The Sheridan Group welcomes the submission of digital art files for incorporation into pages for electronically composed publications. Our objective is to use submitted art files whenever possible and to reproduce files as true as possible to the originator's intended appearance.

Unfortunately, however, not all submitted digital art has been prepared in a fashion that permits files to be used—of these, some can be converted and amended; others cannot. At issue, primarily, are technical limitations (e.g., digital file format incompatibility with composition software) and aesthetic considerations (e.g., insufficient image resolution for acceptable appearance in print). Also, for those files that, as supplied, may not meet criteria but can be converted, modifications may be laborious and costly.

These guidelines are intended to improve awareness of successful digital art file preparation methods and to convey optimal characteristics for submitted digital art files. As a consequence of observing recommended specifications, a greater opportunity to use original submitted digital art files can be expected. As well, the ability to render art in print may satisfy more favorably the expectations of the author/creator.

• Black and white Monochrome images should be submitted as bitmap (1-bit) mode

• Black and white halftone images and combination halftones should be submitted as grayscale color mode.

• Color halftone images should be submitted as CMYK color mode.

• Files should be free of color functions, including PostScript color management, transfer curves, halftone screen assignments, and black generation functions. Files should not include references to ICC profiles, or be in a color space other than: Monochrome, CMYK, or Grayscale.

• Total Area Coverage (TAC) for black or dark elements or for black areas within color images should not exceed 300%.

• For color images, black text and lines should be specified to overprint.

More Information on Color and Color Space

Raster images can be classified as either monochrome, tone, or combination tone. It is important to maintain minimum resolution settings for each file type. Low resolution images are one of the leading causes of art resubmission and schedule delays.

Monochrome (1-bit) images, typically scanned from line art and/or text originals, are comprised of a single bit of data. Since each bit (binary digit) can be represented only as either a zero or a one, pixels within a monochrome image can have only two states: black or white. Monochrome images generally require higher resolution (more pixels per inch) than tone images in order to prevent aliasing (stairstepped appearance) of diagonal lines. The suggested minimum resolution for this type of image is between 900 and 1200 dpi. See the chart below for details.

Tones, typically captured from continuous-tone photographs, are comprised of 8-bit data (represented as 256 different levels for grayscale images). Color tones contain eight bits of data per channel (i.e., per color); thus, a CMYK tone contains 32 bits of information (and 256 levels each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). The suggested minimum resolution for this type of image is 300 dpi. See the chart below for details.

Combination tones contain both tone and text/line art elements. Consequently, like tones, combination tones are comprised of 8-bits of data per color channel. Thus, combination tones are saved as either grayscale or CMYK color mode. Because combination tones contain text/line art elements, however, the level of resolution employed must be compromised to address aliasing versus physical file size. The suggested minimum resolution for this type of image is between 500 and 900 dpi. See the chart below for details.

TYPE	EXAMPLE	FORMAT	COLOR MODE	RESOLUTION
B+W Line art		Tiff	Monochrome 1-bit	900 - 1200dpi
Halftone		Tiff	Grayscale or CMYK	300dpi
Combo (Image + Type)		Tiff/EPS	Grayscale or CMYK	500 - 900 dpi

More Information on Image Resolution

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• Digital art files should be cropped to remove non-printing borders (such as unnecessary white space around an image).

• Art should be created or scaled to the size intended for print.

• Image orientation should be the same as intended for print.

More Information on Effective Image Resolution

• Digital art files should be saved as TIFF or EPS format.

• Submission as native file formats, or submission as any format other than TIFF or EPS is not recommended.

• If your only option is to save a file as a JPEG, save it with the least amount of compression (highest quality) setting.

• Images should be flattened prior to submission; that is, files should not contain layers and/or transparent objects.

More Information on File Sources and Image Types

• For vector EPS files, fonts should be embedded or converted to outlines.

• Lines or rules should not be defined as hairline width. Recommended minimum line width is 1/4 point (i.e., 0.0035 inches).

• For digital art files not supplied same as print size, the effect of scaling reduction should be considered for small text and for thin rules or lines. Files should be cropped to remove non-printing borders.

More information on Fonts

• A clean proof same size as the digital art should accompany file submission—for color images. The supplied proof should be color.

• To ensure color match, the accompanying proof should be generated using a SWOP-certified (Specifications Web Offset Publications) proofing system and should be produced in accordance with the SWOP ADS (Application Data Sheet).

• In case that the digital art file cannot be used as provided, or the file cannot be converted/modified, the supplied proof will serve as original art for scanning.

More Information on Proofing