Free Ad Layout
We will gladly scan your artwork and work with you to prepare your ad for the paper. There is no charge for this service provided you run your ad at least once in OCN. You own the copyright on ads we prepare for you. Feel free to reuse them in other publications. If you contact us after the due date for ad artwork, we may not be able to offer layout of your ad. In that case, we will provide you with names of local graphic designers who, for a fee, may be able to prepare your ad for the paper.
Once we have prepared your ad, we will email to you an Adobe Acrobat PDF (portable document format) file of the ad. Since many cell phone screens are small and low resolution, we recommend you review the draft ad on a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer screen or in a print-out to be certain it looks the way you want before emailing your approval.
Ad Layout Recommendations
Formats
If you want to lay out your ad or have a graphic designer prepare your ad, please note that we use Windows-based PCs and can accept the following file formats:
- Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (.PDF)
- Adobe Encapsulated Postscript (.EPS)
- Adobe Illustrator CS4 (.AI)
- Adobe InDesign CS4 (.INDD)
- Adobe Photoshop CS4 (.PSD)
- Graphic image formats GIF, JPG, PICT, TIFF, and WMF
- Microsoft Word 2000 or later (.DOC, .DOCX)
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 or later (.PPT, .PPTX)
- Microsoft Publisher 2000 or later (.PUB)
- Oracle Open Office 4 document, presentation, and drawing (.ODT, .ODP, .ODG)
If you have a choice, we prefer Microsoft Publisher or PDF.
With Microsoft Publisher, stick to fairly common typefaces we are likely to have or prior to saving the .PUB file and emailing to ads@ocn.me:
- If you are using Publisher 2000 or 2003, go to Tools->Commercial Printing Tools->Fonts menu and select “Embed TrueType fonts” and deselect “Do not embed common system fonts” and “Subset fonts when embedding.”
- If you are using Publisher 2007 or later, go to File->Info->Commercial Print Settings->Manage Embedded Fonts and select “Embed TrueType fonts” and deselect “Do not embed common system fonts” and “Subset fonts when embedding.”
With PDFs, please select the Adobe Acrobat option to “Embed all typefaces.” If possible, PDFs should be PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant.
If you send your ad in a graphic image format, please use 300 dpi or higher. Lower resolution graphics will look fuzzy or pixilated when printed. For best appearance in the paper, use 600 dpi or 1200 dpi.
Once you have prepared your ad, you may email the file as an attachment to ads@ocn.me or, if the file size exceeds your email system’s limits, we recommend you use the free services at www.emaillargefile.com or www.transfernow.net to email large files to us at ads@ocn.me. If you don’t receive an acknowledgement of your email within a day or two, please send an email to ads@ocn.me or call John Heiser at (719) 488-3455 to make sure we have received it.
Graphics
Note that OCN is printed on a cold set web press on newsprint using a direct-to-plate process. This results in the contrast of photos and graphics being flattened somewhat.
For best appearance if you are running a B&W ad, we recommend that you convert all graphics and photos to grayscale and then adjust contrast and brightness to a full tonal range from white to black with just a bit more contrast that you might otherwise use. If you are submitting a color ad, please use CMYK process color rather than RGB or spot color..
OCN is printed at about 300 dots per inch (dpi). If you prepare your ad as a raster image (GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, etc.), please make sure that it is generated at 300 dpi or more. Lower resolution graphics will look fuzzy or pixilated when printed. For best appearance in the paper, use 600 dpi or 1200 dpi.
Design
- Ads with photos, especially photos of people, generally attract more interest than ads that are all text.
- Try to avoid crowding too much information into your ad. Ads with a fair amount of white space in them are more likely to be read.
- Keep in mind that your ad will be running next to articles and other ads. Include a border or other graphic element to define the area of your ad.
- Using a typeface other than Times New Roman will help your ad stand out.
- To avoid a “ransom note” look, limit to two or three the number of typefaces used in your ad.
- Type smaller than 9-point may be difficult for some readers to read. For comparison, the articles in the paper are generally printed in 10-point type.
- Fancy script typefaces can be very difficult or tiresome to read. Avoid using them for extended blocks of text. Extensive use of boldface or italic forms should be avoided for the same reason.
- Serif typefaces are generally better for extended blocks of text because they can be somewhat easier to read than sans-serif typefaces.
- There will generally be more flexibility in where your ad appears in the paper if you stick to preferred OCN ad widths: 1.9″, 2.4″, 3.25″, 3.9″, 4.9″, 5.9″, 6.6″, 7.4″, 7.9″ or 10″. Adjust the height and therefore the square inches and the cost as needed to fit your budget.
- All the dimensions of OCN ads are full-bleed; that is, the border of the ad should match the specified dimensions. Unlike most newspapers, OCN does not charge advertisers for the white space that surrounds their ads which is what it means to require an inset.
- If you include color in your ad, use CMYK process color rather than RGB or spot color.
- For black text and larger black areas such as black backgrounds, use True Black (CMYK = 0,0,0,100) also known as 100% black.
- Avoid large areas with more than 280% inking.
- Select grayscale mode for B&W graphics.
- Set 300 dpi or better for images. Set line art images at 1200 dpi. If possible, use vector-based logos and embed typefaces.