Printing Services

Do I have to go to UNC Printing Services for my printing needs?

University policy requires that "all printing or photo duplicating work paid from University administered funds...be referred to UNC Printing Services or one of its campus Copy Centers" (Business Manual Printing Policy Statement One).

What services does UNC Printing offer?

Our services include everything from quick copy services to full-color printing combined with a variety of finishing and mailing capabilities. This includes business cards, letterhead, envelopes, graphic design, brochures, posters, web page design, and much more. Please visit the following links to learn more about our services.

Jobs and Pricing

Who is my customer service representative?

Each department on the University of North Carolina campus has an assigned customer service representative. If you don't know your CSR, please call us at  962-5566.

How much will my job cost?

After completing a printing requisition or placing a business card, envelope, letterhead, or blank paper order, a confirmation of your job, with price will be sent to you within 48 hours. If you are having graphic work done, our designers will be able to negotiate a price with you prior to completion of work.

Where can I find product prices?

Prices are next to the specific item in question (example, if you are looking at business cards, the prices will be next to the card design). If you are filling out a print requisition, your customer service representative will be able to  give you an estimate. If our graphic designers are doing work for you, they too will be able to provide an estimate for you. If you do not see the price for a product you wish to order or have any questions, please call us at  962-5566.

When will my job be ready?

If you are sending your job to our main print shop, your customer service representative will be able to provide you with information concerning your job completion time line. If you are sending a printing requisition over the internet, one of our customer service representatives will contact you letting you know the status of your job. If you are bringing your job to one of our Copy Centers, our Copy Center operators will inform you of when your job will be completed.

How do I pay for my job?

If you visit one of our campus copy centers, you may be able to pay for your job with your UNC One Card. Otherwise, jobs will be paid for through your department's University account. For more information, please call us at  962-5566.

Online Ordering

What products can I order online?

Items you can order directly off of our website are as follows: business cards, blank paper, envelopes, letterheads, and health affairs business cards, envelopes, and letterheads. You may also fill out and send a print requisition online. If you have questions about online ordering, please call us at 962-5566.

How do I order products online?

You can order products online by locating the product you wish to purchase and filling out the online order form. After receipt of your order, a confirmation of your order will be sent to you.

How will I know if my order has been received?

After placing your order, a confirmation of your job, with price, will be returned to you within 48 hours. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact your CSR.

How do I send an electronic file?

You can send an electronic file by visiting the Online File Submission page of our web site. Some small files may also be sent directly to your customer service representative as email attachments, please check with your CSR before sending any files.

What is electronic job submission?

Electronic job submission is the sending of your printing files to us via the internet. To learn more about this service, please view our electronic job submission intro page.

Files and Formats

What type of file formats do you accept?

Supported applications for full function printing are: Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, Quark XPress, and Macromedia Freehand.

Please be sure and include all linked files and fonts used within the document whenever applicable.

You may submit a Microsoft Word file if it will be printed on the Docutech (high speed copier) for black & white printing. For questions about other file formats or special cases, please contact your customer service representative.

How can I send my files to you?

You have many options when sending your files to us. You may bring your files with you into the shop with your print requisition, or send them through campus mail. You may also send your file to us electronically through our web page or email (please discuss email submissions with your CSR ). If you would like our courier to pick up an order from your office, please call our courier service at 962-6571 or 962-6572. You may also send an email page to our courier services at  2162782.pagenet@sendpage.unc.edu to request delivery.

What is the difference between CMYK, RGB, Index, and Spot colors?

CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black inks, make up the colors known as 4-color process. These colors are used in varying percentages to create the spectrum of colors for full-color reproduction in offset printing.

RGB and Index color modes are not supported in the offset printing industry. RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) allows a larger percentage of the visible spectrum to be displayed than in CMYK. The RGB color mode is dependent on light being emitted through red, green, and blue phosphors. Monitors, film recorders, and video cameras display color using the RGB mode. Index color is based on a palette of 256 colors. This limited palette is useful for multimedia applications and Web pages.

Spot color usually refers to Pantone® specified colors. The Pantone Matching System® assigns numbers to specific ink mixes that are printing industry standards. A Pantone® swatch book can help you chose an appropriate color. Don't judge colors by the way they look on your monitor, you'll be surprised how different the color looks once printed.

What resolution do I need for the best reproduction of photos?

Whether you are reproducing a photo in grayscale or full color (CMYK) In Adobe Photoshop's image size dialogue box, at least 300dpi (dots per inch) or more should be displayed. Remember you can't really increase the number of pixels per inch without a loss of crispness. So images must be scanned or created at your target resolution or higher. If you are unsure or are unable to scan or create your photos to the specs needed, please give us the original photos so that we can scan them in to the appropriate dimensions.

Is there an easy way to make sure I've included everything needed to work with my print job?

Please read below for Instructions using Quark XPress, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe PageMaker.

Quark XPress
If you use Quark XPress, open the document that you are readying for your printer. In the "Utilities" menu go to "Usage"; in this box you can see a list of the fonts and graphics in your document. You can use this window to manually gather the items that you will need for output.

Quark goes further by allowing you to "collect for output." The Collect for Output dialog box provides controls that let you select or create a folder for the document, its imported picture files, its ICC color profiles, its fonts, and the report file. It also lets you specify which document components QuarkXPress will collect.

To Collect For Output (Quark XPress)

1. Choose File > Collect for Output.
   The Collect area lets you specify which items QuarkXPress will collect with the report.
2. The Document option copies the document to the specified target folder.
3. The Linked Pictures option copies imported picture files that must remain linked to the document for high-resolution output. These pictures will be placed in the "Pictures" subfolder within the target collection folder. When Quark XPress collects pictures with the document, the path to each collected picture is updated to reflect the new file locations in the "Pictures" folder within the target folder.
4. The Embedded Pictures option copies pictures that are embedded in the document upon import, such as PICT files (Mac OS) or BMP and WMF files (Windows). Including copies of embedded pictures in the collection will not affect output resolution of the pictures, but you may find it useful to keep copies of these pictures with the collected document items. These pictures will be placed in the "Pictures" subfolder within the target folder.
5. The Color Profiles option copies any International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles associated with the document or imported pictures. These profiles will be placed in the "Color Profiles" subfolder within the target folder. The Color Profiles check box is available only when the Quark CMS QuarkXTensions software is loaded.
6. Mac OS only: The Screen Fonts option copies any screen fonts required for displaying the document. These font files will be placed in the "Fonts" subfolder within the target folder.
7. Mac OS only: The Printer Fonts option copies any printer fonts required for printing the document. These font files will be placed in the "Fonts" subfolder within the target folder.
8. Windows only: The Fonts option copies any fonts required for printing the document. These font files will be placed in the "Fonts" subfolder within the target folder.

NOTE: On Mac OS, TrueType fonts function as both screen fonts and printer fonts. If your document uses only TrueType fonts, QuarkXPress will collect them either when you check Screen Fonts or when you check Printer Fonts. If your document uses a combination of TrueType and Type 1 fonts, or only uses Type 1 fonts, check both Screen Fonts and Printer Fonts to be sure the Type 1 fonts are completely collected.

Adobe InDesign
If you use InDesign, open the document that you are readying for your printer. In the "Window" menu go to "Links"; in this box you can see a list of the linked graphics in your document. You can use this window to manually gather the items that you will need for output.

You can gather the files you've used, including fonts and linked graphics, for easy handoff to a service provider. When you package a file, you create a folder that contains the InDesign document, any necessary fonts, linked graphics, text files, and a customized report. This report, which is saved in the default text editor format, includes the information in the Printing Instructions dialog box; a list of all used fonts, links, and inks required to print the document; and print settings. If problem areas are detected, a dialog box appears.

To package files (InDesign)

1. Choose File > Package.
2. Fill in the printing instructions. The filename you type is the name of the report that accompanies all the packaged files.
3. Click Continue, and specify a location in which to save all packaged files.
4. Copy Fonts (Roman Only) copies all necessary font files
5. Copy Linked Graphics copies linked graphics files. Linked text files are always copied.
6. Update Graphic Links in Package changes graphic links (not text links) to the package folder location. If you want to relink text files, you must do so manually and check whether the formatting retains the appropriate view inside the document.
7. To edit the printing instructions before completing the packaging process, click the Instructions button. View Report opens the printing instructions report in a text editor immediately after packaging.
8. Do one of the following to specify how to handle hyphenation:
   • To prevent the document from composing with the external user dictionary, and to prevent the document's hyphenation exceptions list from merging with the external user dictionary, select Use Document Hyphenation Exceptions Only. You may want to select this option when packaging a document to be printed by someone outside your workgroup, such as when you take the document to a service provider.
   • To allow the external user dictionary (on the computer on which the file is opened) to merge with the document's hyphenation exceptions list, and to allow the document to compose using the exceptions lists stored in both the external user dictionary and inside the current document, leave Use Document Hyphenation Exceptions Only unselected.
9. Click Package to finish packaging.

Adobe PageMaker
Using the Save for Service Provider plug-in, you can copy your publication, all linked image files, fonts, and other files required to print your document. The plug-in also helps you resolve broken links by prompting you to locate the folders containing linked files. Similarly, this plug-in can also check the status of links and fonts in a PostScript file generated by PageMaker.

You can also create a concise report of the information your service provider needs to create output from a PageMaker or PostScript file. The report includes details about fonts, linked graphics, and a summary of your print settings, as well as information about who to contact regarding your publication.

Save for Service Provider (Adobe PageMaker)

1. Choose Utilities > Plug-ins > Save for Service Provider.
2. Depending on whether you want to check the active publication or a Post-Script file, click either Preflight Pub or Preflight.PS.
3. Click a tab to see a detailed report on each aspect of the publication or PostScript file. You can print the status information of an area by clicking Print (Windows) or Print List at any time.
4. If the Links dialog box shows one or more linked files needing attention, click Relink or Relink All, and navigate to the correct image files.
5. To save the publication, click Package, and set options as follows:
   • From the Report Type pop-up menu, choose Formatted (for a PageMaker publication) or Text Only (for an ASCII text-only file).
   • Select Auto Open Package Report if, after saving the publication and associated files, you want to display the summary report in a new window on your desktop.
   • Select Update Links In Source Pub Before Packaging to bring out-of-date links up-to-date in the original publication before making a package.
   • For Include, select Copy Fonts to avoid missing fonts at print time, and then select the kind of fonts--All, Type 1 (PostScript), or TrueType.
   • Click Notes to enter contact information (such as your name and phone number), and any comments on printing the publication, and any film preparation changes, and then click OK.
6. Specify a location in which to save all necessary files.
7. Click Save to copy the necessary files to the destination folder.