If you have access to a scanner, you are welcome to supply us with your own scans. There are a few simple rules you must follow, however, to ensure professional-quality scans.

All color and grayscale scans must be created at 300 pixels per inch (sometimes referred to incorrectly as dots per inch) at actual print size. For example, if you want to use a photo for the cover of your CD booklet, you’ll need to set your scanning software to 300 ppi, 5" x 5". If your software wants the measurements in pixels, multiply the inches times the ppi (i.e. 300 ppi x 5 inches = 1500 pixels). 1-bit (black & white, or monochrome) scans should have a resolution of 1200ppi at size. Note: black & white and grayscale are NOT the same type of scan! A 1-bit black & white scan contains only black or white pixels; there are no shades of gray present at all.

Do not scan at a smaller size and then enlarge the photo in your page layout software! This effectively lowers the resolution. For example, a 2.5" x 2.5" image scanned at 300 ppi that is enlarged 200% in a page layout application becomes 150 ppi at 5" x 5".

The bigger and cleaner the artwork (such as a logo), the better it will scan.

Do not scan at a lower resolution and then increase it in Photoshop! This is not a shortcut to scanning at the correct resolution for the size the image is being printed, and will result in blurry images. Photoshop cannot invent pixels that were never present in the image to begin with; its upsampling algorithms are excellent, but cannot perform magic.

If you have an image editor, such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel PhotoPaint, you should convert your color scans to CMYK (32-bit) color mode just before using them. If you don’t, we will have to make this conversion before we can print your files, and your colors can change. Some colors, such as vivid blues, greens and oranges, can change dramatically. It is better that you see any color changes for yourself, so if color correction needs to be done you can do it yourself. Color correction work is not included in our discounted, design-supplied prices, and will be an additional charge.

Grayscale images should be saved in grayscale (8-bit) mode.

If you need to rotate your image, rotate it in Photoshop or Photo- Paint, not in the layout application you’re using. When your page layout software has to calculate such a rotation, it creates a more complicated fi le, which takes longer to print and increases the chances of a printer error.

Save your scans as either .TIF or Photoshop .EPS fi les. Avoid using .BMP, .JPG or .GIF fi les as they can degrade the quality, and they do not allow you to save in CMYK color mode. .GIF and .JPG

fi le formats were created for the Web, and are inadequate for professional print output. If you use .EPS fi les, be sure that you save the image with an 8-bit TIFF preview.

RESOLUTION/DOTS PER INCH

For any images that are going to be offset printed (i.e. your booklets, tray cards, folders, catalogs, brochures, stickers, offset print posters, or high resolution on CUD printing, we recommend that you use images of 350 dpi (300 minimum), at actual size.

What this means is that if you are scanning something that will be used at twice the size of the original picture, you need to scan at 200% of actual size and 350 dpi. Some scanners do not allow you to change the percentage of actual size when you are scanning, so if this is the case you should simply increase the dpi of the scan (i.e. 700 dpi if you want to print the image at twice its original size)

IMAGE QUALITY

When your image seems ready to use, or after significant work that you want to test the results of, you should examine the picture using the view option which says ACTUAL PIXELS.

What this will show you is a magnification of the image to the point that the monitor can show you the level of detail that the image actually has. If you've done the previous steps properly, when you click onto ACTUAL PIXELS, the image should be displaying at 400% of actual size or higher.

When you are viewing the image at this magnification, you will probably notice some inconsistencies in its appearance unless your scan is of extremely high quality, but the image should still look relatively good.

MOIRÉ PATTERN

If you notice crisscross patterns or checkerboarding or circular dot patterns of discoloration in the image at this view, it probably indicates the presence of something called moiré, which can occur when scanning an image that was previously printed using the offset process (i.e. a picture from a book or magazine or newspaper). While these problems will not be likely to show up in printouts made at home using an ink jet printer (or even most laser printers), they are causes for concern, because they will almost certainly show up when we offset print your image.

If you do notice moiré patterns in your images, you can either have us correct them as much as is possible here, or you can attempt to use some of the techniques above (UNSHARP MASK or GAUSSIAN BLUR, etc.).

Moiré problems do not usually occur using scans of actual photographs, but beware of them if you are taking images that have been printed before using other methods like offset or silkscreen.