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Our templates have pre-existing registration and crop marks included in the file to save you from complex and tedious set-up time and to ensure that your layout conforms to our specifications. All you have to do is drop all of the components of your layout (images, text) into the templates!
There are actually different templates for different disc-making processes. Should you use a silk-screen printed disc template to design artwork for an adhesive label, your artwork will get cut off! Always be sure you are using the correct template before you begin. If you are unsure of which template to use, or are not sure you are using the right template, stop! Contact our design department and they will help you save both time and money by making sure you work with the right template.
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Furnace accepts files compliant with most major page layout, illustration, and image editing applications.
Submit your work using any of these applications:
• .INDD (Adobe InDesign)
• .QXD (Quark XPress)
• .AI (Adobe Illustrator)
• .PSD (Adobe Photoshop)
PageMaker users please note: PageMaker documents will be opened using InDesign (we no longer support PageMaker). We highly recommend upgrading to InDesign to avoid possible conversion issues.
Recommended image formats (save as CMYK):
• .TIF (do not use LWZ compression when saving!)
• .PSD (Adobe Photoshop)
Vector art formats:
• .AI (Adobe Illustrator)
• .EPS (Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand)
If we are creating artwork for you, submit your text using:
• .DOC (Microsoft Word)
• .TXT (ASCII Text)
Do not format your text into columns or attempt to lay it out. Simply submit your text using obvious text sizes to distinguish headers from body copy.
If you are using files within applications other than those specified above, please contact our design department to discuss these matters in detail. Be aware that we may not accept your files or that design fees may apply to cover any conversions.
We do not accept Microsoft Publisher or graphics embedded in Microsoft Word.
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When working with color, you must be sure to use CMYK process color. Computer screens and most scanners operate in RGB (red, green, and blue) mode, so you must make sure that all of your pictures and images are in CMYK mode. This is important because anytime you import an RGB picture into a publishing program, your colors may wash out when it comes time to make the film (even if the image appears as it should on the monitor).
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Process colors are the colors needed for 4-color process printing (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black: commonly referred to as CMYK). This is a standard printing method employed by printers worldwide to print pieces with color photographs or illustrations.
Spot color printing is a technique in which solid ink is applied to a printing surface (as opposed to the CMYK patterned dot method). This is used on projects where special inks (like metallic colors) are part of the color scheme and in circumstances where pure and complete ink coverage is desired. Spot colors are picked from the Pantone Matching System (PMS) pallet, so they are consistent throughout the printing industry.
If while creating your design you use spot colors but want us to print using CMYK, there will be a noticeable shift in color.
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Pantone Matching System, or PMS, is a universal color numbering system used by printers everywhere to duplicate any color you desire. To see a color and its corresponding PMS number, you can go to a film house or copy center and reference their PMS color wheel chart. Only this color swatch book or look-up table will give you an accurate PMS color; don't rely on your computer monitor! Unless your computer screen has been recently professionally calibrated, the color you see on the screen will sometimes be much different than what is output to film and paper. Note that a letter will follow the PMS number (such as PMS486c). If you are printing on a coated stock, choose the color with the suffix "c" at the end. If you are using a dull or unfinished stock, choose the letter "u".
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In order to print on your CD/DVD face, we create film positives to make silk screens that are used to screen ink directly to the disc. Each screen is colored using spot colors from the Pantone Matching System (PMS). If you hold the film positive up to a light, whatever you see through will represent the CD/DVD silver once screening is complete. Whatever areas are black (coated with emulsion) will be colored with specified PMS inks. If you want a solid, colored background on the CD/DVD, you do not need a piece of film for it. We are more than happy to screen your background using our standard or edge-to-edge template. As a side note, we have found that most clients choose a solid white background instead of the CD/DVD silver because the colors show up truer/brighter on a white background. Disc faces meant to be in full color will be silk-screened using process colors (CMYK).
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Instead of utilizing the CMYK process (the standard for booklet and tray card printing), most CD/DVD faces are printed using PMS spot colors. Each spot color constitutes its own piece of film, so if a job contains 3 colors, the image setter will output 3 plates that correspond to the appropriate PMS colors.
If a job requires a full color image (like a photograph), the file will be separated as CMYK and will be silk-screened on the face as a 5-color image (CMYK + White Background) or can be screened directly on the CD/DVD silver.
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In order to make your booklets and traycards, an image setter is used to create aluminum printing plates that transfer ink to the paper at high speeds. To make color booklets, the printing press uses four ink colors: CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK). By varying the percentage of each of these four colors, you can achieve any color desired.
NOTE: Any color photographs or images within your layout must be converted to CMYK in order to create color booklets. Please make sure that you do this because a we see a common mistake where the files are saved in the computer's default RGB (Red Green Blue) setting.
Many professional graphic artists prefer some of their layouts to be printed with spot colors from the Pantone Matching System (PMS) to create a special look or effect they are trying to achieve, the most common being a metallic spot color (an effect that cannot be realized through traditional CMYK layering). Furnace can print any number of spot colors, but keep in mind that you will incur PMS set up fees to cover this custom service.
Finally, when designing folders or booklets, you need to use printer's spreads. This means that we need your layout to be set up in the same manner that we will print and bind the job. For instance, a four-page booklet will have two printer spreads: the outside of the booklet having the cover (pg. 1) on the right and the back cover (pg. 4) on the left. The inside spread will contain pg. 2 on the left and pg. 3 on the right. The same is true for all other folders or booklets.
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Our standard print stock involves printing onto 100# paper stock with pre-existing gloss content. Once the ink is applied and allowed ample time to dry, we then apply an aqueous coat over the ink in order to protect the print. The gloss content and the aqueous coat enable our packaging machines to fully automate your print into jewel cases (this requires no hand assembly charges).
Our matte stock is essentially the standard stock with a special matte coating. This creates a slightly duller texture in both look and feel.
NOTE: There is still gloss content with a matte finish! A common misunderstanding is that matte stock is perfectly dull (no gloss). this is not the case. Because of the original gloss content, most jobs with matte finish can generally be automated.
Unfinished stock is what you are looking for if you want no trace of gloss whatsoever. Your design is printed straight onto the unfinished stock of your choice - no gloss, no finishing coat - just ink and paper. Projects of this nature are not automated into our packaging procedure. Each piece is inserted into the jewel cases by hand and is subject to hand-packing fees. Unfinished stock creates very different results than coated stock due to how the ink is absorbed during the printing process. If you would like to work with unfinished stock, make sure you or your designer has experience working with this kind of paper. Contact the design experts at Furnace MFG if you have any questions.
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Due to layout requirements such as bleeds, the plates for your layout will always be larger than the actual image. When the presses have stopped, your print pieces must be cut down to size. Thus, it is important that the printer knows exactly where the boundaries are for each panel of your print. This is where crop marks come in. Crop marks are a tool that shows us exactly where to cut your print. Be sure to follow all of our specs and do not modify the crop marks. The crop marks are .75 mm thick and colored in 100% cyan, 100% magenta, 100% yellow, and 100% black (also known as Registration color).
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Since there are four process colors that make up each color image, there are four printing plates generated to represent each process color. The printer has to line these four negatives up perfectly to avoid such things as moray patterns and other problems that may surface during printing. When the colors all stack directly on top of each other, you achieve the perfect color balance. Registration marks are used to accomplish this task. They are simply circles located in the same place on each piece of film that are colored in 100% values of each of the four colors. The templates provided by Furnace MFG contain all required registration marks, so you need not worry about creating them. In order to avoid project delays and cost overruns, only use Furnace MFG supplied templates.
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To prevent small white gaps at the edge of your print once when your print is cut down to size, we require that any images on the edge of the page extend at least 1/8" past the crop lines. Every Furnace template has guidelines to indicate how much bleed you need to add to your layouts in order to be safe. In order to avoid project delays and cost overruns, only use Furnace MFG supplied templates.
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Perforation marks are dotted lines placed .25" in from the tray card's left and right edges. This is where the printer will score the sides of your tray card in order to fold up the spine for insertion into the jewel case. Your Furnace MFG supplied tray card templates will contain all appropriate perforation marks. In order to avoid project delays and cost overruns, only use Furnace MFG supplied templates.
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The safety margin is a concept put into place to prevent trimming of essential elements to in your layout (such as text). We require that your type and any other important non-bleed element be 1/8" inside the crop marks. This way, if the cutter is slightly off, your type or images won't end up on the cutting room floor.
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When printing most Digipaks or Eco Jackets the entire design is printed on one side of the board and then converted or folded down and glued to create a double walled package. In the conversion process there are gaps or knockouts to the unprinted side of the board (usually along the inside of the package's spines) that will show up on the inside as the color of the stock (in most cases white.). Some clients desire an uninterrupted image on the inside of their printed material so Furnace now offers Reverse Board Printing to "fill in the gaps". This allows you to have a continuous image, eliminating the white spines. Contact your account representative for details on this custom print option.
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There are a few key guidelines that you must follow to ensure the quality of your scans:
• All scans must be made at 300 pixels/dots per inch at actual print size.
• Do not scan at a smaller size and then stretch the photo in the page layout software.
• Do not scan at a low resolution and then increase resolution in PhotoShop.
• If you have an image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop, you must convert your scans to CMYK color mode before using them.
• Save your scans as a .TIF. Do not use BMP, .JPG, or .GIF files as they can degrade the quality of the image and do not allow you to save in CMYK mode. If you use .EPS files, please make sure that you save the image with an 8-bit TIF preview.
• If you are scanning bitmap line art, scan your image in at a resolution of 1200 pixels/inch and save it as a bitmap file. This will give you a smoother image to work with. Also, use .TIF files whenever possible.
• When saving an image as a .TIF, make sure NOT to use LZW compression.
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Yes, we will need your scans because if we need to do any editing on the scans, we will need to access the individual TIFFs or EPSs. Each program handles embedding differently, but regardless of whether the images are embedded or not, we need the graphic files.
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Unless you are skilled and experienced at trapping your artwork, you should probably let us handle the trapping for you. We provide this service free of charge and have a skilled production team that will take it upon themselves to see that your job is trapped correctly.
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Converting your fonts to a graphic element will eliminate the need to send us fonts. This will ensure that there are no odd font issues during production. However, if you convert your fonts to paths, we cannot fix any typos since we will not have the font you are using. Be sure to save the "paths" version of your file as a copy (that's then sent to us). Always keep your original file that still requires the font(s) so you can make quick edits should there be a need.
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Since layout files tend to be large, we recommend any of the following storage mediums: CD-R, DVD- R. Iomega Zip (100MB or 250MB) or Jaz (1GB or 2GB). You may also upload your files directly to us (please pre-arrange this with your Furnace MFG account representative).
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When you are ready to send in your project, please make sure you have included all of the following:
• If you are using Quark (5 and above) or InDesign (any version), simply collect/package the file. This will include all fonts | | | | |
