Whether you are a professional designer or an enthusiastic amateur, you may have to provide your artwork in ways that may be unfamiliar. Here we share some of the pitfalls of preparing your artwork for printing at MARC, and explain how to get it to us for the best results.

There are 3 ways in which you can give us artwork:

By E-mail. Only send files that our computers support (see box to the left). If using a programme such Word, include all Jpegs, Tiffs and graphic files separately as well as embedded. Also, if we haven't got a copy of the font you are using, we won't be able print it. So, unless you are using Arial or Times New Roman, include all the fonts you have used as separate attachments to your e-mail.

By bringing in your files on a portable storage device (CD or USB memory stick). Same as above. Don't forget to include separate versions of pictures and graphics as well as all fonts used. (Note: we have to check all portable storage devices for viruses before we copy your files. Please don't bring in a memory stick with music files or 1000's of data files - this will take too long to scan)

Conventional black and white artwork on paper ("hard copy" or "camera ready"). This is fine for simple one colour jobs that do not contain halftones or photographs.

2 colour printing ?

Our risograph machines use colour separations. This means that the paper is passed through the machine to print one colour and then again to print the second colour. In order to print your work we must be able to separate the colours used. If you are using Photoshop you must save the file as a Psd with the layers kept separate - you can always produce a copy of the file, flattened, showing the colours and saved as a Jpeg so that we know which colour goes where.

If you want to give us hard copy of your artwork (ie laser or inkjet prints for us to print from) we need one black and white copy of each of the colours. We also need a composite print out (everything printed on one sheet) so that we can be sure about how it is supposed to print.

Multiple colour jobs should be created using spot colour mode rather than process colour mode where this is available. Make sure that the number of colours is correct - ie only two colours print out for a 2 colour job.

As the paper has to pass through the printer once for each colour, you cannot print things that require precise registration. Logos or graphics where two or more colours have to line up precisely cannot be printed on our risograph machines and would have to be printed as full colour. For a fuller explanation of the difference between full colour and spot colour, have a look at our website. If in doubt, give us a call.