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)

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

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

For Mobile devices

E-Newsletter sponsorship

Sponsorship message is 440 characters maximum, including spaces.

Tel: +44 1329 825335
sales@greenport.com