See the Allen Press Guide for detailed digital art requirements. See below for sizing requirements and general information on AMNH preferences.

Submission Requirements

All files must be accompanied by camera-ready originals or high-quality laser proofs.  Hard copy must match final submitted files. Please print a file list that states the file name, type, and size. Input resolution must be indicated for all images that have been scanned.

Sizing

All images must be final size. Exact width is preferable: 5.75 inches (page width) or 2.75 inches (column width). If the width must fall between these two measurements, the illustration will be centered on the page with blank white space on each side.

Please take the height of figure captions into consideration when sizing full-page art because it is preferable to fit a caption on the same page as its figure. Ideally, figure plus caption should not exceed 8 inches (the first of the 3 following alternatives).

To estimate caption depth for a page-width figure and fit the entire caption on the same page: Calculate roughly that 104 characters equal one caption line and 7 lines of caption equal I inch of caption depth. Then the rest of the vertical 8-inch height (minus the estimated caption depth) is available to fit the figure on the page.

If the figure must be maximum height, or 8-8.5 inches: If full-page figure height is necessary, the entire caption can be placed on the opposite page. Then the maximum final height of the figure would be 8.0 inches (preferable) or 8.5 inches (absolute maximum with the "running head" removed from the page).

If the figure must be turned sideways: Final height of a side-turned figure and its caption must not exceed 5.75 inches and its width should approach, but not exceed, 8.5 inches. Therefore, a caption should not fill more than a few printed lines (at approximately 144 characters per line) in order to include it on the same page as the figure; longer captions that do not fit below the side-turned figure will have to be positioned vertically on the opposite page.

File Format

TIFF (for grayscale image files) or eps (for line art) are preferred. However, see the Allen Press Guide for acceptable Native Application file formats and additional details.

Line Art

Line art should be scanned in at 1200 ppi (pixels per inch). This high resolution makes a tremendous difference in the quality of the text and lines. Lower resolutions can result in jagged edges.

Halftones

Allen Press has the capability to output (print) illustrations at 300 lines per inch. Such high-quality halftone figures require an input resolution of 600 pixels per inch for optimum printing quality. Such high resolutions will enhance the appearance of grayscale and color images that contain text, curves, or lines in combination with the image. The whitest area of the image should be set at 2% and the darkest area at 98%, as per the Allen Press Guidelines.

Lower resolutions: If the figure does not contain text, lines, or curves and the finest detail is not required in the printed image, lower resolutions can be satisfactory. For grayscale images to be output at 175 lines per inch, input resolution should be approximately 350 pixels per inch. The minimum acceptable input resolution for satisfactory printing is 300 pixels per inch.

Fonts

You must supply Adobe Postscript fonts in either PC or MAC versions for any text that has been added to figures. Do not use TrueType or system "bitmap" fonts. However, to avoid supplying screen and printer fonts, convert all type to paths (also called outlines) in Illustrator. Photoshop files will be flattened when converted to TIFF, embedding any fonts in place.

NOTE: Make a final archive copy of the Illustrator file for future use before converting the type to paths because after this point you cannot alter the labels.

For additional details about preparing digital art, including color, see the Allen Press Guide to Digital Art Specifications.