United Graphics, Inc. welcomes questions from our customers. It is far easier (and less expensive!) to ask a question up front that it is to fix a problem during production. Therefore, we have listed the most frequently asked questions by our customers here for your convenience.
Do you have a question that you don't see here? Give us a call at 217.235.7161. We're here to help you!
Do you recommend sending my book on disk or as camera ready copy?
What are proofs and are they needed?
What page size should I use for my book cover?
Why am I being charged for converting RGB graphics to CMYK on my four-color cover?
Why do I need to send hard copy in with my disk job? All you have to do is print it out, right?
What are United Graphics, Inc.'s specifications for scanning halftones?
The photos in my book look fuzzy. Why? We pulled them off our web site and they looked fine there.
I sent all of the fonts used in my document, yet I was charged for a missing font. Why?
Why does United Graphics, Inc. no longer accept jobs created in CorelDraw?
I am trying to print out color split hard copy as requested, but I'm getting extra colors. Why? I should only have black and one Pantone color.
When should black overprint?
Do you recommend sending my book on disk or as camera ready copy? What are proofs and are they needed? What page size should I use for my book cover? Why am I being charged for converting RGB graphics to CMYK on my four-color cover? The colors came out OK on my color laser proof. Why do I need to send hard copy in with my disk job? All you have to do is print it out, right? What are United Graphics, Inc.'s specifications for scanning halftones? The photos in my book look fuzzy. Why? We pulled them off our web site and they look fine there. I sent all of the fonts used in my document, yet I was charged for a missing font. Why?
Why does United Graphics, Inc. no longer accept jobs created in CorelDraw?
United Graphics, Inc. accepts both formats. Copy on disk is output at 1200 dpi for text and 2400 dpi for covers and 4-color pages. Camera copy is as good as the quality of the material submitted. If you are submitting your book on disk, please review our Electronic Submission Guidelines page.
We accept excellent quality laser printed pages as camera ready copy. Should you decide to send your book as camera ready, please keep in mind that the final piece will only look as good as your printout; therefore, United Graphics, Inc. suggests that you print at 1200 dpi, minimum.
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Proofs for text may be referred to as blues, bluelines, silverprints, or dylux proofs. These pre-press proofs are sent to you for review before your text is printed. They are not intended for editorial corrections, but are simply a method of checking pagination and overall layout.
United Graphics, Inc. advises our customers to see a proof to ensure their satisfaction with the final product.
A blueline can be sent for a cover with one or two colors. We recommend a matchprint proof when a cover has three or more colors. A matchprint is required when 4-color separations are printed. This proof will show exactly how your printed cover will look. Please note that if your cover is printed with PMS colors as opposed to process colors, the proof will be representative of color breaking only and not intended for exact color matching.
You may write directly on the proofs indicating any corrections or page substitutions. Mark any spots or broken type that you would like us to check. After you have made corrections to your original material, return all original materials with corrected pages clearly indicated with the proof.
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A common mistake many designers make is to create their book cover on a large page size. This is not necessary and makes the printer's job more difficult. At United Graphics, Inc., we recommend that you make your page size the exact size of your cover.
For example, if your book is 6x9 with a 1/4" spine, make your paper size 12.25x9. To determine your book's spine, see How to Determine Spine Width. If the page bleeds, remember to extend it at least 1/8" off the page.
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There are three popular types of color schemes: CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black), RGB (red, blue, green), and the Pantone Matching System.
Printing companies like United Graphics, Inc. use CMYK to print four-color process. That is, all colors in the document are created using various percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. In order to print these colors, we must "play out" the colors separated to cyan, magenta, yellow, and black film. If a graphic is created RGB, it must be converted to CMYK in order to separate properly. The best way to check that your job will print out as intended is to print out separations with ALL COLORS selected on your laser printer before you send your job to United Graphics, Inc.
RGB is also used to create colors, but primarily for web-based graphics. When printing CMYK separations, an RGB graphic only prints on the black color plate.
The Pantone Matching System is a universal color system for printing spot colors. For example, if you create a brochure and want the colors to be red and black, you would choose a Pantone color for the red such as Pantone 185. In order for this to work properly, you must select a color from the Pantone palette. Creating a new color in the color palette does not necessarily make it a Pantone color - chances are it is a combination of CMYK colors and will print out as four-color separations. Like RGB, if Pantone colors are used in a document that is to be printed four-color process, they will need to be converted to CMYK. Again, the best way to ensure that your colors are separating the way they should is to print out separations (all colors!) on your laser printer.
Please keep in mind that converting RGB graphics to CMYK will cause slight color variations, as will converting Pantone colors. And remember, what you see on your computer screen is not what you get from your book printer - it is an unreliable indicator of color. So is your office's color printer, be it laser, inkjet, or thermal wax. You can relax knowing that United Graphics, Inc.'s imagesetter is carefully calibrated to ensure that your colors print correctly.
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A: It is very important that you send hard copy with your disk job - this is how United Graphics, Inc. ensures that your job will be printed just as expected, with no surprises. An up-to-date composite printout is required for every page to be output from disk to
verify that all fonts, photos, graphics and other elements in your file output the same on our equipment as they did on yours.
For multiple-color jobs, an up-to-date separated printout is needed for every page output from disk. This does not mean that you need to print out
your file on a color printer. To accomplish this, simply check the "print separations" (or equivalent) box in your software's print screen. Print all colors in your palette, then verify that all items are printing in the correct colors.
Why go to all this trouble? Here are some common problems:
Remember, it is in your best interest to make sure that your file prints out as expected. If your file does not color-split correctly, you may face additional charges for time and materials. By always sending up-to-date hard copy with your disk jobs, you can save yourself both time and money.
Should you decide not to send hard copy with your job, United Graphics, Inc. will ask you to sign a waiver stating that you will assume liability for the cost of any rework required before we proceed with your project.
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For best results, scan black and white originals as grayscale. Color originals are scanned as RGB color, then converted to grayscale
by selecting Image-Mode-Grayscale on the Photoshop menu bar.
Before making any adjustments to your photo, make sure the Show Info box is open. If not, on the Photoshop menu bar, select Windows-Show Info. This will display the measurements in your halftone.
Now you are ready to adjust the Curves or Midtone of the photo. On the Photoshop menu bar, select Image-Adjust-Curves (or Apple+M on a Mac or CTRL+M on PC). The center of the grid should read Input: 50%, Output 50%. Click on that center point
and drag straight down the center line until it reads Input 50%, Output 35%. This is a good place to start as most photos require at least a 35-40% midtone adjustment; however, the Output value percent is generally a matter of perspective. Some need as little as 45% while others need 25% or more. The lower the percentage,
the lighter the midtones in your photo. Remember, you are only looking at the midtones, or gray areas (e.g., faces) not the blacks or the whites - we'll talk about those in a moment. If your halftone does not have many gray areas, it may not need a midtone adjustment. Once you are happy with
the appearance of the gray areas, click OK.
After the midtones are adjusted, you then adjust the Levels (this is where the blacks and whites are set). Select Image-Adjust-Levels (or press Apple+L or CTRL+L). There are two boxes by Output Levels showing 0 (Black) and 255 (White). Change the black to 5 and the white to 251.
Now look at the three triangles beneath the Input Levels diagram. Drag the right triangle (white) to the left until the halftone looks white enough to the eye. Then drag the left triangle (black) to the right until the halftone looks as though the blacks are dark enough. Generally, the triangles should be moved
until they reach the first vertical spike on the histogram.
Now, move the cursor to the blackest area of the halftone and look at the Info box. There should be two percentages separated by a slash next to the letter "K". The first percentage is how black the halftone was before you made the
adjustments; the second number measures the black after the adjustment. You want the blackest area of the halftone to measure approximately 94%. Continue to adjust the Input Levels as needed.
Next, move the cursor to the whitest area of the halftone and check its measurements in the Info
box. Again, there will be two measurements by the letter "K", but this time they are measuring the whites before and after adjustments. You want the whitest area of the halftone to measure between 2-3% (NOT 1% or 0%). Continue to adjust the Input Levels as needed.
If the halftone is already too
black or too white, use the triangles under Output Levels to lighten the black values and/or darken the white values.
Please Note: Always measure! What you see on your monitor may not be what you will get on film. In general, faces should measure no less than 5% and no more than 40% to
maintain detail. White values should only be set to 0% for special effects, such as dropping a white background.
United Graphics, Inc. recommends to our customers that halftones and 4-color photos should be scanned at a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch). In contrast, photos used on the Internet are generally scanned and saved at a low resolution such as 72 dpi so that they do not slow the page's speed of transfer. If a low resolution photo is used in a printed piece, chances are it will bitmap, or look fuzzy, because each pixel (dot) is large enough to be viewed by the naked eye. Also, for printing purposes, United Graphics, Inc. prefers photos to be saved in a .TIF format, not .JPG.
Even a high resolution photo can look bitmapped if it is enlarged in the layout document (e.g., Pagemaker, QuarkXPress, etc.). For best results, if your photo needs to be enlarged more than 125%, it must be done during scanning and not in the layout program.
If your document contains .eps files such as logos, advertisements, or any graphics that include text, they will not print correctly unless the fonts used by the graphics are loaded into United Graphics, Inc.'s computers. These missing fonts are not listed when opening the files or when searching for missing fonts under Utilities->Usage in QuarkXPress or Edit Story->Find in Pagemaker because they were imported from another program, such as Illustrator or Freehand.
We do not realize these fonts are missing until we are playing out your files; then we are forced to stop and search for a match or call you and request the fonts. Either way, your job, as well as other customers' jobs, experiences a delay in production.
United Graphics, Inc. realizes that CorelDraw is a popular illustration and layout program used by graphic designers. However, because it is difficult to generate high-resolution film on our equipment from this program, we are no longer supporting CorelDraw.
If you use CorelDraw, you may still send your covers by exporting the file and saving it as an EPS (if using spot colors) or TIFF file (if 4-color process). For an EPS, be sure to set the format as TIFF, use 8-bit color, set resolution to 300, and save fonts as curves. For a TIFF, use CMYK color (32-bit) and set the resolution to 300.
Don't forget to send all fonts and graphics with the EPS or TIFF file, as well as the original CorelDraw file.
If you have created your text in CorelDraw, it must be converted to Postscript or PDF before sending it to United Graphics, Inc.
Because we cannot edit your EPS or TIFF file, color-split laser printouts (a laser printout of each color in your file printed on a sheet by itself) MUST accompany your file. Be sure to output ALL COLORS in the print list to verify that items are not accidentally printing on the wrong colors. Be sure that the front cover, back cover, and spine are created the exact size of the finished printed piece and combined in one file as illustrated below:
I am trying to print out color split hard copy as requested, but I'm getting extra colors. Why? I should only have black and one Pantone color.
This is exactly why United Graphics, Inc. asks customers to supply us with color split hard copy for multi-color jobs: So you know before your job reaches us that there is a problem and you have the opportunity to fix it yourself, instead of incurring additional charges from us.
You didn't state if you are using artwork in your book. If not, then the answer is simple: you did not consistantly select the same Pantone color in your layout program. Check your hard copy to see what pages have the extra colors, then fix by selecting the correct Pantone color.
The most frequent culprits are graphic files that are imported from other programs. Chances are, your layout program (e.g., QuarkXPress, Pagemaker) uses one name for the Pantone color (e.g., Pantone 228CV) and your imported artwork (i.e., from Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop) uses another name (e.g., Pantone 228CVU or CVC). To correct this, you must open the artwork in the graphic program that created it and change the color name to match that used in the layout program.
It is possible that the type of graphic file may be to blame. For example, Windows Metafiles (.wmf) only print on the black plate. United Graphics, Inc. discourages the use of clip art for this reason.
And don't forget to convert any RGB graphics to CMYK for four-color printing. Or if your artwork is to print black, be sure to convert to greyscale.
Q: When should black overprint?
It is OK to overprint black if it is over continuous tone. If black is placed over multiple colors, such as a 4-color separation or blocks of color, it cannot overprint. If it does, the colors beneath will show through, creating multiple shades of black. You will not be able to see this problem printing to a color printer. Only when separations are played out to film will the problem surface. Often the problem is not found until the job is on the press, causing delays in the schedule and incurring additional costs. If black should not overprint, you can make these changes in the following programs: If you have any questions about whether the black in your document should overprint, please call United Graphics, Inc. at 217.235.7161. We're here to help!
Some programs default to always overprint black. Designers should be aware that this is not always appropriate.
