Preparation for printing on newsprint paper on a web press differs significantly from preparation for print for a magazine. When working on your art or layout, please keep in mind that we can be up to two rows of dots out of register and still be within industry specifications. Here are some layout and image guidelines to help build ads and art that will reproduce well on newsprint.

Press Specifications

Newsprint products are printed on a DGM850 cold set web press. Images will be output to plate at 1270 dpi using a 102 line-per-inch screen ruling. The expected press gain of 20% should be taken into consideration when preparing both black-and-white and four-color material.

Layout

Ads should be submitted at the correct size for ad requested and publication. This information can be obtained from your sales representative for specific column sizes by publication.

Typography

Black type should be composed of black ink only. Black type under 20 points should overprint any background. Type using two or more overprinting inks should be no less than 10 points in size. Type reversing out of 2 or more overprint colors should be at least 12 point bold and sans-serif. Type should not be reversed on a yellow or other light-colored background. 1-to 2-ink color strokes should be used only on 24 point text or larger, and should be no less than 1.5 points think. All fonts must be embedded on submitted PDFs.

Tone Density

The darkest four-color area should not exceed 220%

Color

Any colors submitted as spot colors should be converted to CMYK. Spot Pantone and RGB colors may not match your intended results. Do not use “registration” color. Black reverses with large coverage areas, not having small objects knocking out, should be a bump mix of 100%K and 40%C. Black reverses containing small and/or thin text, rules, boxes, or line art should be 100% black and not overprint any background.

Images

Color images are preferred to be in sRGB color mode and corrected for SNAP (Specifications for Newsprint Advertising Production) standards, using the SANP2009_220 icc profile.Black and White images should be in grayscale mode and adjusted for 20% dot gain or grayscale gamma 2.2. Images should be a minimum of 204 dpi at 100% of its final print size. For Editorial use, images should be 2000 pixels on the long side. The output screen ruling will be @ 102 LPI. Line art should be 800-1200ppi.

(Please note that black type in an image, when converted to CMYK, will likely be converted to black composed of 4 inks, and can be subject to misregistration when printed)

Graphic arts professionals who are creating advertising material for reproduction in one of the TCM newspapers can use our icc profile as a tool to adjust the continuous tone images within their files. Used with a calibrated monitor, viewing the image in preview mode in Photoshop with the correct profile will give the artist a soft proof representation of what to expect on press, and the images can be adjusted accordingly.

Rules and Frames

Black rules, and frames for graphics and images, should not be less than 1 point. Black rules less than 2 points thick should overprint the background. Rules and frames consisting of 3 or more inks should not be less than 4 points thick. Rules and frames reversing out of a background comprised of 3 or more inks should be no less than 2 points thick.

File Formats

Files should be submitted as print-ready PDFs at the correct size and resolutions. We will take a JPEG file if you are unable to submit a PDF.

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PDF Checklist

Before you make a PDF, run through this checklist. It could prevent problems later on.

1. Fonts: Always embed fonts, and check in advance that your system can access the font files the document will need
2. Linked graphics: Be sure all links can be accessed from your computer, locally or across a network
3. Embedded graphics: Make sure all graphic files are linked instead of embedded in the native document
4. Resolution: Make sure pixel-based graphic files have enough resolution to print correctly
5. Scaled or rotated graphics in layouts: Try to avoid them. Scale or rotated graphics in the graphics application, and re-save
6. Spot colors: Convert all spot colors to CMYK
7. Page size: Set the page or ad size correctly
8. Overprinting objects: Check overprints and trapping before making a PDF.