TIPS & DOWNLOADS
The basics for PDF creation:
Here you can find our job options (PDF creation settings) for InDesign and QuarkXPress availablefor download. You can easily load these settings into your program, as they contain all the settings for PDF export. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our prepress department.
Additionally, you will find the ICC profiles we support in the download section:
ISO Coated V2 (FOGRA 39L) suitable for natural-white coated papers
PSO Coated V3 (FOGRA 51) suitable for bright-white coated papers with optical brighteners
PSO Uncoated (FOGRA 47L) suitable for natural-white uncoated papers
PSO Uncoated V3 (FOGRA 52) suitable for bright-white uncoated papers with optical brighteners
When choosing the appropriate color profile, we are happy to assist you. Please contact our customer project managers or our prepress department for support.
Color Profiles
Ensure that the ICC profiles of your images are loaded in InDesign (Window: Links/ICC Profile). This is particularly important if the images are in RGB. A genuine profile such as sRGB, AdobeRGB or eciRGB should be displayed. If „Device RGB“ appears in the list, then the current image profile is not loaded, or it does not have one. In this case, the working color space set in InDesign will be automatically used, which can lead to undesired color shifts. If you have any questions about this, our prepress department will be happy to assist you.
Resolution
Grayscale and color images should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. We can process resolutions up to 600 dpi, so please set the resolution reduction to 600 dpi.
Line or bitmap images should have a resolution of at least 600 dpi up to a maximum of 2400 dpi.
Please export using ZIP compression, not JPEG compression, as this can result in color shifts and artifacts.
Fine Lines
The thinnest printable line weight at 100% solid color is 0.05 pt; for grayscale lines, it is 0.1 pt.
Lines, fonts, and fine graphical elements should not be composed of multiple colors, as this can lead to registration inaccuracies or blurring.
Transparency
When creating print PDFs, avoid using transparency reduction. Instead, use PDFX4 or our job options for exporting. If transparency reduction is absolutely necessary, then please set the resolution to 300 dpi when flattening. If you use our job options, this is already preset.
Metallic Colors
For printing with metallic colors, especially when they are intended to be used in images such as duotones, there are specific requirements for data preparation. Please consult with our prepress department regarding the appropriate procedure.
Fonts
All fonts must be embedded in the PDF, preferably without subsets if possible. We can process PostScript, OpenType, and TrueType fonts. If you use our job options, this is already preset.
Bleed & Crop Marks
Adding bleed allows for potential cutting tolerances to be accommodated. Therefore, please set up your print files with a bleed of 3 mm, ensuring that all images and graphics extend into this bleed area.
Export the PDF with a crop marks offset of 3 mm.
If you use our job options, this is already preset.