Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some FAQ's by Sounds & Graphics (S&G) Clients.
1. Why should I use the S&G templates?
The templates have been designed by our prepress department to ensure that your job will move quickly and smoothly through our print shop and packaging departments. Differences of as little as 1/32 of an inch can cause problems in the printing and packaging process. Any file that is not provided in our templates will incur additional out-of-template fee to cover our labor for adjusting your files.
2. Can't I just use the measurements from a CD or DVD that I own?
No. A jewel box or DVD case from S&G may look the same as every other at first glance, but they have slightly different dimensions. Even slight deviations from S&G specifications can cause problems in the printing and packaging process.
3. What programs should I use?
We have templates available in all professional-level desktop publishing software. Here is a list of file formats we can accept:
Layout files:
• Adobe Illustrator (versions 9 - CS)
• Adobe Photoshop (versions 7 - CS)
Photos or images:
• TIFF (.tif)
• Adobe Photoshop (up to version CS) (.psd or flattened tiff's)
• Photoshop EPS (.eps) - with 8-bit TIFF preview
• JPEG (.jpg) – accepted, but not recommended for print• Windows Bitmaps (.bmp) accepted, but not recommended for print
• Photo CD (.pcd)
Fonts:
We can accept PostScript, OpenType, or TrueType fonts.
4. Why don't I see templates for Photoshop?
We do not recommend doing your entire layout in Photoshop. Photoshop is great for manipulating photos and creating special effects, but it is not a page-layout program, and does not provide us with some of the tools necessary in our publishing environment.
If you must supply your entire design in Photoshop, please send us layered Photoshop documents rather than flattened files, with any text layers still editable, and all necessary fonts. If you do choose to flatten the document you will have to be aware of the guides from the template. If you flatten the guides into your artwork we will not be able to remove them. Text set in Photoshop may not print with the same clarity as text set in any of our supported layout or illustration programs. Your lyrics, credits, and other text will be much easier for your audience to read if you create it in a layout program like or Illustrator.
5. Why don't I see templates for Publisher or other applications?
Sounds & Graphics is committed to staying current with desktop publishing technology, and we accept files from all major page layout, illustration and image-editing applications. Some popular desktop applications like Microsoft Publisher are suitable for printing flyers to your home inkjet printer, but are not powerful enough to work in a professional publishing environment. Similarly, while we can accept text in Microsoft Word, we cannot accept any layouts or images created in Word or any other word-processing program.
6. Why don't I see templates for a sticker?
You can make your own template for a sticker in any of our supported programs by simply drawing a rectangle or ellipse of the appropriate size and leave a slight empty border along the edge of the sticker (we recommend 1/8-inch).
7. I've downloaded the templates. Now what do I do?
The templates are contained in a compressed ZIP file. In order to open them, you will need to have a compression utility such as StuffIt Expander, available for free for both Mac and PC from www.stuffit.com . Another popular program for Windows is WinZIP, available from www.winzip.com .
Once you've opened a template, do not make any changes to the template itself (e.g., copying and pasting into a new page to save space, changing or deleting any of the crop marks, changing the page size, etc.). Our templates are created to maximize our in-house productivity. If you alter the template pages, we will have to reformat your job to fit into the original templates, and you will be billed for this work.
8. I've downloaded the templates. Why can't I open them?
The templates have been compressed to save download time. You will need a compression utility such as Stuffit Expander, available for free from www.stuffit.com , to open the templates.
9. Which template(s) do I use?
The templates from our website are organized according to format, and include illustrations to help you determine which templates you need.
You will also need a template for printing on the disc itself, as well as any promotional pieces you are ordering (posters, postcards, etc.).
10. Do I need to supply layout files for every part of my package?
Yes. If you don't provide layout files for every part of your package, you may have to pay design fees for us to create the missing files. The most commonly omitted files are for the on-disc printing and posters.
11. Can I send my files in over the Internet?
You may email files under 10 MB to your project manager or Product Specialist. If your files are over 10 MB but less than 100 MB, you may use an FTP program like www.smartftp.com If your files are over 100 MB, you cannot send them in over the Internet, and will have to send us a disk.
Before you upload any files, compress all of your documents into one stuffed or zipped archive. This will keep things organized in transit and decrease your upload time.
We strongly recommend sending a disk even if you are uploading your files to us. Uploading files does save time, but it's not a flawless process. Files can get corrupted during transfer to or from our FTP site, and that can easily use up whatever time savings you had gained in using the FTP site in the first place. We recommend sending in or CD-R after uploading files as insurance.
12. I've got photos on my website. Can you download them from there?
We could, but you probably don't want us to. The images on your website are usually compressed to be as small as possible, so they load quickly in a web browser. Images need to have a lot more information for quality commercial print than they do for the web. Your web images will appear blurry, pixellated, jaggy, and generally poor-quality if used in your print work. You should provide us with the original images before they were compressed for the web.
13. I've got a digital camera. How should I supply photos?
You should take your photos on your camera's highest quality setting. We recommend at least a 5 mega-pixel size. Use the lowest image compression setting, or uncompressed if possible. Consult your camera's manual for instructions on how to set the resolution, quality and
compression settings on your specific camera. You shouldn't assume that the default factory settings are correct for professional print needs.
14. How should I scan my photos?
Here are a few guidelines to ensure professional-quality scans. Do not scan at a lower resolution and then increase it in Photoshop. This will result in blurry images. You need to input the proper resolution when you scan.
Save your scans as either .TIF or Photoshop .EPS, .JPG files. Avoid using .BMP or .GIF files as they can lower the print quality. If you use .EPS files, be sure that you save the image with an 8-bit TIFF preview.
15. How small can I make my type?
Generally, for your printed pieces you can go as small as 4 or 5 points for black type on a light or white background, 6 points for white type on a dark, black, or complex background (also known as reverse type). This varies depending on the typeface used. For on-disc printing, we recommend type be no smaller than 6 points, 8 points for reverse type.
16. How much space should I leave for a barcode?
If your project is going to have a barcode on it (recommended for retail) we suggest designating a location (typically on the tray card, or the back cover of your Digipak/jacket/wallet/etc.) by placing a white rectangle in your tray card design that measures at least 1.25" wide by .5" high.
17. Do you guarantee your product?
Yes. Your finished product will be an exact reflection of your submitted master. If there is a problem on the finished product that is not present on the submitted master or evaluated mastered CD, the problem will be fixed immediately, at no expense to you.
18. What is the difference between CD Duplication and Replication?
Duplication and replication are simply two different methods of reproducing a CD. Duplication is the method most often used for smaller quantities (under 500) and replication is the method used for quantities over 500.
With Duplication, the CDs are reproduced by individually "burning" each CDR. Replication is a manufacturing process whereby a mold of the data, called a Glass Master, is made and then "stamped" onto blank media. It's a much faster process, but isn't cost effective on runs under 500.
19. Do you offer RUSH rates & faster turnaround times?
Yes. It also has an additional charge, call for details.
20. How do you ship the finished CDs?
Our preferred shipper is UPS. Our default shipping method is FedEx. If you prefer a different shipper or a different timeframe for shipping, please let us know when requesting a quote & before placing an order. Please note that, for larger quantities (5000 or more bulk CDs or 3000 or more CDs with Jewel Cases), it is often more economical to ship freight rather than through UPS. Please contact us if you would like a quote for freight shipping. Also, if you would like to ship the CDs using your company's shipping account, please contact S&G.
The 5 most common problems with client-supplied design jobs
1) Failure to include fonts by far, this is the most common reason a job gets delayed at the start.
2) Failure to include all linked images. Before you send in your job, make sure you're including in all linked files. Each application has a different way to check this. In Illustrator have Links menus, which will list all placed images in the document.
3) Image resolution is too low (example 72dpi)
4) Insufficient bleed or safety margins.
5) Failure to supply all parts of the job on S&G templates.
A final checklist
When you're ready to submit your job to S&G, make sure that you're including all of the following items:
• layout file for each part of the job (insert, tray card, on-disc printing, poster, etc.)
• All the fonts used in the layouts
• All the scans placed in the layouts
• up-to-date printouts of every layout file. Black and white prints are fine, even if your files are in color, but faxes are not acceptable due to lack of detail.
• A listing of the files on your disk (please also note the OS, programs and versions you used; i.e. Windows XP, Illustrator 9.0, Photoshop 6, etc.)
• A folded and/or stapled mockup (where applicable)
• any special instructions you may have
You should also do a final proofread of all your text and layouts to make sure everything is accurate and complete (Sounds and Graphics is not responsible for spelling or grammar errors on art submitted by clients).
Organize the files on the disk clearly. Set up separate folders for layout files, images, fonts, not-for-output files, etc. If you submit a disk with dozens of unorganized and/or unnecessary files, your project will be delayed.
