BOWTIE INC. HOMEPAGE

FTP INSTRUCTIONS

A digital ad submission (i.e., by e-mail, Zip disk, CD, etc.) must be verified to ensure error-free output before being forwarded to our prep and print facilities. "Preflighting" is this quality assurance process. A digital file is said to "pass" preflight when it has been reviewed for integrity and the quality verified for final output. A file that does not pass preflight often experiences problems in one or more of the following areas:

1 - Low resolution

Fancy Publications prints its magazines at 133lpi (lines per inch) linescreen, therefore all digital artwork submitted must be at least 266dpi (dots per inch) -twice the line screen. Anything less will result in low-quality output; text will appear soft, and/or jagged. A common default resolution when initially setting up a document for some software packages is 72dpi, this resolution is much too low.

Setting up the document the exact ad size you will be submitting and ensuring the resolution is at least 266dpi will avoid potential problems. A 72dpi file can not be changed to 266dpi after it has initially been generated at 72dpi. The file will be too low resolution for output. Avoid taking artwork from the internet. Internet artwork is almost always 72dpi and not usable for high quality printed media.

2 - Ad size is incorrect

The file we receive must be the exact ad size that was scheduled with your sales rep. If the ad size is incorrect, the file will fail preflight and will not be processed. If your ad is a page bleed it must be sized appropriately (see rate card for info).

3 - Graphic format

We accept - TIFF, EPS, and PDF (in addition to native Photoshop, Illustrator, and QuarkXpress files). We have included an instructive section that illustrates the saving and/or exporting procedures of other commonly used software applications. If your application is not included in this section, consult your software literature for information on saving files in the above formats.

ACCEPTABLE file formats

Please see the Tips & Techniques section for program-specific assistance in outputting files in the following formats.

TIFF is a graphic file format widely accepted for output to printed media. A TIFF file will not suffer the degradation in quality that is inherent with JPEG and GIF files. You can find the "Save as TIFF" option in the "save" dialog box of most graphic software packages.

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) An EPS file is run through a Postscript engine. An EPS's small file-size is due to its object-based handling of graphics.

A Postscript printer is not necessary to generate an EPS (or .PS) but a there must be a Postscript printer driver (PPD) installed on your computer. For assistance in obtaining a suitable Postscript printer driver contact your printer, software or computer's technical support department.

PDF is a vector-based "page description language" format similar to EPS. A PDF will retain all image data and quality if all PDF settings are entered correctly before the file is generated. Like an EPS, exporting an image as a PDF also requires a suitable Postscript printer driver (see above) or PDF-writing capabilities built into the program. PDF files are commonly created by first outputting an EPS file from the software application and then "distilling" it into a PDF using Adobe Acrobat.

If assistance is needed to generate PDF files, or obtain suitable printer drivers, please contact Adobe Systems technical support.

UNACCEPTABLE file formats

Please avoid submitting files in any of the following formats.

JPEG - The compressed JPEG file format was developed primarily for on-screen viewing. JPEG photographic images will only be considered for print if saved with the highest-quality (lowest compression) possible. Text that has undergone JPEG compression will quite frequently output soft and/or jagged and unreadable.

GIF - Much like JPEG, GIF files are generally for internet and on-screen viewing and inherently lack the high quality needed for magazine publication. The GIF format is primarily used for non-photographic images containing only a minimal number of colors.

BMP - The BMP format was developed for Windows machines for on-screen viewing only. BMP files are too low in quality.

PICT - PICT file formats are Macintosh operating system based only. These files are not suitable for high quality printed media.

Fancy's high-end imagesetters do not support any of the above files.

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