HFF23 AD ARTWORK EXPLAINER
TLDR
**FOR ALL SIZES**
SAFETY MARGIN
• If you ARE including bleed:
Keep all important elements ½" from the edge
of your artwork
• If you are NOT including bleed
Keep all important elements ¼" from the edge
of your artwork
WHAT IF I DON’T WANT TO INCLUDE BLEED?
Including bleed allows us to print your ad to the
edge of the page, but you don’t have to include bleed
if you don’t want to. Be aware that if you choose not
to include bleed, we may have to shrink your ad a bit
and pull it in, away from the edges of the guidebook,
to ensure nothing gets cut off when we print. As
with all of our ads, you will have an opportunity to
see how it will appear in the guidebook before we
print to make sure you are happy with any minor
adjustments we make. Whether you include bleed
or not, please make sure you give us at least ¼"
margin between the edge of your printed ad
dimensions and any important text/imagery so it
won’t get cut off.
FILE DIMENSIONS
(including the bleed)
FULL PAGE AD
Printed Ad Dimensions: 8½"x 11"
Dimensions of file you send to us:
9" x 11½" (includes bleed)
HALF PAGE AD
Final Printed Ad Dimensions: 8½" x 5½"
Dimensions of the File you send to us:
9" x 6" (includes bleed)
QUARTER PAGE AD
Final Printed Ad Dimensions: 4¼" x 5½"
Dimensions of the File you send to us:
4¾" x 6" (includes bleed)
EIGHTH PAGE AD
Final Printed Ad Dimensions: 4¼" x 2¾"
Dimensions of the File you send to us:
4¾" x 3¼" (includes bleed)
ARTWORK WITH AN OVERLAY SHOWING
BLEED, MARGINS, AND LIVE IMAGE AND COPY AREA
9"
11½"
WHAT YOU SEND TO US
If you are using our templates, be sure to either delete or hide the layer that
includes the lines and markings shown in the image above
9"
11½"
WHAT GETS PRINTED
8½"
11"
COLOR/RESOLUTION/FILETYPE **TEMPLATE INFORMATION**
• Color: CMYK • INSTRUCTIONAL INFORMATION
• Resolution: 300 DPI All of the templates have markings to identify
bleed, safety margins, & live print and copy area.
• Preferred Filetype: JPG or PDF
• Photoshop & Illustrator
• **FOR CANVA** This information is on a locked layer. Be sure
From the top menu: to hide it before exporting your final design.
Share —>Download—>PDF Print
• Canva
Leave the boxes unchecked and select RGB for
There are no layers, so this image is on your
the color profile. Canva only allows you to select
artboard. Make sure you delete it before
CMYK with a paid plan, so send it to us as RGB
downloading your final artwork.
and we will convert it to CMYK for you. Do NOT
save as a PNG, Canva won’t save them at a • Guide Lines
high enough resolution. Do NOT check the box We have added guide lines to mark bleed and
for crop marks and bleed. margins. To view them:
Photoshop
• **A Note about CMYK**
View—>Show—>Guides
Many bold and bright colors such as bright
Illustrator
blues and neons will be duller in CMYK—some
View—>Guides—>Show Guides
exceptions are cyan, magenta, and yellow
Canva
which will appear relatively bright and bold in
File—>View Settings—>Show Rulers and Guides
CMYK. Make sure you design your ad in CMYK
mode when using Photoshop and Illustrator. If
• Photoshop and Canva
you are designing in Canva and use bold/bright
Templates are sized to include bleed. Canva
colors, we suggest using an online converter to
users: DON’T select the options to show
convert your design to CMYK to ensure you like
how the colors will appear before you send us margins or show print bleed. Canva’s margins
your final artwork. and bleed won’t match what we are using and
will be confusing.
• Illustrator
These templates are the only ones that are
sized without bleed and need to have that
included when exporting or printing your file.
If, when you turn on “view guides” you aren’t
seeing bleed marks, go to File—>Document
Setup and set the bleed manually to .25". If
you export as an image, the bleed should
automatically be included. If you are printing
to PDF, be sure to select “Use Document Bleed
Settings” or manually set them to .25" from the
“Marks and Bleed” section of the print popup
window before printing your artwork.
PRINTING PROCESS
The HFF guidebook will be printed on paper that is larger than
the guidebook’s final size. Once the guidebook is printed, it will
then be trimmed to the correct size. This allows us to print to
the edge of the guidebook.
BLEED
Paper can shift during printing and trimming, it is generally
accurate within an ⅛ of an inch or so. Including bleed in your
design—extending your design by approximately ¼ of an inch
on all sides beyond the actual size of your ad—allows your ad to
print to the edge, even if the paper shifts during printing and/or
trimming. It gives the effect of the design “bleeding” off of the
page. As we do not know the location of your ad (left or right
page, top or bottom, etc) please include bleed on all sides of
your design. *Do NOT include any important information in the
bleed section. Most, if not all, of the design in the bleed section,
will be trimmed off and will not appear in your final printed ad.
It is best to extend the background color or imagery into this
section.
MARGINS & LIVE IMAGE COPY AREA
We recommend including ¼" of margin around your design.
This will allow enough breathing room so your text isn’t
cramped and ensures that all text and important imagery
doesn’t get cutoff during the trimming process. Anything that
goes right to the edge of the final ad size, may get cut-off during
trimming. The part of your ad that is within the margins—¼" in
from the edges of the final ad size (not including the bleed)—is
referred to as the LIVE IMAGE AND COPY AREA.
NOTES ON THE EXAMPLE
• Dimensions
• Final Ad Dimensions: 8½" x 11"
• Dimensions of Ad including Bleed: 9" x 11½"
• All Important text and imagery is within the Safety Margin
• Important information includes the show title, dates
and times, location, any logos you are required to
include, and anything else you want to make sure you
convey to people viewing your ad.
• For this design the important imagery is the main bird
spreading its wings. We made sure that most of it is
completely within the safety margins. Part of it extends
but not all the way to the edge of the final printed size,
so it won’t get cut off, but it will get close to the edge
of the page. This is a personal choice. You may want
part of that bird to extend off the page. Just be aware
of how it will appear in the final ad and do what you
prefer and feel works/looks best.
• FONT
• Font Choice: The font we used is readable. Be aware
that some decorative fonts are difficult to read. Even if
it is readable to you, some people viewing your ad may
find it difficult to read so be aware of that when making
your font choices.
• Color Contrast: There is enough contrast between
the background color and the text so that the text
is readable. There are online tools (color contrast
analyzers) that you can use to check contrast. They can
let you know if the contrast is enough for small text,
large text, and non-text. Another thing to keep in mind
is that there may be enough contrast when someone
who is not color blind looks at your ad, but if someone
is color blind, the color contrast may not be enough.
Illustrator, Photoshop, and Canva all have tools that
simulate what a design will look like for people with
different types of color blindness. It is a good idea to
take advantage of these tools to make sure your design
is readable to as many people as possible.
• Font Size/Weight: The font is large enough and thick
enough to be readable. When choosing your font size,
be aware that some people have difficulty reading
smaller text. Use your judgment, taking into account
how thin or thick the lines of the text are.
• The image extends to the bleed marks so the design will
print to the edge of the page.
• The design fades out at the bottom so there is no imagery
extended to the bleed on that side. This is OK. You don’t
have to extend something into the bleed if you want that
part of the design to be white (the color of the paper).
• Some of the text bleeds off the edge. This is OK because
that text is decorative and is not intended to convey
important information regarding the show.
• The design has been extended to fill the bleed section
on all sides (the exception being the bottom because we
want that to be white). This allows us to place this ad on
either side (with binding on the left OR right) and still have
the design extend to the edge on all sides.
A QUICK NOTE FOR ONE-EIGHTH PAGE ADS
• Something that looks great at a full page or even quarter
page size, can begin to look crowded once you shrink
it down to an eighth page size. We recommend using
minimal text and to limit or modify your imagery so it isn’t
competing with or distracting from your text. Take a look
at the examples below of a modified version of the full
page ad for “BIRDS!”:
• We removed the “BIRDS” text that we were using as a
decorative background element. At the smaller size, it
made the main text too difficult to read.
• We removed some of the text, making sure to include
the most important information: show name, dates,
location, and times as well as the call to action.
Depending on the usage rights, etc, you may be
required to include the show writer, director, actors,
so be sure to include whatever information you are
required to keep in there.
• We made the background image a bit more transparent
and modified the placement so it wouldn’t compete
with the text.
EIGHTH PAGE FINAL PRINT VERSION
EIGHTH PAGE (INCLUDING BLEED)
EIGHTH PAGE (WITH TEMPLATE OVERLAY)