T & L Printing

We Accept both Macintosh and some PC Files.

CD Rom/DVD
Zip disks - either 100mb or 250 mb
Iomega Jaz Disk - 1gb or 2gb formats
1.44 MB HD
Floppy disks Imation - SuperDrive 120 mb disk

We produce our film in Apple's MAC based platform. There are a number of today's PC type applications that work cross platform with the MAC.

Listed below T&L Printing will give you guidelines that you should follow in order for us to process your data files and produce composed color separated film. Quark Xpress, Photoshop, Freehand, Illustrator, Corel Draw, Corel Photo Paint and any 3D program will resolution control and ability to make an EPS or TIFF file format.

Quark Xpress >> (PC format)
A good program. But PC fonts seem to be a real pickle in making good quality film. We recommend that you use "Ariel" as the only font in this program unless you import "converted or outlined" type from such programs as Freehand or Illustrator. This works very well.

Quark Xpress >> (MAC format)
A good program. When laying out type on a MAC make sure you "collect" all fonts used in the document. If you're familiar with the "collect for output" feature of Quark, make a folder and place all images, vector files and fonts in that folder. If you prefer you can import "converted or outlined" type from such programs as Freehand or Illustrator. This works very well.

Quark Xpress >> (general info - both formats)
Make sure you don't use hairlines (very thin lines) in your document. All lines must be a minimum of 1 point in width. No picture boxes with a fill of none, unless it is Vector Art or EPS with clipping paths being used in that box. When using the colorlist menu in Quark to fill a large box or area with "BLACK", the film will only produce that black color with the BLACK plate. To achieve a rich or deep BLACK, make a new color in your list called "rich black" with these values: Optimal built black formula: 40% Cyan 30% Magenta 20% Yellow 100% Black This only applies to large fill areas. NEVER use rich black for small type or lines. This could cause blurring in those areas.

Macromedia Freehand >> (PC or MAC format)
This is a good vector based program. When completing your design make sure to convert all type used to "paths" (from the text pull down). This will prevent the need to supply fonts with your file. Also, when placing images in your Freehand file, make sure to place only TIFF or EPS formats with no compression. (TIFF uses LZW compression - EPS uses jpeg compression) These compressions should never be used. They will impair the placed image. Make sure all colors used are CMYK. Unless, you're ordering SPOT colors for your printing. Before sending the file to T&L Printing, you need to turn that file into a Freehand EPS. This will lock all paths and images in position. If you want extra assurance, send the placed images also to T&L Printing.

Adobe Illustrator >> (PC or MAC format)
This is a good vector based program. When completing your design make sure to convert all type used to "outlines" (from the type pull down). This will prevent the need to supply fonts with your file. Also, when placing images in your Illustrator file, make sure to place only TIFF or EPS formats with no compression. (TIFF uses LZW compression - EPS uses jpeg compression) These compressions should never be used. They will impair the placed image. Make sure all colors used are CMYK. Unless, you're ordering SPOT colors for your printing. Before sending the file to T&L Printing, you need to turn that file into a Illustrator EPS. This will lock all outlines and images in position. If you want extra assurance, send the placed images also to T&L Printing

Adobe Photoshop >> (PC or MAC format)
This is a great photo manipulation program. When sending Photoshop files make sure the resolution is proper so that image quality is never sacrificed. The general rule is… always start your design with a resolution of 300 ppi/dpi. On the web, resolutions can be low for file size reasons. But when making good color printing, resolution is everything. If you are placing small type directly into your Photoshop image, we advise making the resolution even 350 ppi/dpi. Here's a common mistake people make when designing… They start a file with a lower resolution, and when they are done they increase the resolution to the correct dpi. Wrong! Even though you increased the resolution and the end, the image will still be soft or blurred. Save the image and CMYK with either TIFF or EPS formats.

Corel Draw >> (PC format)
This is a good vector based program. When completing your design make sure to convert all type used to "curves". This will prevent the need to supply fonts with your file. Also, when placing images in your Corel file, make sure to place only TIFF or EPS formats with no compression. (TIFF uses LZW compression - EPS uses jpeg compression) These compressions should never be used. They will impair the placed image. Make sure all colors used are CMYK. Unless, you're ordering SPOT colors for your printing. Before sending the file to T&L Printing, you need to export that file EPS. This will lock all curves and images in position. To know if your exported file worked, open the file in Photoshop and save it as an EPS or TIFF.

Adobe Pagemaker >> (Mac format)
T&L Printing wishes you will not submit PageMaker files. There are often problems outputting film from this program. Maybe they are getting better, but in the big picture of making film for high end color output, we are very seldom confronted with Pagemaker files. If you are dire need of us to make film from Pagemaker, call our production dept. and we'll work out a way… Bleed is a process to where printers need an area outside of the final trim area. Bleed was first developed as a "catch all" for paper cutter operators where computerizationa and consistent accuracy by the equipment used was not there. Today, programmed cutting is commonplace in commercial printing. There are two terms you need to know so we may talk the same printing lingo. "Final trim area" and "Live area" Final Trim area - This refers to the final size of the printed item. So a business card is 3.5"x2" final trim area. Or, a 1/2 pager is 5.5"x8.5" final trim area. Live area - This refers to the area where type should be inside the final trim area. We ask that the live area be 1/8 to a 1/4" from the final trim area. Example: if a 1/2 pager has a final trim area of 8. 5"x5.5" the live area should be 8.25"x5.25". Th is ensure good balance with the printed product and prevent the possibility of cutting type when final trimmed.