Print advertising copy
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 200dpi for black and white and 300dpi for colour. 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 | Toe Piece |
42mm x |
60mm |
| Full page |
Trim Size Type Area Bleed Size |
210mm x |
297mm |
| Half page |
Horizontal Type Area Horizontal Bleed Size Vertical Type Area Vertical Bleed Size |
186mm x |
132mm |
| Quarter page |
Horizontal Type Area Vertical Type Area |
186mm x |
63mm |
| Eighth page | Horizontal Type Area |
90mm x |
63mm |
| Classifieds |
Single Panel Double Panel |
40mm x 40mm x |
60mm 125mm |
Preparing files to send
Sending files
We usually receive artwork by email if the file size is under 6MB. When files are too large to send via e-mail we will provide details of our ftp site on request. Alternatively, we can accept advertisements on CD and DVD.
File types
- Macintosh - QuarkXPress to 8.0; Adobe Illustrator CS3-CS5 (Creative Suite 5); EPS files with text saved to paths and/or supply all fonts; high resolution Photoshop files.
- PC Windows - QuarkXPress only (not EPS). Other ‘Office’ or word processing programmes are not suitable for publishing purposes.
- High Res PDFs - Print Ready CMYK are also acceptable
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.
