Specifications

Print

Print Ad Material Submissions

All ad material must be submitted via the ad portal:
https://northcoastmedia.sendmyad.com

View a brief tutorial video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04wqyUjoynU

Acceptable file formats: PDFs should conform to the PDF/X-1a specification.

No Crop Marks or Color Bars—If you must have them on for a client, be sure they are at least 18 Points OFFSET—then upon upload into the portal, click on REPOSITION AD and use the Trim & Save Tool to remove them BEFORE approving the ad. (If file has been trimmed correctly you will only see from the BLUE BLEED RULE inward, the approved file should not have anything visible outside of the BLUE BLEED RULE.)

Total Ink Density cannot exceed 300%—for all page elements, text, photos, artwork, etc.

CMYK only—No RGB, LAB or PMS colors (unless you have purchased the option of printing a PMS color).

Image Resolution of at least 300 dpi—Low resolution images may not print as sharply as intended. If the images in your file were originally high resolution, and are being flagged low resolution in the ad portal, check your PDF settings to make sure the images are not being downsampled when converting to a PDF.

Build file to correct size—you can download an InDesign template from the Ad Portal.

Bleed—If your full page or spread ad is to bleed, please be sure to include an EXTRA 0.125” of color or image on all sides of the ad that is to bleed. (Full page ads bleed on all 4 sides regardless of binding method).

For fractional bleed ads please contact production for ad specifications.

Live copy—must be ¼ inch inside the trim on all four sides and ¼ inch inside on each side of the gutter for spreads.

All fonts must be embedded.

Error and Warning Messages—Once your file has finished processing you will see a list of errors and warnings on the right hand side. Place your cursor over these messages and it will highlight the area of the file in question. Click on messages that will explain how to fix the issues.

For help in using the Ad portal—contact the Production Manager:
Karen Lenzen, klenzen@northcoastmedia.net, 216-978-9622

Ad Guidelines

LM ads, advertorials and sponsored content (print and digital) must avoid comparative content (e.g., research or testimonials comparing one company’s products to another, or one category of solutions or one active ingredient to another). LM’s “play fair” advertising guidelines benefit our valued marketing partners as well as our loyal readers. Advertisers can trust LM to not publish print or digital ads, advertorials or sponsored content that directly speak negatively about other companies, products, product categories or active ingredients. By keeping ad messages positive and noncomparative — sticking to each advertiser’s own solutions (and their specifications, features and benefits) — we add credibility with our professional audience and help all parties reduce related potential liabilities.

Main Issue Ad Sizes

Full Page Spread

Bleed:
- 15.50″ x 10.50” trim
- 15.75” x 10.75” bleed
- 15” x 10” live/safety

Full Page

Bleed:
- 7.75″ x 10.50” trim
- 8.00” x 10.75” bleed
- 7.25” x 10” live/safety

Half Page Horizontal

Bleed:
- 7.75” x 5.25” trim
- 8.00” x 5.50“ bleed
- 7.25” x 4.625” live/safety

Non-Bleed:
- 6.75” x 4.625”

Half Page Vertical

Bleed
- 3.75” x 10.50” trim
- 4” x 10.75” bleed
- 3.25” x 10” live/safety

Non-Bleed
- 3.25” x 9.75”

Quarter Page Square

Non-Bleed:
- 3.25” x 4.625”

Third Page Square

Non-Bleed:
- 4.375” x 4.625”

Third Page Vertical

Non-Bleed:
- 2.0625” x 9.75”

Half Page Cover Tip

7.625” x 5.50” trim
7.875″ x 5.75″ bleed
7.125″ x 5.00″ live/safety

Supplement Ad Sizes

Full Page Spread

Bleed:
- 14.75″ x 10.50” trim
- 15.00” x 10.75” bleed
- 14.25” x 10” live/safety

Full Page

Bleed:
- 7.375″ x 10.50” trim
- 7.625” x 10.75” bleed
- 6.875” x 10” live/safety

Half Page horizontal

Bleed:
- 7.375” x 5.25” trim
- 7.625” x 5.50 “ bleed
- 6.875” x 4.75” live/safety
Non-Bleed:
- 6.375” x 4.625”

Digital

Desktop Ad Specifications

Wallpaper – Wallpaper should be submitted as 6 separate image files:

1920 x 1080 pixels
1600 x 900 pixels
1536 x 864 pixels
1440 x 900 pixels
1366 x 768 pixels
1280 x 720 pixels

These six sizes account for the majority of laptop/desktop computer screen resolutions. Each file should be less than 256KB in file size, although we recommend keeping them under 100KB for fastest rendering.

We will assist your creative team by providing Adobe Photoshop templates for wallpaper ads. The body of the site is where the black boxes are, so this area, which is 1110px wide, should remain empty/neutral. Font sizes should be < 50pt and we suggest leaving a 175px buffer at the bottom of the ads to allow for slightly variances among screen resolutions. All of the wallpaper ads share a single click-through URL.

Interstitial Roadblock

File dimensions: 640 x 480 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <150KB
+1 click-through link

Super Leaderboard

File dimensions: 970 x 90 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <150KB
+1 click-through link

Medium Rectangle

File dimensions: 300 x 250 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <150KB
+1 click-through link

Filmstrip

File dimensions: 300 x 600 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <150KB
+1 click-through link

Mobile Ad Specifications

Mobile Banner

File dimensions: 320 x 50 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <100KB
+1 click-through link

Mobile Rectangle

File dimensions: 300 x 250 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <100KB
+1 click-through link

Mobile Roadblock

File dimensions: 300 x 250 pixels
File type: JPG, PNG, GIF (animated or static), HTML or HTML5
File size: <100KB
+1 click-through link

Retargeting

File dimensions: 728x90px, 300x600px, 160x600px, 300x50px, 320x50px (5 total)
File size: <100KB each
File type: JPG, PNG or GIF (static or animated)
+ 1 click-through link to be used with all ads

Digital Material Submissions

Naming Conventions: When submitting materials to Ad Manager, use the following naming conventions within the subject line: ADVERTISER NAME, SITE, LIVE DATE

Material Deadlines: Five (5) days prior to campaign start date

File Formats: GIF, JPG, PNG and other rich media formats

Animation: Videos are limited to one playback loop. Creative that is considered annoying or hampers the user experience (i.e. big bright, flashing colors) will not be accepted.

Rich Media: HTML5, DHTMLx, Java Script, third-party tags, streaming video. Please call if the rich media you are using is not listed.

Third-Party Ad Tags Are Accepted. The click URL must be received separately from any third-party tag, even if it’s embedded in the code. Please contact your advertising representative for more details.

Send All Digital Ad Materials To:

All ad material must be submitted via the ad portal: https://northcoastmedia.sendmyad.com and/or email 5 business days in advance of publication.

e-Newsletters

LMDirect!

Leaderboard (advertiser also will submit a mobile size)

File dimensions: 728 x 90 pixels (desktop) & 300 x 50 pixels (mobile)
File size: 150 KB or less
File type: JPG, PNG or static GIF
+1 click-through link

Medium Rectangle
File dimensions: 300 x 250 pixels
File size: 150 KB or less
File type: JPG, PNG or static GIF
+1 click-through link

Equipment Focus/Sponsored Content
Headline: 70 characters or less (with spaces)
Body: 250 characters or less (with spaces)
Image size: 600 x 340 pixels in static GIF, JPG or PNG format
CTA: 1 click-through link and preferred call to action, such as “read more” or “learn more”

LM Product Spotlight

Headline: Company name, as it should be displayed
Image: 1 photo, sized at 400 x 400 pixels in .jpg or .png format (product image OR company logo only)
Blurb: A 75-200 word product description
CTA: 1 click-through link and preferred call to action, such as “read more” or “learn more”

Custom E-Newsletter

E-Newsletter Leaderboard (advertiser also will submit a mobile size)
File dimensions: 728 x 90 pixels (desktop) & 300 x 50 pixels (mobile)
File size: 150 KB or less
File type: JPG, PNG or static GIF
+1 click-through link

E-Newsletter Medium Rectangle

File dimensions: 300 x 250 pixels
File size: 150 KB or less
File type: JPG, PNG or static GIF
+1 click-through link

E-Newsletter Side Banner

File dimensions: 160 x 600 pixels
File size: 150 KB or less
File type: JPG, PNG or static GIF
+1 click-through link

E-Newsletter Equipment focus/Sponsored Content

Headline: 70 characters or less (with spaces)
Body: 500 to 600 words featuring educational or promotional content
CTA: 1 click-through link and preferred call to action, such as “read more” or “learn more”

Custom E-Blasts

Please submit: HTML file, images folder (if you’re not hosting the images on your own website), click-through links, preferred subject line and seed list for test and final sends. Our digital team will send a test send out to you and your team for approval at least one day in advance of final send. *If you maintain your own email database and are collecting opt-outs, please send us your list of unsubscribes.

Download additional specs here.

E-Newsletter Material Submissions

Naming Conventions: When submitting materials to Ad Manager, use the following naming conventions within the subject line: ADVERTISER NAME, EMAIL NAME, LAUNCH DATE

Material Deadlines: Five (5) days prior to campaign start date. Note: Late materials may not be posted on time.

File Formats: GIF, JPG, PNG

Rich Media: Not available on e-newsletters. (Rich media is supported on our websites.)

Third-Party Ad Tags Are Not Accepted. We do accept clicktracker URLs.

Send All Digital Ad Materials To: All ad material must be submitted via the ad portal: https://northcoastmedia.sendmyad.

Social Media

Twitter

#Sponsored Tweet

Up to 280 characters of copy (counting spaces). Copy must include “#sponsored” at the end of the tweet, per our content marketing policy. If you include a URL, please ensure copy and #sponsored hashtag is <257 characters, and we will insert the link.

Maximum of two hashtags (including “#sponsored”) is recommended for best practices.
Copy must also include the advertiser’s Twitter handle. If the advertiser does not have a Twitter handle, the advertiser’s name must appear at the end of the tweet as a hashtag.

If including an image: *

Including an image (JPG, PNG or GIF) does not count toward the character limit and is recommended for optimal engagement. We recommend the image be sized to a 16:9 ratio (1200x675px).

Promoted Image

Tweet copy: 280 characters including the link and any hashtags or @ mentions plus #sponsored. This does not include the image.

Image width/height: Minimum 600 X 335 pixels, although larger images (for example 1200 X 675) will be better optimized for when users click to expand images.
Aspect ratio: 16:9, image file size maximum 3mb (File types: PNG, JPG, or GIF)

Promoted Video

Tweet copy: 280 characters including any links, hashtags or @ mentions plus #sponsored. This does not include the video.

Headline (appears under video): 70 characters, less than 50 recommended.
File type: MP4 or MOV; Max time: 2 minutes and 20 seconds
File size: Under 1GB strongly recommended for optimal performance.
Typically, any video under 2:20 previously uploaded to YouTube will work. Send us the link to check

*Per NCM’s Standard Terms and Conditions, you agree that you have the right to share the image/photo provided to us for all ad materials including social posts. We cannot use royalty-free images from websites such as Fotor, Unsplash or Pixabay. Photos must be owned by the advertiser or have rights purchased from a stock photo site.

Ad Campaign

*For the campaign you can provide 1-5 different ads

Objective – PLEASE SELECT ONE:

Reach
Consideration
Conversions

Length- 10-day campaign

Twitter Ad Specs:

Chose: Single media (1 photo or video) or carousel (2-6 photos or videos)
Up to 280 characters of copy (counting spaces). Copy must include “#sponsored” at the end of the tweet, per our content marketing policy. If you include a URL, please ensure copy and #sponsored hashtag is <257 characters, and we will insert the link.
Maximum of two hashtags (including “#sponsored”) is recommended for best practices.
Copy must also include the advertiser’s Twitter handle. If the advertiser does not have a Twitter handle, the advertiser’s name must appear at the end of the tweet as a hashtag.

If including an image: *

Including an image (JPG, PNG or GIF) does not count toward the character limit and is recommended for optimal engagement. We recommend the image be sized to a 16:9 ratio (1200 x 675 px)

Sponsored Post

Primary Text: 125 characters recommended (text surpassing 125 characters is allowed but may truncate differently across placement and browser types)
Headline: 40 characters
Images:
At least one image sized to 1.91:1 ratio (recommended 1200×630 pixels) in JPG or PNG format
Optional: 1:1 square image (recommended 1080×1080) in JPG or PNG format to optimize for different ad placement formats

Per NCM’s Standard Terms and Conditions, you agree that you have the right to share the image/photo provided to us for all ad materials including social posts. We cannot use royalty-free images from websites such as Fotor, Unsplash or Pixabay. Photos must be owned by the advertiser or have rights purchased from a stock photo site.

Ad Campaign

*For the campaign you can provide 1-5 different ads

Length- 10-day campaign

Campaign Objective – PLEASE SELECT ONE:

Brand Awareness
Traffic/ Engagement

Ad Specs:

Primary Text: 125 characters recommended (text surpassing 125 characters is allowed but may truncate differently across placement and browser types)
Headline: 40 characters
At least one image sized to 1.91:1 ratio (recommended 1200×630 pixels) in JPG or PNG format
Optional: 1:1 square image (recommended 1080×1080) in JPG or PNG format to optimize for different ad placement formats

Instagram

Text:

Primary text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Maximum number of hashtags: 30

Image:

Landscape: 1080 x 566 pixels.
Square: 1080 x 1080 pixels.
Minimum width: 320 pixels.
Maximum width: 1080 pixels.
Supported aspect ratios: Anywhere between 1.91:1 and 4:5.

Facebook

Sponsored Post

Requirements:
Partner must have an existing Facebook account & the administrator of that account will need to approve the partnership for each post.

Objective – PLEASE SELECT ONE:

Awareness Brand Awareness or Reach
Consideration: Traffic, Engagement or Video Views

Facebook Ad Specs:

Headline: 25 characters
Description: Your primary messaging will go in the Facebook post text. This can be any length, but we recommend no more than 125 characters, including the hashtag #sponsored. The post will truncate differently by browser or app type.
+ 1 URL for ad to link to

Image specs:

Image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels; Image ratio: 1.91:1
Copy Text: 90 characters
Headline: 25 characters
Link description: 30 characters
Please also submit one URL

Video Specs:

Video Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
Upload the highest resolution video available that meets file size and ratio limits.
Video File Size: 4GB Max; Length: 1 second minimum and 240 min maximum
Video Captions & Video Sound: Optional but recommended
Video Thumbnail image (1200x675px). This image must not include more than 20% text, or it may experience reduced delivery.

Ad Campaign

*For the campaign you can provide 1-5 different ads

Length- 10-day campaign

Requirements:

Partner must have an existing Facebook account & the administrator of that account will need to approve the partnership for each ad campaign post.
Contents of each Facebook ad campaign will need to be unique.
Campaigns run multiple days usually in 5- or 10-day increments

Campaign Objective – PLEASE SELECT ONE:

Brand Awareness
Traffic

Facebook Ad Specs:

Primary Text: 125 characters recommended (text surpassing 125 characters is allowed but may truncate differently across placement and browser types)
Headline: 40 characters
1 URL for ad to link to

Images:

At least one image sized to 1.91:1 ratio (recommended 1200×630 pixels) in JPG or PNG format
Optional: 1:1 square image (recommended 1080×1080) in JPG or PNG format to optimize for different ad placement formats
(The images should contain little to no text to be approved by Facebook).

Retargeting Ad Campaign

*For the campaign you can provide 1-5 different ads

Length- 10-day campaign

Requirements:

Partner must have an existing Facebook account & the administrator of that account will need to approve the partnership for each ad campaign post.
Contents of each Facebook ad campaign will need to be unique.
Campaigns run multiple days usually in 5- or 10-day increments

Campaign Objective – PLEASE SELECT ONE:

Brand Awareness
Traffic

Facebook Ad Specs:

Primary Text: 125 characters recommended (text surpassing 125 characters is allowed but may truncate differently across placement and browser types)
Headline: 40 characters
1 URL for ad to link to

Images:

At least one image sized to 1.91:1 ratio (recommended 1200×630 pixels) in JPG or PNG format
Optional: 1:1 square image (recommended 1080×1080) in JPG or PNG format to optimize for different ad placement formats
The images should contain little to no text to be approved by Facebook.

Specifications

Print

Print Ad Material Submissions

Ad Guidelines

Main Issue Ad Sizes

Supplement Ad Sizes

Digital

Desktop Ad Specifications

Mobile Ad Specifications

Retargeting

Digital Material Submissions

e-Newsletters

LMDirect!

Leaderboard (advertiser also will submit a mobile size)

LM Product Spotlight

Custom E-Newsletter

Custom E-Blasts

E-Newsletter Material Submissions

Social Media

Twitter

Linkedin

Instagram

Facebook

Important
Links

Digital
Solutions

Content
Marketing

Events

Specifications

Print

Print Ad Material Submissions

Ad Guidelines

Main Issue Ad Sizes

Supplement Ad Sizes

Digital

Desktop Ad Specifications

Mobile Ad Specifications

Retargeting

Digital Material Submissions

e-Newsletters

LMDirect!

Leaderboard (advertiser also will submit a mobile size)

LM Product Spotlight

Custom E-Newsletter

Custom E-Blasts

E-Newsletter Material Submissions

Social Media

Twitter

Linkedin

Instagram

Facebook

ImportantLinks

Digital Solutions

Content Marketing

Events

Important
Links

Digital
Solutions

Content
Marketing