printing crop marks, color bars ect

[steven]

hi,

i am preparing a job for commercial printing. My publication is size A4.
What should be the size of the paper i use in adobe pdf page size so that
crop marks, color bars and/or other job info is printed on the edges of each
page?

I tried using a 1cm on all sides larger page but i get this message that "if
you are creating a postscript file, use a larger page size so that crop marks
ect can print"

so how much larger should a page be? isn't 1cm more around enough?

Steven.

 

[Odysseus]

i am preparing a job for commercial printing. My publication is size A4.
What should be the size of the paper i use in adobe pdf page size so that
crop marks, color bars and/or other job info is printed on the edges of each
page?

I tried using a 1cm on all sides larger page but i get this message that "if
you are creating a postscript file, use a larger page size so that crop marks
ect can print"

so how much larger should a page be? isn't 1cm more around enough?

I don't know how much space Publisher requires for its marks, but most
layout programs need about half an inch (13 mm) all around. (With
default settings QuarkXPress and InDesign need 30 points / 11 mm; others
tend to need more.) If the print driver doesn't have an "A4 Extra" size,
a custom page at something like 240 x 325 mm ought to work.

 

[Mike Koewler]

Steven,

Probably a silly question but... Did you bother to ask your printer is
he/she needs crop marks, color bars or such?

Mike

 

[Matt Beals]

That's not a silly question at all! That is the singularly most intelligent
question I've read here.

Typically you need to account for .5" inches on each side for a total of 1
inch. Someone else had mentioned to use A4 Extra. Those "extra" page sizes
have that extra margin to accomodate the printer marks and such.

Don't bother with the color bars or any of the extra "fluff". They never get
used anyways. Just simply put the crop marks there and the page information
if you use any marks at all. Most of the time, printers don't want any of
that stuff anyways...

Remember this: First, ask your printer, never assume anything. Second, never
do your printer a favor unless they ask you to. Otherwise you're doing them
a favor by letting them charge *you* more for prepress charges.

--
Matt Beals
Consultant
Enfocus Certified Trainer, Markzware Recognized Trainer
(206) 618-2537 - Cell
mailto:[email protected]

Come visit me at:
http://www.mattbeals.com
http://www.actionlistexchange.net
http://mattbeals.com/blog/

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