Mechanical specifications for advertising in The Blade

The information on this page will assist you in developing the creative elements of an ad suitable for publishing in The Blade.

ROP/CLASSIFED STANDARD PAGE COLUMN WIDTHS

Column Widths Inches (fractions) Inches (decimals) Pica/Points
1 COL 1 9/16 1.5833 9p6/114
2 COL 3 1/4 3.2667 19p7.2/235.2
3 COL 4 15/16 4.95 29p8.4/356.4
4 COL 6 5/8 6.6333 39p9.6/477.6
5 COL 8 5/16 8.3167 49p10.8/598.8
6 COL 10 10.00 60p0/720
Double Truck 21 21 126p0/1512
Double Truck charged as 13 columns
Full length ads – 21 inches


ROP/CLASSIFIED
 TABLOID PAGES

Column Widths Inches (fractions) Inches (decimals) Pica/Points
1 COL 1 9/16 1.5833 9p6/114
2 COL 3 1/4 3.2667 19p7.2/235.2
3 COL 4 15/16 4.95 29p8.4/356.4
4 COL 6 5/8 6.6333 39p9.6/477.6
5 COL 8 5/16 8.3167 49p10.8/598.8
6 COL 10 10.00 60p0/720
Double Truck 21 21.00 126p0/1512
Full length tab ads – 9.75 inches

GENERAL INFORMATION

MINIMUM SIZE – 1 COL. X 3/4 inch.

MINIMUM DEPTH – Same number of inches deep as columns wide. 6 column strip advertising accepted, minimum depth 3 inches.

MAXIMUM DEPTH short of full – Advertisements exceeding 18 inches will be set full depth and charged accordingly.

ELECTRONIC FILES Adobe Acrobat pdf is the preferred and recommended file format for Electronic Ad Submission. Toledo Blade Acrobat 3.0 and 4.0 Job Options are available for download by clicking the link below:

Click the link to the right to download a compressed file of the Toledo Blade’s standards, recommendations, helpful hints, etc. that will help increase the reproduction quality of your ads placed in The Blade.

Included is an E-Ad fax coversheet, printouts of the Toledo Blade Acrobat 4.0 job option settings for use in Acrobat Distiller, and a Toledo Blade Acrobat 4.0 job options plug-in. To install the plug-in, copy it to your Adobe Acrobat Distller Settings folder.

Download E-package (549k) To uncompress the file, use either StuffIt Expander (for Mac) or Aladdin Expander (for Windows). Any Questions, please contact the Prepress Department at (419) 724-6230.

PACKAGE

When supplying graphics for ad building, electronic formats such as .jpg, .gif, .tif and .eps are acceptable. Save them in CMYK mode for color, Grayscale for B/W halftones, bitmap for linework. Do not submit RGB, Indexed Color or Duotones. Proper resolution for reproduction is 200 dpi for CMYK or Grayscale, 800 dpi for linework.

All Color ads must be built in or converted to appropriate process color values (CMYK). We do not use Pantone colors.

The use of 3rd party Web sites to transmit electronic ads needs to be discussed and tested well ahead of deadlines. The use of customer Web or FTP sites to download ads, art, logos etc. also needs to be discussed well ahead of deadlines. Files supplied must be well identified, easily available and match the fax ID transmission.

We strongly encourage customers to submit their first Electronic Ad well before deadline.

UPLOADING YOUR ELECTRONIC FILES

To register as a first-time user of THE BLADE Ad Desk portal:

1. Use Chrome or Firefox as your internet browser.

2. Go to http://addesk.toledoblade.com

3. Click on “Register.”

4. Fill in the required fields (anything marked with an *).

5. Click on “Submit.”

For returning users:

1. Go to http://addesk.toledoblade.com

2. Click on “Login.”

3. Enter your login name and password.

4. Click “Sign In.”

ADDITIONAL SPECS

The Toledo Blade uses the Flexographic Printing Process

Expect approx 4% color loss in hilites Expect approx

20% gain in shadow areas

Black & White halftone specifications:

4% hilite dot in areas that you want to hold

Catch lights and unimportant areas can drop out (3% or less)

80-85% shadow dot to hold shadow detail

Lighten mid-tones moderately

Color Sep specs for the Blade:

CYAN 4% hilite 60% shadow in blk areas

MAG 3% hilite 55% shadow in blk areas

YELO 3% hilite 55% shadow in blk areas

BLK 0% hilite 50% shadow ghost black medium UCR

Lighten midtones moderately

Max color laydown 220% in large black areas, small areas can be more.

Use a moderate amount of unsharp masking. Be careful with USM on people’s faces.

Remember that the computer screen is not the finished product.

Build a track record from each print job. Compare your computer screen to the reproduction and adjust accordingly on the next submission.