Advertising specifications
Print Specifications
The following guidelines apply to advertising copy supplied to Mercator Media Ltd for magazine publication
We wish to reproduce your images to the highest possible standard. When supplying scans or digital photography, we recommend that images are captured with a minimum resolution of 300dpi. These should be sent to us in jpeg or TIFF format. We cannot be held responsible for the quality of pictures that are supplied digitally.
Most computer monitors only have an effective resolution of around 72dpi. A satisfactory display on screen does not mean satisfactory magazine reproduction as more than three times this resolution is needed when lithographic printing is used.
Mechanical data for print display ads (width x depth)
| Front cover | Bleed Size | 216mm x | 303mm |
| DPS | Trim Size Type Area Bleed Size | 420mm x | 297mm |
| Full page | Trim Size Type Area Bleed Size | 210mm x | 297mm 265mm 303mm |
| Half page | Horizontal Type Area Horizontal Bleed Size Vertical Type Area Vertical Bleed Size | 173mm x | 130mm |
| Quarter page | Horizontal Type Area | 186mm x | 62mm |
Preparing files to send
We usually receive artwork by email if the file size doesn’t exceed 8MB. When files are too large to send view e-mail, we can download your artwork directly from a link.
File types
Print
ready PDFs should be made in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black)
using PDFx1a profile. The PDFx1a profile can be found when exporting to
PDF or when distilling a Postscript file using Acrobat Distiller.
The
PDFx1a profile contains a series of well defined subsets that protects
the integrity of the fonts and colours contained therein.
* Fonts will be properly embedded into the file
* All colour data must be greyscale, CMYK or named spot colours.
The file cannot contain RGB, LAB data.
* Encryption cannot be used.
EPS files from Illustrator are acceptable CS2-CS5 (Creative Suite 5), with text save to outlines/paths
or supply all fonts and hi-resolution Photoshop files (300dpi) usually saved in JPG, TIFF, PSD or EPS formats.
While our production department will do everything they can to ensure
that your advertising is processed as error-free as possible, we cannot
take responsibility for the colour reproduction of any PDFs containing
RGB pictures and logos.
Trim area, Type area, Bleed explained
Ads should only ever be delivered to exact dimensions of bleed or type size, never to trim.
- Trim area is for information only and represents the physical size of the finished product after bleed has been removed during printing. Adverts that ‘bleed’ off the page will be trimmed to this size. Ads should only ever be delivered to bleed or type size, never to trim.
- Type area (also called Live area) is the area within the trim area where the type (or live information - text and images) should be contained. This ensures all vital information is visible to the reader.
- Bleed is an area 3mm larger than the trim size on all four sides and is required when adverts have pictures or colours going right to the edge of the page. So, for full colour adverts, please supply to the exact dimensions of bleed size. If you don't want to have bleed on your ad it should be supplied to the exact type area size.
Online Specifications
Our site incorporates ‘responsive’ designs. It can detect the device on which it is being displayed, whether desktop PC, tablet or mobile, and render with the size, layout and resolution that makes it easiest-to-read.
It is very important that the size of online advertisement files match industry standards. The accepted current industry standard is set by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB Ad Unit Guidelines are intended for marketers, agencies and media companies for use in the creating, planning, buying and selling of interactive marketing and advertising. This standard is applied by nearly every media company in the world. The following guidelines apply to material created by Mercator or supplied by clients or agencies.
Acceptable Formats
- GIF, animated GIF, JPEG, PNG
- Flash Files should be avoided as they do not render on Apple devices
- If a Flash File is the only format available, you must supply the file with an embedded tracking code & a GIF or JPEG
- Flash Files will not be accepted for mobile usage, please supply a static image
- An active website URL must be supplied for the advertisement to link to a Directory entry
- Supplied rich media in advertisements is subject to our approval
File size
Files that are too big slow website loading times for visitors to the site. Supplied material that exceeds the maximum file size indicated by more than 20% will be returned to the originator for revision
- The maximum file size is 40KB.
- The maximum animation length is 15 seconds
Production Lead Time
- Client supplied material is required 3 business days in advance of being shown
Company online directory add-ons
- PDFs, 40KB per item. Max 10 sec loading time.
- AV/Video content is served via YouTube. Recommended duration is max. 30 seconds. Max file size 250KB. Either:
1. Via your own YouTube account - please supply us with the video code.
2. Via Mercator Media's YouTube account - please supply us with a video file (MPEG4 with MP3 audio for best results).
For Desktop/Tablet devices
|
Leaderboard Earpiece Spotlight Home page banner Skyscraper Button Search Sponsor Flyout Sponsor |
728 x 215 x 300 x 620 x 120 x 145 x 124 x 620 x |
90 pixels 90 pixels 250 pixels 60 pixels 600 pixels 90 pixels 70 pixels 60 pixels |
For Mobile devices
|
Leaderboard Earpiece Spotlight Home page banner Skyscraper Button Search Sponsor |
320 x 320 x 155 x 155 x 155 x 100 x 75 x |
50 pixels 50 pixels 50 pixels 50 pixels 50 pixels 50 pixels 25 pixels |
|
Top & bottom banners |
600 x |
65 pixels |