Detailed File Preparation
8 bits / channel files only
If you edit your images in 16 bits / channel, the images must be converted to 8 bits / channel mode before printing. Images supplied on CD (DvD) in 16bit / channel can cause the printer to crash resulting in an interruption to work flow of 30 minutes to power down and restart, therefore images supplied in 16 bits / channel will attract a penalty of $5 per image.
RGB Colour Mode
Prior to submission for printing all files must be in RGB colour mode with No Guide Lines. Greyscale, CMYK, Indexed colour, Lab colour, or Multicolor etc, must be converted back to 8 bits/channel, RGB Colour Mode.
For monochrome prints, we recommend using desaturate as this leaves the image in RGB colour mode. Other methods may also be employed but the saved file however produced must be converted back to 8 bit / channel RGB colour mode prior to submitting for printing. (For more detailed instructions on how to set Photoshop Settings see Colour Space )
sRGB colour space
Our printers print in sRGB colour space. If your camera is set to Adobe RGB, all files must be converted to sRGB colour space prior to submission for printing.
Dpi (Ppi) and print sizing
It is not necessary to format your images to the print sizes you require, how-ever images which are not proportional to the print size you request, will be cropped around the center axis of the image to suit the required print size as a borderless print. To ensure the image is capable of the print size you require, edit in Photoshop. To check the dpi at the print size you require open the image, select <Image> <Image Size> With Proportional ON and Resample OFF, enter the print dimension as Inches. If the dpi falls below 150dpi the resultant print may suffer from pixelation. With the Resample switched back ON and at your discretion the image should then be Resampled to 200dpi.
The cropping tool can also be used to achieve this by inserting the print dimension and 200dpi, but it will not give the feedback of the actual capability of the image.
Flattened Jpg Image Files at level 12 Baseline standard
We recommend level 12 Jpg files because they usually have less preparation problems than Tiff files. At level 12 you will not be able notice the difference between Jpg and Tiff files. Jpg files saved at lower levels can suffer from jpg artification especially if opened, edited, and saved repetitively. If you insist on using tiffs (CDs DvDs only) make sure they are saved as standard tiffs. That is "Image Compression" NONE with No Layers channels, and in IBM byte order etc.
If using a Mac ensure Cd's can be "Read by all computers" and that image file names have the file extension .jpg (or .tif with one f )
File Names
File names containing characters other than
letters, numbers, dashes or underscores, can cause our Unix based machine to crash as they signify to the machines computer, special tasks.
The only period (dot, full stop) in the file name should be the one before the file extension. Eg filename.jpg Files with a period in any other position will be rejected as an unknown file specification.
Bleed
The machine will crop into the image by approximately 2 mm to allow for printer over spill. To print edge to edge (borderless) the printing machine must oversize the images while printing to allow for paper drift and roll paper cutting to maintain a print as close to the print size you select as possible. This is especially important to remember if placing logos, text, or borders near the image edges. We recommend 5mm or more on all four sides as a respectful distance for any essential elements on all images.
