Specifications:
Colour Screen And Offset Printing
The following specs are applicable to both screen and offset printing:
- The printable area for REPLICATED or pressed discs: 116mm x 116mm.
- Allow for either a 38 mm or 23 mm circle in the centre of the disc – we CANNOT print in this area.
- Any print between 23 & 38 mm will appear paler as there is no metallised area behind it. (We are printing onto the clear, inner hub).
- The printable area for RECORDABLE discs: 116mm x 116mm.
- Allow for a 38 mm circle in the centre of the disc – we CANNOT print in this area.
- Do not allow your artwork to extend beyond the specified template area, ie; do not supply artwork with bleed, or place a square image onto the template without cutting it to size.
- We require registration marks in each corner and the centre of the artwork. (registration marks are already included on our templates).
- Artwork needs to be at least 300dpi. Images from a website are NOT suitable. (screen resolution is only 72 dots per inch and print resolution is 300 dots per inch. If we try to print from the web at 72 dpi the result is an unprofessional, fuzzy print with unreadable text.)
- Make sure you supply your artwork with relevant images and fonts, or outline the fonts.
- If possible, use only Postscript fonts from the Adobe or Linotype library.
- Please make sure the keylines (template circles) on your artwork are NOT printable, or can be easily removed.(Our templates have the keylines set for viewing and positional purposes only.)
- For image and line elements, trapping of approximately 0.15mm is required for register tolerance.(trapping is extending the size of the above elements so colours slightly overlap).
- Minimum font size is 5 point (line weight minimum 0.10mm)
- When using vignettes (tonal range fades), please make sure that the range is no more than 40%. e.g. 30% to 70% will work but 0% to 100% will fail. When a vignette fails, it appears to have severe steps in the tonal degration. Smooth gradation is only possible with offset printing (not screen).
- Discs can be printed in either full colour process CMYK or spot/PMS (Pantone) colours.
- Please ensure that CMYK artwork has been converted to PMS colours if full colour is NOT required, and provide a proof with PMS colours clearly labelled.
- Printing on discs even with a white underlay may not give exact colour matching due to the print process, and the fact that we are printing on a plastic /metal material, the disc.
- Resolution of CMYK screenprinting is 200dpi.
- Fluorescent or metallic colours ARE possible with screenprinting - extra costs will apply.
- Please supply your artwork in one of the following programs or formats - Illustrator,InDesign, Quark Express or a PDF.
- Photoshop is not acceptable owing to the way it stores images, resulting in reduced edge sharpness which is not useful for output to film.
- When generating a composite PDF document, it is essential to use Distiller from the Adobe 5 Bundle (or higher), as this is the only way to produce a high-quality PDF version.
- We can also accept artwork created on MAC however fonts are not transferable to Windows unless outlined.
