Artwork & Design
In-house Artwork & Design Services
We have our own experienced in-house designer, Nichole, who is able to produce artwork that easily undercuts the prices charged by advertising and marketing agencies.
Nichole takes the time to understand our clients’ needs, hopes and expectations – which is time well spent as it often builds the trust and confidence needed for a successful design & print partnership.
We’re happy to work in any way that suits you best, so you can develop your ideas with Nichole or, if you prefer, leave your concept with us. Online PDF proofs enable artwork to be viewed and agreed quickly, and you are of course, very welcome to call in personally at any stage of the design process to chat things over with Nichole.
The main benefits of an in-house design & print partnership:
- Cost-
effective – our in-house studio services will cost you less (often much less!) than an advertising or marketing agency. - Experience – Nichole has worked as our in-house designer since 1988; she fully understands every element of the print & finishing process, so can offer the best possible advice on the options available.
- One-to-One design development – you can make an appointment to meet your designer face-to-face to work through designs on screen together.
- Logo design – Nichole offers cost-effective and imaginative logo design.
- Choice – we have access to an extensive library of typefaces and photo library.
- Continuity – the same friendly, reliable contact from quotation through to artwork and print, with job progress reports throughout.
Supplying Your Own Artwork
We are more than happy to print direct from your supplied artwork.
We want to make your experience as simple as possible; follow these guidelines and your print job should go without a hitch (and without incurring any artwork charges). If you are still in any doubt at the end please don’t hesitate to contact Nichole who will be happy to advise you.
Files & Formats We Accept
Press Ready PDF with fonts embedded or with text converted to curves. For best quality results please supply a high resolution (300 dpi) PDF; see below for ‘Preparing your Press Ready PDF files’.
CorelDraw is our design software of choice. Please embed font or convert text to curves before saving your file.
Photoshop include a 3mm bleed, flatten layers and supply as a high resolution (300 dpi minimum) .jpg .pdf or .tiff. We can accept .psd files but you will need to save your unflattened .psd as a .pdf to maintain non-
Artwork in other Formats
If you are unable to supply artwork in any of the formats shown above then Nichole can talk you through any adaptations that need to be made, or can redraw logos and graphics and copy your text to prepare professional, high quality artwork from scratch.
You will need to contact Nichole to discuss the options available; please don’t be nervous about having that conversation, you may well be pleasantly surprised at how reasonable and competitive our costs are!
Call Nichole on 01202 514886
or email your information & questions to artwork@tonybowyerprint.co.uk
Creating PDF from Microsoft Office files
If you are creating a PDF from MS Publisher or Word please ensure spot colours and any embedded images are CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) rather than RGB (red, green, blue). RGB images may look acceptable on your screen but will not print successfully. Converting images from RGB to CMYK may significantly alter colour composition and result in a disappointing print quality.
Preparing your Press Ready PDF files
PDF is now the standard file format for transmitting files for printing, but it is very important (especially for a rush job) that your PDF file is prepared properly. Otherwise it may cost you time and money.
Press ready PDFs differ from standard PDFs in that they must meet certain criteria in order to file to print without problems. These include default resolution, compression settings and embedded fonts.
- Resolution should be 300 dpi.
- We do not recommend file compression to reduce the file size as this may cause quality problems at the print stage.
- Font embedding should be set to “embed all fonts” for them to render correctly for print. Some fonts will not embed successfully, in which case please convert your text to curves.
- Bleed is crucial to any design in which pictures or blocks of colour run to the edge of the page. Please include at least 3mm bleed all around the design (i.e. adding 6mm in total to the width and height) and include crop marks if you wish.
- Colours should be CMYK, not RGB. RGB images may look acceptable on your screen but will not print successfully. Converting images from RGB to CMYK may significantly alter colour composition and result in a disappointing print quality. Only the colours required for print should appear on the swatches palette so that your colours for final output is clear.
Please supply multi-page projects as single pages.
Projects for folding (such as an invitation or leaflet) will need to be checked by us to ensure the pages back up correctly, that text doesn’t run into the folds and that none of the pages appear upside down.
Proofs
The price we quote for designing or working on any artwork will always include a PDF proof, emailed to you for your final approval before we go to print.
Hard copy proofs may also be available on request.
A Complete Service
Backed up by years of experienceCost-effective Design
Our in-
We’re happy to work in any way that suits you best; you can supply us with your own artwork, work with Nichole to develop your design ideas or, if you prefer, leave us to develop your concept for you.
Please feel free to get in touch to arrange a personal visit, or to discuss your needs with Nichole over the phone.
Helpful advice
Lee’s years of experience in the print business allows him to advise on the best type and weight of stock for your particular job, and to help you select the right finish. These decisions are important – there is a wide range of paper and boards to choose from and Lee can help you avoid making any expensive mistakes.
High quality results
Lee has managed our print room since 1989; his high level of quality control and attention to detail are matched only by meticulous planning, from plate making through production, to collating and distribution.