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PostScript or EPS File Submission Requirements

Make sure your files are printable:

• Create PostScript and EPS files with a major Macintosh, Windows, Unix or OpenVMS application or printer driver.
• Your files must process without errors in Adobe Acrobat Distiller V3.02 or later. You will be charged at an hourly rate for debugging PostScript or EPS files that will not process through Distiller.
• If possible, make sure your PostScript files are Adobe DSC compliant (PostScript Language Reference Manual Second Edition, Adobe Systems, Inc. published by Addison Wesley). We have created a Macintosh application (DSCVerifier) that will check this. It can be made available to you free of charge.
• Don’t include EPS files in your graphics that also contain EPS files. Deeply nested EPS files sometimes cause PostScript errors that keep the document from printing at all.

Consider how your images will print:

• Avoid making PostScript files that contain device-dependent settings. PostScript targeted for a specific imagesetter or printer may not print properly or at all on another device. For instance, if you set a specific screen for an image, it may look fine on one printer but may be full of banding or interference patterns on another output device. If your images require specific screens or print resolutions for special effects, please clearly specify these parameters.
• Don’t include trapping. Trapping is best done at the print supplier, not on the desktop.
• Include all scanned images in the PostScript file. Color scanned images must be in CMYK to allow proper color separation.
• Spot colors must separate properly. Spot colors have a name (e.g., Pantone 201 CV). Many applications do not support true spot color. It looks like the color is named, but it is actually specified as process color. Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia FreeHand are guaranteed to support spot color.
• Don’t include lines with zero width. These will disappear when high-resolution film is made.
• Include fonts other than the standard 13. Most PostScript printer drivers support this feature.

Position your pages and artwork properly:

• Include crop marks for single-page artwork. Registration marks are a plus.
• Include crop marks for multi-page documents that are positioned in the center of the printable area and have trim sizes smaller than the printable area. For example, a 7"x9" document printed on an 8.5"x11" page will need crop marks if the artwork is centered on the page.
• If the artwork for a multi-page document is not centered on the printable area, position it in the lower left.
• Don’t add recto/verso offsets. Recto/verso offsets are shifts added to your margins to maintain proper gutters in the finished book. This will be taken care of when we process the document. Adding recto/verso offsets in the PostScript or EPS file limits the portability of the document. For instance, recto/verso offsets for a document printed on 8.5"x11" paper will be incorrect if the book will be printed in Europe on A4 paper.
• Multi-page (text body) files may need to include blank pages to ensure proper pagination. For example, if your chapters must begin on even-numbered pages and a chapter ends up on an odd-numbered page, you will have to add a blank page before the first page of the chapter.