Metro Times provides complimentary basic ad design services for our retail and classified customers. Services include design of effective ad campaigns to run in Metro Times. Our team of advertising designers will work with your account executive to produce an effective ad campaign. Fore more information, email our Production Department or call 313.202.8033.
Ad Sizes
| Ad Size | Dimensions |
| Full Page (non bleed) | 9.25" x 12" |
| Full Bleed | Live Area: 9.25" x 12" Trim: 10" x 12.75" Bleed: 10.5" x 13.5" |
| 3/4 V | 6.87" x 12" |
| 3/4 H | 9.25" x 8.96" |
| Junior Page | 6.87" x 8.95" |
| 1/2 H | 9.25" x 5.9" |
| 1/2 V | 4.55 x 12" |
| 1/3 V | 4.55" x 7.94" |
| 1/3 H | 9.25" x 3.88" |
| 1/4 | 4.55" x 5.9" |
| 1/4 H | 9.25" x 2.87" |
| 1/4 V | 2.19" x 12" |
| 1/6 H | 4.55" x 3.88" |
| 1/6 V | 2.19" X 7.95" |
| 1/8 H | 4.55" x 2.87" |
| 1/8 V | 2.19" x 5.9" |
| 1/12 V | 2.19" x 3.88" |
| 1/12 H | 4.55" x 1.86" |
| 1/16 | 2.19" x 2.87" |
| Center Spread | 19.75 X 12" |
| Center Spread Full Bleed | Live Area: 19.25 x 12" Trim: 20 x 12.75" Bleed: 21 x 13.5 |
Mechanical Specs
Metro Times only accepts responsibility for the design and reproduction quality of ads that we produce in-house. All advertisements, except full pages must have borders around the ad space or hairline border will be added. Advertising set to resemble news matter must carry the word "advertisement" at the top of the advertisement. Type for heading, text, etc. shall not be the same as used in Metro Times editorial copy.
RESOLUTION
Black/White – Grayscale – Full Color camera ready ads should be created with a
resolution of 200 pixels/inch or better. Exported images from vector programs (line art) such as Adobe® illustrator should have a
resolution of 600 dpi or better.
DOT GRAIN
Metro Times is printed on newsprint, which effects a 30% dot gain. For best reproduction,
it is important to prepare mechanicals with this in mind, and to calibrate applications such as Adobe®
(Photoshop, to reflect this phenomenon. Very light screens are particularly difficult to reproduce.
Some may drop out altogether. Also, subtle differences in grays which are obvious on screen or glossy paper may fade into one
another in newsprint. And fine, reversed type should be avoided as the black can bleed and fill in the characters. Bold, san serif
type of at least 7 pts. in size is recommended for reverses. We have no way of showing you exactly how it will look in print before
it runs in the paper.
INK COLORS
Metro Times printer uses a four color process,
CMYK (C=Cyan, M=Magenta, Y=Yellow & K=Black) When building your ad for spot color, please create your ad using magenta only.
Specify to your account representative what spot color you would like to use. We do not accept any RGB or Duotone images.
ELECTRONIC FORMATS
Acceptable formats are Macintosh versions of Adobe InDesign CS3, QuarkXpress 6.5, Adobe Acrobat 8.0, Adobe Illustrator CS3 and Adobe Photoshop CS3.
If you've created an ad in one of these formats, it is acceptable to save the document in its native format.
Please include all fonts and image files used in the document unless the program you are using can embed them. Otherwise,
the file must be saved as a .tif, eps, jpeg, or pdf with all fonts embedded. We will not be responsible for
changes to these types of files.
Ad Submission
EMAIL ADS
If the total size of the ad and its accompanying materials is no greater than 5MB, it may be emailed to [email protected]
(ads can be compressed as .sea, .zip, or .hqx files). Please include you e-mail message with ADVERTISERS NAME, SIZE OF AD, ISSUE DATE OF WHEN AD IS RUNNING, and a contact NAME &
PHONE NUMBER (in case of difficulty). If ad is spot color: Specify what spot color.
FTP SITE
If your ad's file size is greater than 5MB, you may submit the file via our FTP Site. Using an FTP program or compatible browser, go to
ftp://ftp.metrotimes.com/Incoming Ads . If necessary, log-in with the username anonymous and your e-mail
address for the password. Please send Production Department
or contact your account representative to let them know your ad is on the FTP site.
SENDING FONTS
When transferring fonts, the suitcase file and outline (or postscript) files are required. We are unable to use PC versions of fonts.
We reserve the right to replace fonts with a similar house font if a proper one is not supplied or can’t be obtained from the client.
ADS ON DISK
We will accept ads on CD if necessary. Copy your ad, and all graphics and fonts used in the ad, onto the disk. Please label your disk with ADVERTISERS NAME,
SIZE OF AD, ISSUE DATE WHEN AD IS RUNNING and a contact NAME & PHONE NUMBER (in case of difficulty). If ad is spot color, specifiy what spot color.
A printout of the ad must be provided for proofing purposes.
NEGATIVES/PAPER ADS
Black and white camera-ready ads should use an 85 line screen. Negatives should be emulsion side down, right read, and should be accompanied by a
velox for proofing purposes. Negatives for process color must be CMYK, should use an 85 or 100line screen, emulsion side down, right read,
and must include a positive for proofing purposes. Camera-ready ads turned in on paper should only be printed on laser paper. If your ad
contains any grayscale (photos or screens), it must be output from a printer which can produce a linescreen. If your printer can't produce a linescreen,
you should either send the ad electronically or have a slick printed at a service bureau.
