A digital original is:
1. only a composite, print-ready PDF compliant with the PDF/X-1a:2001 (ISO 15930) requirements, using
CMYK or CMYK and spot colours according to the order,
2. created using the Adobe Acrobat Distiller PDFX-1a settings
and preferably passed through a preflight check,
3. with a bleed of 3–5 mm on the outer edges, the final format of the printed product positioned in the centre of the PDF page,
without crop marks or with crop marks located at least 3 mm outside the final format; the image resolution and colour separation must be suitable for the printing process; the file name must identify the product and the page numbers contained in the specific file; and all other generally accepted print-preparation rules must be followed.
For visual inspection of digital originals and imposition, a printout (mock-up) folded and stapled or otherwise fastened according to the final result (including covers, inserts, etc.) is required.
For leaflets and similar products, the possibility of incorrect folding must be excluded. If a printout
cannot be provided and the printed product contains unnumbered pages or additional elements, a layout plan describing the contents or similar document is required to verify their sequence.

Bleed 3–5 mm, 10 mm for large-format work
All objects extending to the final edge of the printed product must continue 3–5 mm beyond the edge to prevent white areas from appearing due to shifts during folding, binding, cutting, etc. It is important to allow for bleed already when preparing design elements and cropping images, as otherwise important content may be cut off. Text and other critical design elements must not be positioned closer than 3–5 mm from the edge, or 10–15 mm for large-format work. Lines parallel to the edge of the page are especially likely to reveal even the smallest finishing error. It is recommended to include bleed on every edge regardless of the finishing method.

Black and overprint
Overprint must not be applied to coloured objects (except 100% black).
Black design elements and text (100% K) on coloured backgrounds must have black overprint applied.
For black areas where overprinting must be avoided (for example, to prevent an image or background from showing through a black box covering it), non-overprinting black must be used – CMY:1%, K:100%.
When designing, please note that all black objects (text and backgrounds using 100% black) will be set to overprint, meaning that black overprint is automatically applied by the printing house
to improve print quality.

Line art:
The minimum line thickness for line art must be at least 0.15 mm.
Line art must not contain more than two process colours printed on top of each other.

Text
White text (knockout) of 8 points or smaller (height less than 3 mm, line thickness below 0.3 mm) must not be used within coloured areas, nor should text consist of multiple process colours (C+M+Y+K), such as light-coloured text. The minimum size of italic or serif text within coloured objects must be at least 10 points. To ensure contrast, avoid placing white text on raster areas lighter than 50% or on solid yellow areas. Vector text should always be preferred, and converting text into images (pixels) should be avoided.

Transparency
Newer versions of photo-editing, graphics and layout software allow parts of an image to remain transparent, add a drop shadow or apply another similar special effect. These do not cause problems when creating a PDF using the PDFX1-a standard, but with newer PDF versions, the printed result often depends on the printer or RIP being used and is therefore unpredictable. Attempts by software to process transparency in other ways during printing result in large PDF files that may potentially cause problems.

Vibrant colours and sharp images
Most colour and image problems in printed products originate from poor image editing and/or Photoshop colour-separation parameters that have not been configured for the printing process: the ISO 12647-2 standard profiles for different papers have not been taken into account.
Before starting work, it is advisable to check the monitor settings (Start -> Control Panel ->
Adobe Gamma or the calibration system being used) and ensure that an ICC profile suitable for the paper being printed on is selected in Photoshop.
For digital printing, the Fogra39.icc or ISO_coated_v2_eci.icc profile is recommended.
Laser-based digital printing equipment can also achieve a colour space corresponding to the Fogra39. icc profile on uncoated papers. However, if a colour space specifically corresponding to uncoated paper is required, the PSO_Uncoated_ISO12647_eci. icc profile must be used.
Since even the best paper and printing produce a considerably narrower colour gamut than nature, the purpose of image editing is to make the fullest possible use of it:
1. the lightest and darkest points must first be determined in every image; a useful tool in Photoshop is Levels, which displays the brightness values present in the image on a histogram;
2. most images benefit from a slight increase in contrast, and the image often also needs to be made slightly lighter or darker; the correct tool for this is Curves;
3. vibrant colours are created from two process colours; adding a third reduces colour saturation. For example, lettuce green consists of yellow (up to 100%) and cyan (approx. 60%), while adding magenta produces a dark spruce green; the best tool for removing unnecessary colours is Selective Color; Hue/Saturation
4. digital sharpening is necessary even for very good original images because screening tends to reduce image sharpness; the Photoshop tool for this is Unsharp Mask. The image resolution in the design (dpi) must be at least 250 dpi for small-format printed products and 150 dpi for large-format products. Digitally increasing the resolution of low-resolution images to the required value is considered an intentional action by the designer.
Automatic file checking will not detect this. Such images will appear blurred in print (pixelation).

Colour separation
The colour space of all images and vector objects must be CMYK. Pantone colours, RGB, Lab, etc.
are automatically converted to CMYK, which may significantly distort the colours requested by the customer. Colour separation means converting an image from the RGB colour system used by a scanner, digital camera or other input device into a colour system suitable for the printing device, which is CMYK in four-colour printing. During colour separation, the image is converted from RGB to CMYK, either during image editing in Adobe Photoshop or when exporting from the layout software. The software performing the colour separation takes into account the known parameters of the printing process (Photoshop settings or ICC profile) and attempts to achieve a result as similar as possible to the original within the capabilities of the output device. It is recommended to perform most image editing in the RGB colour system and carry out the CMYK separation when generating the PDF, using an ICC profile corresponding to the printing paper.

Printing on coloured or transparent material, varnish
To print CMYK colours on coloured or transparent material, a White Under layer must be created for the entire design, including the so-called white elements and text. This means that all elements requiring white underprinting must be duplicated onto the top layer and set as a spot colour named White Under, with overprint applied. To make it easier to see whether White Under has been applied everywhere it is required, the spot colour may be given a colour, e.g. M 50%. If printing only in white, the spot colour must be named White Ower. Varnish must be a spot colour named Varnish with overprint applied. Since everything is printed at the same time, separate pages for spot colours and varnish are not required.

Die-cutting drawing
A 1:1 drawing in vector graphics. Please avoid duplicate lines and hidden lines.
The drawing must show Cutting blades = red (spot), Creasing lines = green (spot), Perforations = yellow (spot).

Custom-shape cutting or ESKO
Cutting lines may be placed over the design as lines and SPOT colours. The outer cutting line must be named Cut, the crease line Crease, and internal cutting lines (hanging holes, windows, perforations) must be named Cut2. A perforation line must consist of separate dashes and must not be a Dashed line, as the cutter reads it as a continuous line.
Overprint must be applied to all lines. The die-cutting line thickness must be 0.4 mm, and duplicate lines are not permitted.

File naming
Depending on the nature of the specific job and the workflow, all pages must be in a single PDF. See the following section regarding covers. The file name must contain the name of the job, and it is recommended to include the format. Due to the requirements of different operating systems, file names may contain only numbers, unaccented letters, underscores (_), hyphens (-) and full stops (.).

Originals that do not comply with the technical requirements
The printing house has the right to reject material submitted by the customer that does not comply with the technical requirements.
To ensure print quality, the printing house has the right to make unavoidable corrections to the customer’s files.
The customer is responsible for the cost of reworking material that does not comply with the technical requirements, as well as
any expenses resulting from material that does not comply with the technical requirements.

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