What To Note?

 Many customers have asked for guidelines to help with their ticket design. This is to ensure their artwork are usable and prevent any delay in ticket production.

Assuming clear, usable artwork is provided to BOCA and customer approves proof immediately upon receipt, tickets can be ready in 20 business days.

PREPRESS SPECIFICATIONS

Final Artwork

Please send artwork in one of the formats shown in this graphic. (recreate the graphics or use different icons to replace the below)

Text and Line Art Images – Adobe Illustrator

• Vector line art must be referenced to an uncoated Pantone colour
• Embedded pictures must be sent separately
• All fonts used in artwork must be provided
• If a font is unavailable, convert text to outline/curved art before saving 

Pictures and Process Images – Adobe Photoshop

• Create artwork with layers active (do not lock or flatten layers)
• Minimum Image Resolution – TIFF: 300 DPI; EPS: 1200 DPI
• A JPEG picture must be at least 4 times the output size
• No other graphic formats will be accepted

General

• The press can print a maximum of nine colours, which may be divided between the front and rear of the ticket in any combination
• Foils and special coatings will subtract from the number of available colours.
• Placing a screen and a solid on the same plate will reduce both print quality and cost
• Screen percentages will be reduced by 20% when printed on the same plate as a solid
• A screened image under 40% will be placed onto a different plate than the solid image
• No black printing in the path of the black sense mark
• BOCA outputs all plates at 150 LPI

Specifications (Minimum Values):

• Text – 4 point
• Inverted text – 6 point
• Serifed or Four-Colour Process Text – 12 point
• Text screens – 70%
• Line thickness – 0.006 inches (0.50 point)
• Pictures, process images and line art screens – 8%
• Traps – 0.006 inches – will create a small halo effect

Paper Quality

Most thermal paper grades are constructed with a coarse non-thermal side to maximize traction and minimize costs. The coarseness of these papers provides acceptable results when printing text and low resolution images. However, we recommend the use of M7 (or other materials with coated rears) when printing process or other images that require bold, crisp images.

Invisible Plates

There are a number of special conditions where the use of a plate is not visible:

• Black ink on front – requires protective, non-abrasive coating (indicated as Spot Mixing White)
• SKI Materials – require water-resistant coating, when appropriate (indicated as Varnish)
• Foil and hologram – requires primer (indicated as No Wax)