Ka-Blam Technical Specs

Here at Ka-Blam, we’ve tried to make the readying of your files for our printing process as simple and as painless as possible.

While each different product type has a few specific requirements, there are FOUR basic things that apply to almost all the products.  Just four simple things you need to get right.

1. File Format

All files must be submitted as a single, multi-page print-ready PDF. This is the only accepted file format.

Building your PDF: We’d prefer the PDF flattened, and your PDF must be compliant with all technical specifications — size, dimensions, compression, etc.

When exporting to PDF, be sure your export settings are not using JPG compression. JPG compression is destructive by design — it prioritizes smaller file size over image quality integrity. Beyond the data loss, JPG compression in a PDF export can actually render your pages at screen resolution rather than print resolution, making files that look fine on your monitor completely unprintable on our end. Export using lossless compression settings only.

Preparing your source files before assembly: Before assembling your pages into a PDF, keep these guidelines in mind for your source artwork:

  • Be sure your source files are flattened (no extra layers or channels).
  • We strongly recommend saving working files using LZW compression. LZW compression is lossless, meaning there is no loss of image quality. Uncompressed files are much larger — often 400% larger — and will take significantly longer to work with. There is no benefit to working with uncompressed files.
  • We strongly recommend that you never prepare files using JPG compression. JPG compression is destructive by design — it prioritizes smaller file size over image quality integrity. If your source files have already been saved with JPG compression, some damage has already been done. If possible, start over from a master copy.
  • Color files are best prepared in RGB mode. If your files are already in CMYK, leave them that way — don’t convert back to RGB, as you’ll only distort your colors.
  • Black and white files should be in Grayscale mode.

2. Resolution

Your files must be 300 DPI (dots per inch). 300 DPI is the optimal resolution for our system.

If the resolution of your files is less than 300 DPI, your print quality will suffer. If the resolution is greater than 300 DPI, you will not see any discernible improvement in print quality — your file sizes will simply be larger, and you may actually slow down your turnaround time.

Screen-sized images (72 DPI) and screen-optimized, low-resolution formats — JPGs, GIFs, PNGs, etc. — are unprintable in all cases.

3. Dimensions

This is the height and width (in inches) of your comic book pages or other product. Each product has its own required height and width. We’ve created templates to help you better understand print dimensions — you can find them in the sidebar.

A note on double-page spreads: Use the double-page templates only if you have continuous artwork flowing from one page to the next. Double-page spreads should always be submitted as one connected file. We cannot guarantee a spread will line up correctly if it is sent as two separate pages. If the artwork on a page is self-contained and does not flow onto the next page, always use the single-page template.

4. Name Your Files Properly — Then Assemble Them Into One PDF

The file you submit to Ka-Blam is a single, sequentially-ordered multi-page PDF. Not a folder of files. Not a ZIP archive. One PDF, with all pages in the correct order.

To get there, we strongly recommend building and organizing your individual page files as TIFFs first, using the naming convention below. This keeps your pages in order and eliminates assembly errors before you ever open your PDF export dialog.

Name your cover files like this:

A_frontcover.tif
B_insidefront.tif
Y_insideback.tif
Z_backcover.tif

Name your interior page files with a three-digit numerical structure:

001.tif, 002.tif, 003.tif, 004.tif, etc.

The first interior page is always 001 — regardless of whether it’s a credits page, introduction, dedication, or blank page. The file that prints as the first interior page is 001.tif, not intro.tif or credits.tif.

Feel free to include a descriptive suffix after the number — 001_KungFuMonkey.tif or 001KFM.tif are both fine. The leading page number is what matters.

Once your files are named and ordered correctly, assemble them into a single multi-page PDF in the correct sequence — covers in their proper positions, interior pages in numerical order — and submit that one PDF file to Ka-Blam.