Design specifications and recommendations

Colour ads:
  • While colour printing in the Irish Times is among the best available, advertisers and agencies need to be aware that there may be variations in colour when printing on a high-speed coldset press. It should also be noted that we can be up to two dots out of register and still be within industry norms for this type of press.
  • The only options for single spot colours are cyan, magenta and yellow. We do not undertake to match other shades, or Pantone colours, other than on the basis of reasonable endeavours.
  • Comparison proofs can be supplied to our print plant at Citywest. They should be addressed as follows:
  • Administrator,
    The Irish Times Print Facility,
    CityWest Business Campus,
    4080 Kingswood Road,
    Dublin 24.
  • A covering note supplying all relevant information regarding publication, date of publication, etc. should be attached to the proofs.
Type Size:
  • Small type should be reproduced as a single colour only - preferably black.
  • Small type is considered to be
  • Sans-serif type that is 10 points or smaller.
    Serif type that is 12 points or smaller.
    The Irish Times recommends sans-serif type, 10 points or larger, as the best choice for newsprint reproduction.
Reversed Type:
  • Fine serif typefaces should be avoided in reverses. Fonts with fine lines fill in with ink when printed on newprint.
  • For a four-colour background we recommend a minimum of 14 points bold for all typefaces. Type should not be reversed on a light-coloured background. Bold sans-serif typefaces are recommended for all reversed text.
  • For a single-colour background (magenta, cyan or black) we recommend
  • 10 points for bold sans-serif type.
    12 points for serif type.
    Type should not be reversed on a solid yellow background
Overprint Settings:
  • The Irish Times RIPs (raster image processors) will reproduce knockout or overprint as specified in the artwork. Advertisers and/or their agent(s) are reminded that when inappropriate settings are selected, the printed copy may not match the same copy as viewed on screen.
  • If you are unsure about any aspect of preparing copy files (and especially colour copy) for newsprint, we strongly recommend that you have your copy validated by a repro house.