Adobe Illustrator CS3 — How to set up Adobe Illustrator CS3 files for a commercial printing company.
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Below is a bit of information on how to set up an Adobe Illustrator CS3 file for your commercial printer.
The most important features you will see are:
- Have bleed lines, and make sure that all background colours and images go right out to the bleed lines; and
- Have safety margin lines, and keep all important text and images inside the safety margin lines.
The information on this page relate to the Adobe Illustrator CS3 program and how it operates on an Apple/Mac. Whilst the information on a PC will be different, it will still be very similar.
Step 1 — Open a new file by choosing "File" > "New".
Step 2 — Fill in the New Document dialogue box. Make sure that:
- You give the file a meaningful name. The file below mentions the client's name (i.e.: TheInternetPrinter) and also informs other users that the file is a DL Flyer.
- Have the actual size of the job. in this case, the file is for a DL flyer, so the job is set up as 99mm wide, by 210mm high.
- Use the correct Color Mode. TheInternetPrinter uses CMYK presses, so make sure the Color Mode is CMYK.
- Select the correct Raster Effects. Will almost all printing, the file should be set at 300ppi (or 300dpi), or even higher. But never below 300dpi.
You will be presented with a file that is similar to the screen shot shown below. Just three more steps, and you can start designing your file for printing.
Step 3 — Create rulers on your file. Just choose "View" then "Show Rulers".
Your Illustrator file will now look like the picture below.
Step 4 — Add the bleed lines 3mm outside the black box. This is simple to achieve.
- For vertical bleed lines, just place your mouse in the left-side ruler and drag the mouse across to where the bleed line should be. In the below picture, the bleed line has been dragged out to 3mm from the black line, and this can be seen on the top ruler, where the vertical bleed line is at the 3mm mark.
- For horizontal bleed lines, just place your mouse in the top ruler and drag the mouse down to where the bleed line should be. In the below picture, the bleed line has been dragged down to 3mm from the black line, and this can be seen on the left-side ruler, where the horizontal bleed line is at the 3mm mark.
This is done on all four sides of the file.
The image below shows what the file should look like with the bleed lines on all four sides.
Steo 5 — Add the safety margin lines. This is done in a similar way to the bleed lines, but the safety margin lines are placed inside the back box.
- If you are creating a business card file or an appointment card file, then the safety margin line should be 5mm inside the black box.
- If you are creating any other file, then the line should be 7mm inside the black box.
Make sure that the safety margin lines are added to:
- The top of the page;
- The lefthand side of the page;
- The bottom of the page; and
- The righthand side of the page.
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Below is an image of what an Adobe Illustrator CS3 file should look likme with bleed lines and safety margin lines on all sides.
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When you create your artwok, please make sure that:
- All background colours and background images go all the way out to the bleed lines; and
- All important text and images stay inside the safety margin line.
If you examine the below picture, you will see that all background colours go out to the bleed lines, and all text is inside the safety margin lines.
