input Media: Conventional Prepress

Book Scanning Copy (Repro)

When providing a book to be scanned, the book will need to be cut into single pages for scanning process. You can provide us with a book that is already cut or we can provide that service for you. If possible, send a second book as a reference copy. A second copy is very helpful to ensure pages are placed correctly, especially when the book or sections of the book are not folioed. Note that all copy is shot at 100%, unless otherwise noted as a percentage clearly marked in the customer’s instructions.

If you are providing text copy, please transmit all text copy at the same time, including front matter and back matter. Note that all books are shot at 100%, unless otherwise noted as a percentage clearly marked in the customer’s instructions. Supply the copy in single pages. Any pages received after electronic files are created will be billed as corrections.

Please be aware that only one average exposure is used to shoot each job. Line art, screen lines or copydotted halftones requiring other exposures would be charged individually. To achieve the best reproduction of your illustrations we recommend that all images with screen values be rescreened on a high-end scanner.

Copy smaller than 2" x 3" or larger than 11.5" x 17" is beyond our parameters to book scan, and requires subcontracting at additional cost, as well as longer processing time.

Illustrations (Reflective Line Art and Continuous Tones)

On reflective artwork, please indicate final size as a percentage of the original, including any required reduction or enlargement of text copy.

Identify reflective art by figure number and/or page number, using reproducible (black or red) pencil or individual tags. An art log noting placement, percentage of reduction or enlargement, and whether each is to be shot as a halftone or as line art is helpful.

Note that if artwork is to be reproduced from a bound book, the book will be cut apart unless requested otherwise. If the book must remain intact, additional processing cost will be incurred.

Indicate the size and placement of illustrations by exact size FPOs or ruled boxes with figure numbers. It is satisfactory to supply illustration corner marks (tic marks) for FPO prints or black boxes in the exact size for proper placement.

If ruled boxes on copy are used to indicate placement of illustrations, please note whether the rules are to print. Specify the weight of any rules that will print when the illustration is supplied for scanning.

Please note that illustrations will be considered combinations if line art or text is within an illustration, or if the text, such as a photo credit line, is 1/8" or less from the illustration window.

Note that illustrations larger than 11-1/2" x 17", transparencies (slides), and continuous tone negatives may require extra processing time if they need to be subcontracted to an outside source.

Unless you request otherwise, all halftones from art will be shot at 133 line screen and at a 45° angle.

Any supplied film halftones may be subject to photoprints being made and billed; consult with your Sales Representative or CSR prior to providing film.

All scans will produce a digital halftone proof for customer approval.

Proofing Information

Proper proofing is essential so that Maple Press may reproduce the content of your files while maintaining accepted industry standards.

We will initially inspect your files for proper page assembly including margins, bleeds, blanks, the positioning and order of the pages, plus determine the proper imposition.

It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure the supplied files have the proper design, content and page set-up.

Review the digital proofs or soft proofs to confirm the type, positioning, fonts, blanks and bleeds.

Note that digital proofs do not reflect color accuracy nor the quality of high resolution art.

Digital halftone proofs are available when scanned illustrations are provided.