Guidelines for ads

• General info
• How to avoid common problems
• What to submit
• Acceptable file formats
• Unacceptable formats
• How to deliver the files

Guidelines for logos
(only Carroll Ave Title Sponsors & Takoma Patrons need to submit logos)

 

Guidelines for ads in the Takoma Park Street Festival’s program guide.

General info:

• The program guide will be web-offset printed on newsprint, so design your ad for the lower resolution requirements of newsprint, which is 200-266 dpi.
• Also, avoid heavy ink coverage and type that’s reversed white out of dark backgrounds because these designs may not print well on newsprint. Note that screen tints will vary in the final printed program guide: tints less than 7% may drop out and appear as white, and tints darker than 50% may clog and appear as solid black.
• Press sheet size is 22.5” wide x 17” high, folded to a page size of 11.25” wide x 17” high.
• Ads with bleeds will not be accepted.

How to avoid common problems:

• Fonts & Graphics: Embed ALL fonts and graphics into the file you submit (see file formats below).
• GIFs and JPEGs: Do not use web-quality GIF or JPEG graphics in your ad. Their low resolution and quality are intended for monitor screens, not offset printing.
• Ink Colors: All color ads (Carroll Ave Title Sponsors and Takoma Patrons) must be CMYK. Black/White ads must be grayscale, using solid or tint percentagess of black ink. Files that use LAB, RGB, duotones, PANTONE spot PMS colors, or indexed colors will be rejected.
• Ink density: Keep ink coverage (density) to 275 or less.
• Images: Bitmapped images must be 200-266 dpi. Do not embed ICC Color Profiles.
• Transparency Effects: If your ad uses transparency (such as soft drop shadows and layer blending modes) or other special effects, make sure that the file you send us is flattened.
• Check Your Black Inks: make sure your graphics program does not use Rich Black (or a “built” black) that combines varying tints of CMYK to simulate true black ink. ALL black inks should be 100% black, or tint percentages of black, such as 15% black.
• Preflight: Preflight your ad file using either
  • Your software’s built-in preflight utility (if you use Adobe InDesign or Adobe PageMaker)
  • Markzware’s Flightcheck
  • Adobe Acrobat Pro 6 or 7 (Use Acrobat Pro’s Separations Preview utility to check for Rich or built Blacks, color conversions, and other inappropriate ink colors.)
• Proofs: Don’t make us “guess” how you intend your file to appear! When you email your electronic file to us, also fax a copy of the ad to 240-253-4229.

What to submit:

• The digital file (see below for acceptable file formats).
  Note: use the advertiser’s name in the name of the file, such as “my-store-name.PDF” rather than “street-festival-ad.PDF”.
• A proof of the ad.
  For black and white ads, fax a laser copy to 240-253-4229.
  For color ads, mail an industry-compliant color proof, or a color laser/inkjet proof. Note: colors may shift in the final printed program guide.
• A completed copy of the Sponsorship and Ad Form, with full payment.

Acceptable file formats:

• PDFs set to the PDF/X-1a standard with the following changes in the settings:
  • Compression: downsample to 200 ppi for images above 266 ppi
  • Output: Destination = U.S. Web Uncoated v2
  • Click here to download screen capture of PDF settings
• TIFs made to the following specifications:
  • The ad’s physical width x height dimensions must exactly match our specifications.
  • Layers are merged and flattened
  • All type is rasterized
  • All unused color swatches are removed
  • Resolution is 200-266 dpi
• EPSs made to the following specifications:
  • The ad’s physical width x height dimensions must exactly match our specifications.
  • Layers are merged, hidden layers are deleted.
  • All type is converted to outlines (or curves or paths, depending upon your software)
  • All unused color swatches are removed from the swatches palette
  • Embedded bitmapped graphics must be at the correct resolution, 200-266 dp

Unacceptable formats:

• Native files from ANY software program.
• MS Publisher, MS Word, MS Powerpoint, or MS Excel
• GIF, JPG, JPEG, PICT, BMP, PCX , PNG or any other file format other than those listed in the above section.
• PDF/X-3 (instead, use the PDF/X-1a standard)
• EPS files from Photoshop (instead, save Photoshop files as TIFF or PDF/X-1a)
• Hard copy, except for business card ads.

How to deliver the files:

• Email your ad file to Advertising@TakomaFestival.com
• For files larger than 1MB, but smaller than 2MB, you can use the following FTP website: www.pubcom.com/ezupload.
• Fax or deliver a laser or color proof of the ad to 301-585-7289.
• Files can also be delivered on CD-ROM to:
  

  Old Takoma Business Association
  Attn: TkPk Street Festival Ads
  P.O. Box 5440
  Takoma Park, MD 20913

For further information:

Roz Grigsby, OTBA Executive director
240-253-4229
ProgramMgr@TakomaFestival.com

For technical information about ad specifications and formats,
Advertising@TakomaFestival.com

Guidelines for logos

Carroll Avenue Title Sponsors (stage sponsors) and Takoma Patrons will have their corporate logos used in the Festival’s advertising and program guide, in addition to their ads appearing in the program guide.
Carroll Avenue Title Sponsors will also have their logo on the banner of the stage they are sponsoring.

Carroll Avenue Title Sponsors should submit ALL of the following:

• CMYK color version of their logo in either EPS (preferred) or TIF format (at least 2” wide @ 300 dpi)
• Grayscale version of their logo in either EPS (preferred) or TIF format (at least 2” wide @ 300 dpi)
• CMYK color version of their logo in EPS, suitable for enlarging up to 2’ in diameter for their stage banner.

Takoma Patrons should submit ALL of the following:

• CMYK color version of their logo in either EPS (preferred) or TIF format (at least 2” wide @ 300 dpi)
• Grayscale version of their logo in either EPS (preferred) or TIF format (at least 2” wide @ 300 dpi)

 

How to deliver logo files:

• Email your logo files to execdirector "at" oldtakoma.com
• For files larger than 1MB, but smaller than 2MB, you can use the following FTP website: www.pubcom.com/ezupload.
• Fax or deliver a laser or color proof of the logo to 240-253-4229.
• Files can also be delivered on CD-ROM to:
  

  Old Takoma Business Association
  Attn: TkPk Street Festival Ads
  P.O. Box 5440
  Takoma Park, MD 20913

For further information:

Roz Grigsby, OTBA Executive director
240-253-4229
ProgramMgr@TakomaFestival.com

For technical information about ad specifications and formats,
Advertising@TakomaFestival.com