Whilst your chosen CD printing company will be able to deal with just about any artwork you send them, you could be charged additional setup fees and be faced with delivery delays if they have to work on your designs prior to printing. Checking through this list before submitting your artwork could save you money and delays later on.

1. Use the appropriate templates

Always use templates for your artwork as they can save problems occurring down the line. They show you outlines, bleed, type margins, fold lines, etc, enabling you to make full use of the printable area for your designs. It is important that you only use templates supplied by your CD printing provider as templates can differ from company to company.

2. Supply all artwork in CMYK, and not RBG

Most artwork is printed using the 4 process colours - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black - so make sure all your artwork is supplied in CMYK - that goes for any bitmap images as well.

3. Resolution of bitmaps to be a minimum of 300dpi

All bitmap images should be at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Anything lower will give poor quality results leaving your images appearing fuzzy and 'pixelated'. The higher the density of dots, the higher the resolution and the better the final product will look.

4. Ensure there is plenty of bleed

All paper and card parts should have the artwork 'bleed' over the edges of the template. This takes care of slight movements when the printed parts are guillotined, so avoiding unsightly white edges.

5. Booklet pages supplied in printers pairs

When creating CD booklets the artwork should be supplied ready in printers pairs otherwise the pages may not appear in the correct order when the leaves are stitched together. Have a look at the individual leaves of a newspaper to see how printers pairs works.

6. Make a mock-up before submission

Always create a mock-up of the project to ensure that when the individual parts are put together they look right - for example, the designs of the CD face and insert line up and the folds and spines are in the correct places. See 'Printer Pairs' above to see why it is a good idea to do this.

7. Do not leave guidelines within the printable area

Always remove guidelines from your print ready artwork (do not just hide them, delete them!) but leave the cutter guides as these help in the finishing process. Any lines that are visible within the printable area of your finished artwork WILL be printed on the end product.

8. Include fonts and linked images

Make sure that any fonts are included with the artwork, or that all fonts are converted to curves. Missing fonts are probably the biggest cause of job delays. Also check that all linked images are supplied, as these can be easily forgotten.

Following these points will help to ensure your CD duplication and printing job will be delivered when you need it.