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Indiana University Communications and Marketing

Creative & Web Studio Glossary

Definitions and guidance for common Creative & Web Studio terms.

Editorial style
The Creative & Web Studio follows IU editorial style guidelines. For usage cases not covered by our guide, consult the current Merriam-Webster dictionary or Chicago Manual of Style. We also offer guidelines for writing for the web.
Email guidelines
The average time spent reading an email is 13.4 seconds. Keep your emails under 500 words—just enough to get your message across. Place your call to action (CTA) early in your message so it will stand out. Subject lines should be concise, describe the message content, and encourage engagement. They should be fewer than 50 characters. The preheader is the line of text that appears beneath or beside the subject line in your inbox. Mobile inboxes display 75 to 100 characters. Focus on the first few words and entice the recipient to open the message. Review the full list of email marketing best practices.
Full bleed
A bleed extends solid color, patterns, or images beyond the margins of a print piece so that there is no gap between the edge of the paper and the print space. The piece is printed on paper larger than the specified dimensions. After the piece is printed, the printer cuts off the extra paper based on crop marks placed by the designer. A full bleed bleeds on all four sides of the paper. Designers generally use 1/8 (.125) inch bleeds.
Large-format jobs
For best results for your large-format print job, select and reserve the location as well as a vendor so you can provide accurate, complete specifications for us to use in preparing your project for output.
A print-ready file meets all the specifications required by your chosen vendor to output the job correctly. In general, this means that
  • The document is the correct file format for the piece.
  • The document is sized to the correct height and width dimensions.
  • Colors are set to CMYK or Pantone, not RGB.
  • Crop marks are placed accurately.
  • Any bleeds extend at least 1/8 inch (.125) beyond crop marks.
  • All fonts, graphics, and images are included and ready for output.
Make sure you ask your vendor to confirm these and any other specs they may require and communicate them to us when you place your order.
Visual format
Photos should be of professional, high-resolution quality: 300 pixels per inch (ppi or dpi) and a minimum file size of 1 MB. Vector files can be .eps or .ai files, either packaged or with fonts outlined. Visuals for Salesforce emails should not exceed 600 pixels in width.
Word count
Because different layout programs count words differently and because content length differs based on the number and kind of visuals included in your piece, if you want to get a sense of how long your text should be, visit the download section of the IU Brand site. Download the template corresponding to the product you want to create. There are downloads for annual reports, brochures, event programs, flyers, and posters. Some items come in graphic or photo versions.