In what file format should I send my pages?
If you’re comfortable building print ready PDFs then you may send us a print ready PDF. Just be SURE that your PDF is compliant with all technical specifications — size, dimensions, compression, etc. Also, be sure you’ve converted all fonts to curves.
If you’re not quite ready to build your own PDF, then we can do it for you. You’ll just need to supply TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) files for each page. PC formatted, flattened with no extra layers or channels. RGB mode for color files. Grayscale mode for black & white.
And before you ask … Yes, we said RGB and we meant RGB. Really. Trust us. With our equipment that will give you the best, most vibrant, most-true-to-your-colors print. Though if you refuse to take our word for it … if you absolutely must send CMYK files … well, we understand. Your colors might not be as vibrant, but we understand.
can we send a pdf file or do u want them in a zip
Yes, provisionally.
You see almost every time I’ve said yes to this question I get a pdf that isn’t even close to being in compliance with our tech specs. So, you can send a pdf and if it is spec-compliant I will send a you thank-you note … but please be aware that if it isn’t I will be asking you to send the files again — as tiffs and spec-compliant — and that may affect your turnaround time.
What about black and white comics? Still RGB?
If I take a photoshop file put it in a adobe file(ai.) and put it in photoshop again and save it as a tiff doesn’t that mess up the art resolution?
All my finished pages are in ai, but began in photoshop.
Black and white comics should be in grayscale mode, please.
Not unless you’re changing the file size or resolution when you’re importing or exporting.
what size should the images be? for instance, i have several images that range in size from 2000×800 pixels all the way up yo 4000×3900 pixels. Whats the ideal specs for images to be submitted?
Please read the tech specs as well as the information found here.
Just to make sure, can I use download sites such as Megaupload or Mediafire for my files? Or is there an email I can send pages to? (and I know of the FTP option, but I don’t know how it works, so I hope to avoid using it)
As for black and white comic books, must it be strictly black and white or can I use shades of gray also?
So you accept PDF files now? Awesome! I can still send TIFF files for the single issues, but the TPBs I have planned… I’d lose my mind trying to number individual page files!
Conditionally … we’ll accept a pdf. I’m afraid on a TPB, we may still need the tiffs.
What about .psd files? :^(
No, sorry. Tiffs please. Psds would have to be converted before we can use them anyway and tiffs tend to compress to smaller file size. Which helps a lot when you consider the volume of files we’re downloading every day.
What about jpgs? Do you accept jpgs?
Not unless that’s all you’ve got. Jpgs are a screen format NOT a print format.
A question about file naming. Suppose I have artwork for the cover, both inside and out, what would the the naming convention? (eg: would comicpage01.tif equal the front cover; comicpage02.tif equal inside front cover; comicpage03.tif equal first comic page, etc?)
To avoid confusion we would prefer that you name your first interior page as “page01.tif” or something to that effect. Name your covers as “cover_front.tif” or “frontcover.tif”, “cover_back” or “backcover.tif”, etc.
Hi there,
Couple of questions, just to be sure of format.
I’ve created the artwork in Photoshop, created borders in Illustrator, put the entire comic together in inDesign. All color images are rgb tiffs, black & whites are grayscale. Illustrator files are cmyk. Should I paginate in inDesign and then send the whole package along? Could I send a paginated PDF and a non-paginated inDesign file? Also, I was following Lulu specs before I found Ka-Blam (shame on me). Their specs where slightly different (6.625 x 10.25, .125 bleeds) should I convert?
Sorry for the multiple questions, thanks in advance.
If you’ve got a paginated pdf built to those specs then you can go ahead and send me that. That should work fine, but we’ll let you know if there are any issues with it.
Quick question.
Our book is 95% black and white with occasional colors thrown in. The black and white portions are heavy with gray tones. Should we send ALL files as rgb or just those with actual color?
Also, if the black and white are extremely heavy with gray tones and shading, would we be safer to send those files as rgb or b/w?
Hey ya Barry,
Just sent the actual color pages RBG.
If it’s a B&W file then it needs to be sent in B&W.
Best
Jen
Hi, everyone.
I’m thinking of publishing a four panel comic compilation through this site and I see that they accept PDF files of people’s works. However, I’m confused over how I should submit the file.
I created my comic through Microsoft Publisher and had it exported as a PDF file, so all 70 pages (including the front and back covers) are part of a single file. However, I see that with TIFF files, you’d have to send the pages individually. But I’m using PDF for my pages so I don’t know if the same expectations apply here.
So here’s my questions. Should I chop up my comic into individual pages or submit it in one large file? And if I have to submit my comic in separate pages, should they be lumped together in a zip file?
To confirm, all letters flattened as well, 300 DPI?
Thanks,
Erik