Design Services

Pre-Press

Pre-press is a vital step in the print process. This is when our designers check your electronic artwork and ensure that it is ready to go to print. We will supply you with a proof of all artwork done by us or supplied to us for checking before we go to print. Once you have approved it, our designers will produce the laser film, positives or computer-to-plate (CTP) before going to press.


Desktop Publishing (DTP)

DTP is when we produce the layout of your artwork and basic edits on the computer. This is the first step in the printing process as we need to commit your artwork to a digital format in order to print it. Most times typesetting involves the copying of your existing work with no creative input from our designers. This is our most cost-effective design service and we will usually quote you a fixed figure upfront for this service.

Graphic Design

When more creative input is required, our designers will produce a unique, fresh design or company logo for you. After your initial design brief or request, we usually provide several samples depending on the quoted price. This allows you to fine-tune the work to your exact requirements. At all times we will make recommendations and suggestions based on our years of experience to give you the competitive edge! Our graphic design rates are charged per hour or part thereof, and not per job.

Scanning and Photo Re-touching

This is usually billed at a per-scan rate, and re-touching at an hourly rate.

File Types which we accept

We accept Corel Draw up to Version 13, Freehand, Indesign, Adobe Illustrator, PDF (Adobe Acrobat), WordPerfect, MSWord, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Photoshop, Photopaint and MSWorks. You are welcome to email us your artwork or use our drop box on the right side of this page if your files are less than 2MB in size, otherwise please bring your artwork to us on CD.

Guidelines for Submission of all Artwork

Formats: CorelDRAW (.cdr) Photoshop (.psd) PDF (.pdf - from Professional / Distiller) illustrator (.ai) CMYK TIF (.tif)
or a100% 300dpi CMYK JPEG saved in Photoshop

Other Formats: MS Publisher (.pub) MS Word (.doc) - Please Note these are NOT considered a recognised professional format and will require us to redo / reset your Artwork in a professional package and is subject to our normal hourly design rates

Fonts: All fonts to be converted to paths / curves! (NB: Also convert fonts before writing or creating your PDF!) as even
embedded fonts often get corrupted or will be substituted unknowingly resulting in incorrect reproduction

Bitmaps / images: All bitmaps (pics) to be CMYK and at 300dpi

Colour: Only use CMYK colour modes and NOT RGB! Alternatively PANTONE “spot” colours can be used for up to 3 Colours.
Please ensure you supply the Pantone Ref No’s used in your design

Proofing: Please include a Low Resolution JPEG or Printed Proof of final artwork

Bleed and Cropping: Should your design have “Bleed” we require a minimum of 3mm all-around added to your trim size.
This includes any Colour / Picture or Text that meets the trim edge of your design. For a more detailed description, please see Wikipedia


Enquiries

To enquire about any of our services, please feel free to contact us