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Index of Tips & Guidelines
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Print Publishing:
Submitting source images for illustrations
Part II — Line art
 General Introduction
These general guidelines apply to illustrations for print publications — books, journals, annual reports, newsletters, and other works. (There are different guidelines for illustrations intended for screen viewing or web publishing.)
Best source. Authors should submit an original version (if available) or their best copy. What these might be will vary depending on the specific case. Following are some typical examples for illustrations falling into two large groups:
- photographs
- line art and art work, which includes maps, charts, line drawings — whether technical or art — as well as other art work.
(Further details about technical drawings, specifically, are found at Tips for better technical drawings.)
Maps, charts, line drawings, and art work for reproduction with minimal changes
This category is for source images that are not photographs but that are to be reproduced, like photographs, as is or with minimal changes. It may include maps, charts, and line drawings such as technical drawings. It also encompasses many forms of art work, including line drawings (caricatures, cartoons, etc.), prints, and paintings in many media.
Original source
Best originals. Submit the best clear, clean printed or other hard copy. Be sure to protect originals when mailing or shipping, and to retain a copy.
Size. In most instances, submit at full, original size.
Author’s scans or digital files.
An author’s own scans or digital files may be acceptable, but only if they are at the correct size, resolution, format, and quality for a determined layout. Every case is unique. Contact MetaGlyfix to inquire whether a specific file meets the technical requirements.
Restrictions and preferences
If an author or editor has any restrictions or preferences about margins, captions, or other treatment of the illustration, please attach a note.
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Custom maps, charts, and line drawings
These are illustrations created by MetaGlyfix from authors’ or editors’ sketches, paste-ups, edited originals, or ideas. They may be maps, charts, technical drawings, fanciful illustrated tables, any kind of hybrid — indeed, anything that an author can imagine and describe.
(For more detailed guidelines about technical drawings, specifically, see Tips for better technical drawings.)
Every work will be unique, but these are general guidelines authors should follow when submitting their source materials. Sometimes an author’s concepts evolve as the illustration is graphically developed, and MetaGlyfix will work with the author until he or she is satisfied. However, to avoid costly revisions to fully evolved concepts, an author should edit his or her source copy carefully and keep in mind the guidelines that apply.
(For an actual and typical example, see case studies/solutions and click the “Before” and “After” headings [opens in new window].)
Finished size
Illustrations for publications. Horizontal boundaries for illustrations appearing in books, journals, newsletters, and newspapers are usually confined to column width (or multiple columns). Vertical boundaries usually allow for top and tail (i.e., bottom) margins.
Exceptions can include landscape orientation of full page plates, and any separate, unbound piece.
Please check with your publisher for specifications and exceptions and provide this information to MetaGlyfix before work begins.
Illustrations not intended for publication. For dissertations, transparencies, handouts, slides, working papers, and the like, specify the finished size you would like.
Hard copy
Clean and clear. Submit a clear, clean hard copy, whether hand drawn, printed, pasted together, or a combination of these or other techniques.
Enlarged copy. Larger size originals are better than small ones so that both the draftsman and the client can see details.
Two better than one. Sometimes two originals are better than one. In some cases, for example, you might submit:
- an original at roughly final dimensions, and another copy enlarged to clarify details, or
- a simplified version as well as the detailed version, or
- a copy of the detailed version with darker outlines
Alterations, notes, suggestions, or instructions for illustrator
Indicate alterations, notes, suggestions, or instructions on a source copy, in its margins, on a separate sheet, in an electronic (text) file, or by any combination, as long as the intention is made clear.
Text and labels
Upper and lower case. If text and labels are entered by hand, use all caps or mixed upper- and lower-case, whichever is most legible. However, be sure you have also specified the style of capitalization you want MetaGlyfix to follow.
Style. Edit text so that styles — bold, italics, case, abbreviations, etc. — are consistent with their meaning or function (e.g., provinces might be in mixed case, nations in upper case). Indicate any restrictions, preferences, or conventions regarding style.
Extra sheet for captions, legends, and other text. Extensive text, unusual spellings or alphabets, and foreign language text may appear on the source, but should also be submitted on a separate sheet of paper and/or a digital text or word-processing file
Author’s scans or digital files
An electronic version of all or part an author’s original is sometimes helpful (and sometimes a near necessity), and should supplement the hard copy.
Acceptable digital formats. Preferred formats are
- EPS, Illustrator, PDF, TIFF, and Photoshop (PSD), when a high-resolution file is required (see below)
- EPS, Illustrator, PDF, TIFF, and Photoshop (PSD), plus JPEG, GIF, PNG, and PICT, if a high-resolution file is not required (see below).
Do not submit illustrations embedded in word processing or spreadsheet files unless nothing else is available and MetaGlyfix understands that the embedded graphic is intended only as a template or model for a new rendering. Microsoft PowerPoint files are never acceptable.
Resolution. Required resolution or file size will depend upon how the file will be incorporated in the illustration and can only be determined case by case by MetaGlyfix.
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