Supplying Content
How you supply text, imagery and data to us can effect the production time enormously and if not done correctly, can increase the cost of your project
We have listed a few guidelines below which will ensure your project is completed in a timely fashion and to the price we quote. This will make the whole creative process a pleasant and productive experience all round.
Text
If you’re writing the content for your project yourself please ensure that everyone who needs to see it, has seen and approved the copy before forwarding it on to us. There’s no quick way to merge the amended sections of a text document and apply them to our working document, this often becomes a time consuming process leading to additional charges.
Don’t attempt to create a layout within your text file as this is removed when it’s imported into our working document. Keep the formatting simple without colour and set to a single column. Do indicate what should be headers, body copy and bullet points etc, and do insert specific images you may have next to the text it relates to.
Don’t forget – run your text document through a spelling and grammar checker.
Images
Before we even talk about resolution you need to be sure you have the rights to use the images you’re supplying. If you haven’t done so already read our guide on image copyright here.
For photographs, the best file type for retaining image quality is the RAW format. If this is not an option then an uncompressed TIFF and finally a JPG file set to maximum quality is the preference.
Photographs to be printed in documents should have a resolution of 300ppi or more at the size it’s to be printed in the document. The resolution for large format printing (banners and displays) is lower at 85ppi at the final printed size. The lowest file size is for online use at 72ppi, at the size it’s to be printed at.
Graphic images like logos and flat colour illustrations are best supplied in a vector format. Unlike photographs, vector graphics can be scaled to any size without losing image quality. There are many file types that support the vector format with the most common ones being EPS, AI, PDF and SVG.
Data
Because data usage can be so varied and complex the best approach is to decide which data fields you would like to include, we will then take a sample and flow it into the layout and apply styles. Once you are happy with the sample layout we will create a template for you to supply the remaining data.
Many organisations work with much more data than they intend to use in the projects we create for them. When this is the case please make sure the file that is sent to us only contains the information that's meant to go into the project. Redundant data can cause import issues and create confusion which usually leads to mistakes occurring.
