Home   |   News on al.com   |   Customer Care   |   Newsroom   |   Classified   |   Advertising   |   Archives   |   Education Program   |   Jobs   |   About Us

Home  >  Advertising  >  How to submit ads

Advertising
Products
Services
Production Guidelines
Demographics
Contact Advertising
How to submit ads


Ad Submission Guidelines

The Birmingham News receives hundreds of electronic ads every week to process. For accurate reproduction of your advertising, please adhere to our technical standards. The Birmingham News will not be responsible for reproduction of files not complying with stated standards.

Our policy is to process the file as it comes in from the client or agency unless otherwise instructed by the account representative on the work order. No changes or additions will be made to a digital file without prior notice and approval by all parties concerned. Files should be prepared by the client or agency as they wish them to appear in the newspaper.

We will be glad to make minor changes if possible (expiration dates, prices, etc.) for the client or agency upon their request. Major changes or corrections to the file will be the responsibility of the client or agency to handle and to resubmit the file as a revised version. We will continue to assist you, both internally and externally, to make sure all your ads are processed at the highest possible quality and to the your satisfaction.


Submitting Ads by E-mail

Ads may be submitted via e-mail to newsads@bhamnews.com or southads@bhamnews.com.
Include running date, advertiser, sales person, size of ad, and indicate color or B&W in your e-mail.

E-mail transfers should be compressed as either a Stuffit or Zip file or, preferably, distilled using Adobe Acrobat into a single PDF file. E-mail attachments should be kept under three megabytes. Do not upload or send ad copy electronically without first contacting your sales representative. Unless our production staff is notified by your sales representative, they may not be aware that your ad materials have been transmitted and your ad will not be published. To reserve ad space contact your sales representative or call (205) 325-4444 or toll free (800) 283-4048.

When you send the e-mail, the digital file should be accompanied by the following information:
  • Advertiser's name
  • Account representative's name
  • Publication(s) that ad is running in
  • Publication date(s)
  • Ad size
  • Color or B&W
  • Contact person(s) & phone number / e-mail address in case of file problems
Fax a hard copy of your ad to your sales representative for use as a match proof and layout to accompany the insertion order. Your fax should include the name of the file you are sending, the approximate time and date you sent the file, and any other information needed to process your advertising.


Submitting Ads to Our FTP Site

Advertising can be uploaded to our FTP site (ftp.bhamnews.com). For uploading instructions, please call Pam Yarley at 205-325-2346 or e-mail pyarley@bhamnews.com. A hard copy of the ad along with the information listed in the E-mail section above must be faxed to 205-325-3245 as soon as the file is uploaded.


Submitting Ads via Adsend, Ad Transit, Ad Direct or Fast Channel

For instructions for transmitting advertising using any of these services, please call Pam Yarley at 205-325-2346 or e-mail pyarley@bhamnews.com.


Submitting Camera Ready Ads

Good quality reproduction in The Birmingham News requires a 90-line screen for black and white, spot color, and process (4-color) reproduction. Screens should be round dot and conform to standard screen angles. An output of approximately 1000 dots per inch, and not less than 600 dpi, is recommended.


Submitting Ads on Removable Media

We accept files on CD and DVD computer media. Be sure to include a directory of the files on the disk, all file building elements (art, fonts, etc.), and a hard copy of the ad.


Digital File Formats

Preferred file format:
  • PDF (The preferred file type is Acrobat PDF with all fonts embedded and all colors converted to CMYK.)
Other acceptable file formats:
  • Adobe InDesign CS1 or CS2
  • Adobe Illustrator CS1 or CS2
  • Adobe Photoshop (saved as EPS or TIFF)
  • Placeable EPS (fonts included as curves or outlines)
  • Placeable TIFF Files
  • Quark XPress 6
  • Macromedia Freehand (saved as EPS with fonts converted to curves)
Remember to include all images and fonts and convert all color to CMYK. Include a printout of all files on the disk, indicating title of ad and run dates. Screen and printer fonts are required if submitting InDesign, Illustrator, FreeHand, Quark, or Photoshop files with unconverted text.
Unacceptable file formats:
Files created in programs not listed above are not acceptable at this time. This includes Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Pagemaker and Corel Draw. These files must be converted to PDFs, EPSs or TIFFs. PowerPoint files must be converted to PDFs. Microsoft Word files are accepted for "text only" or as a PDF.

Support Files
  • All Photoshop files should be saved in .TIF or .EPS formats. If the file has a clipping path, it must be saved in .EPS format with a Macintosh 8-bit TIFF Preview and Binary Encoding. No file should be saved with JPEG encoding.
  • All Illustrator or Freehand files should be exported as .EPS files. With all layers flattened and all fonts converted to outlines/curves. Any Photoshop art used in the file needs to be embedded when the file is saved.
  • Use only CMYK colors for color ads. No Pantone (PMS) colors should be used without being converted to CMYK. Warning: When converting Pantone colors to CMYK, additional black is usually added to the color. This darkens the color and can create a muddy look.
  • All grayscale and color photos should be toned to allow for a 20-25% press, or dot gain. Line screen should be 90 lpi (180 dpi).

Fonts
  • The minimum point size of type acceptable for newspaper reproduction is 6 point.
  • Reverse type should be 10 point or larger. Backgrounds should be at least 70% when printing reverse type in black, magenta or cyan.
  • All fonts should be Adobe postscript fonts.
  • Both the postscript (printer) and the suitcase (screen) fonts must be provided when submitting the raw document files.
  • With PDF files, all fonts must be embedded.
  • If you are using True Type fonts, please do not use the measurement tool bar in Quark to create artificial Bold or Italicized copy as it may not print properly. You should only use typefaces that are actually loaded on your machine (ex. ITC Garamond Book Italic).
For process and spot color, negatives and a composite color proof are required. Negatives should be right reading/emulsion up (RREU), .004 thickness, stable base, hard dot, with 4 registration marks and color indicator.

Black and white ads should be submitted on RC paper (Veloxes). Black and white aimpoints are: Negatives: Highlight 3%, Midtone 30-40%, Shadows 85-90% Screen Print: Highlight 11%, Midtone 35-40%, Shadows 85%

Ads with type only or line art (no halftones or photos) may be submitted as specified above, or may be also be submitted as a laser printer proof.



©2007 The Birmingham News  |  User Agreement  |  Privacy Policy