Adobe InDesign® 1.5 & 2.X Templates

The instructions below will help guide you in preparing the best
possible files for production and print using InDesign 1.5 & 2.X.

Templates

Mac Format	Windows Format

Control-Click ( Mac ) or Right-Click ( Win ) to save these files.

Adobe InDesign® CS Help

Trim and Bleed

Before you start work on any design and layout, make certain that your InDesign document is set at the appropriate trim dimension for your project (or download pre-made templates here). The “trim size” is the final dimension that your printing job will be cut to (before any folding, if needed). An additional 1/8” “bleed” is required wherever design elements touch the edge of your trim dimension. This means that any element that touches the trim edge must be allowed to extend past the trim edge by at least 1/8”. This assures a safety margin during the post production trimming of your project to assure that your bleed elements remain touching the trim edge without any white, unprinted gaps between the bleed element and the trim edge. If you have any design elements (including borders) that come too close to the trim edge, and you do not intend for them to touch the trim edge, then you must “back it away” from the trim edge by at least 1/8”.

Maintaining Legible Type and Hairlines

One typical mistake is design is the use of type or hairlines that do not print well and thus wind up being illegible. To avoid this mistake, shy away from type sizes smaller than 6 pts and lines (rules) thinner than .25pt.

• Type smaller than 6 pts becomes difficult to read anyway, and finer details may be difficult to hold on press anyway. Typical body copy should run between 9 and 12 pts in size for maximum readability.
• Be careful when using “reversed out” copy (ie: text that is a light color running across a darker area). Because the darker area tends to bleed into the lighter text area on press, it is recommended that you use at least 6 pt type, and sans serif fonts, in these instances.

Hairlines thinner than .25 points may not show up when printed.

Image Quality and Color

When using images within your design, it is very important that you use the best quality images and color spaces possible.

• Resolution: Be certain to use image resolutions 300 dpi (or ppi) or better for color and grayscale images (otherwise known as “halftone” images), and 1,200 dpi (or ppi) for bitmap images (otherwise known as “line art”). Click here for more information on image resolution.
• Image quality: Use non-compressed file formats such as TIFF, EPS or native Photoshop files when possible (without compression settings). If you need to use a compressed file format like JPEG in your design, make sure the image is saved with “Maximum Quality” settings. This will prevent loss of image quality during the compression process.
• 4/4 and 4/1: The use of 4-color process (CMYK) on both sides of your print job is referred to as “4/4” (pronounced “four over four”). The use of 4-color process on the front side of your job, but grayscale or black and white on the back side is called “4/1” (pronounced “four over one”).
• 4-color Process (CMYK): When using color or color images in your design and layout, be certain to use CMYK values instead of RGB. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black “K”) is the color space that printers use to run your job. If you have an image that is RGB, like images that come from your digital camera or scanner, you must convert them to CMYK first before placing into your design.

Using “Rich” Blacks

When using black elements in your 4-color design, it is best to you use a “rich black,” which is a black composed of all four process colors. This gives your black a deeper, darker shade of black on press. It is best to use rich blacks in larger areas of black, such as thick black borders, headline type and shapes. It is still preferable to use 100% black for body copy (text).

To achieve rick blacks, create a color swatch or assign a process color with the following CMYK combinations: Cyan = 60%, M = 40%, Y = 20%, K = 100%.

Even though a “normal” black may appear as dark as you wish on screen, it may not come out as dark and rich on press. Use the “rich” black to be certain. Here is an example of setting the CMYK sliders in Photoshop’s color palette.

Update Images

Be sure that all images are properly linked and updated into InDesign by going to the links palette (Window > Links):

Fonts

To see which fonts are being used in your InDesign file go to Type > Find Font. Be sure that you DO NOT use Multiple Master Fonts (“MM” in filename - example: "OceanSanMM").

Collect File and Images

We prefer that you “collect” your InDesign file, images and fonts into one folder. Within that folder, organize all your image files into an “Images” folder and all your fonts into a “Fonts” folder. Be sure that all placed images that you have collected are properly formatted according to the same specs for the application that was used to create the file as the specs we feature in the Help Center for that application. For instance, if you have an Illustrator EPS file in your InDesign file, make sure that you outline all fonts in that file. If you have a placed Photoshop file that has layers and type, make sure to flatten the file. To make it easier to track your job, name your file to include your PO# and a brief project description (eg: 1084_MyPostcard.idd). Keep the filename less than 23 characters long and avoid spaces if possible and avoid any characters other than letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores and slashes.