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Category: Advertising
Ad Building
Best Buys Guide provides complete custom ad design service free of charge for any clients who advertise in our magazine. Our talented team of graphic designers have decades of combined experience in the newspaper and magazine publishing industry. Their expertise is unmatched in designing the perfect ad that is both eye-catching and appropriate for your particular business. Ads are created with the client in mind, with the goal of standing out not only from other publications, but also from each other within our own magazine, to deliver an advertisement that jumps out from all others.
Ad Submission
If you wish to submit your own ad, there are a few simple rules that need to be followed when building ads for our publication.
- Ad size must conform to the set dimensions. Please refer to the spec sheets below for ad dimensions. For your convenience, we also have Adobe InDesign, PhotoShop, and Illustrator templates available for download. Over/under-sized ads or those out of proportion will need to be adjusted at our discretion to fit the book.
- Art and photographs need to be 300 dpi (dots per inch) and 4-color process (CMYK). Best Buys Guide cannot be held responsible for the final results if files require adjustment.
- The minimum size for copy or text is 6 points to be readable. Anything below that may need to be resized.
- Unless embedded, all linked files and fonts need to be included.
- Common sense and other rules of etiquette need to be adhered to. If you have any questions, please ask your Sales Representative.
The following file formats are acceptable:
- InDesign: Must have all linked files, images and fonts sent with document.
- PDF: Needs to be press quality with fonts embedded.
- Photoshop
- Illustrator: Must have all linked files and images embedded in document and fonts converted to outlines.
- JPEG: Maximum image quality.
Please note that due to many e-mail services compressing PNG files when sent electronically, we are unable to accept that file format. Also, we are only able to accept the native files for Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. If you built your ad in another program (e.g. Canva, CorelDraw, Microsoft Publisher, etc.), please export your file as a PDF with the press quality setting for best results.
If you have any questions, please contact the Art Department at artdept@bestbuysguide.com.
Spec Sheets (Magazine)
Front Cover
Front Cover
Page Size (yellow trim line): 6.25 in. wide x 10.875 in. high
Safe Area (white): 5.875 in. wide x 8.35 in. high
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
Cover Banner Ads (orange): 1.15 in. high (including bleed). This space is reserved to feature 3 different advertisers running in the current issue.
Masthead (blue): 1.35 in. high. This space is reserved for the Best Buys Guide logo and issue information.
(Note: As long as it does not interfere with readability, your ad may include a background image that extends up to the masthead area. All important information, however, should be within the Safe Area dimensions provided above.)
Back Cover Inkjet
Back Cover Inkjet
Page Size (yellow trim line): 6.25 in. wide x 10.875 in. high
Safe Area (white area below magenta “Line for Ink Jetting”): 5.875 in. wide x 8.8 in. high
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
Full Page
Full Page
Page Size (yellow trim line): 6.25 in. wide x 10.875 in. high
Safe Area (white): 5.875 in. wide x 10.375 in. high
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
Half Page
Half Page
Ad Size (outer red line): 5.875 in. wide x 5.0625 in. high
Safe Area (inner blue line): 5.6 in. wide x 4.75 in. high
Bleed: none
Quarter Page
Quarter Page
Ad Size (outer red line): 2.8125 in. wide x 5.0625 in. high
Safe Area (inner blue line): 2.5 in. wide x 4.75 in. high
Bleed: none
Spread
Spread (AKA Doubletruck)
Page Size (yellow trim line): 12.5 in. wide x 10.875 in. high
Safe Area (white): 12.125 in. wide x 10.375 in. high minus 0.375 in. fold allowance (orange) in middle
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
Spec Sheets (Inserts)
PAB4
PAB4 Insert
Page Size (yellow trim line): 4.25 in. wide x 12 in. high
Safe Area (white & orange): 3.875 in. wide x 11.625 in. high
Banners (orange): 0.625 in. high. These stick out of top and bottom of book.
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
PAB5
PAB5 Insert
Page Size (yellow trim line): 5 in. wide x 12 in. high
Safe Area (white & orange): 4.625 in. wide x 11.625 in. high
Banners (orange): 0.625 in. high. These stick out of top and bottom of book.
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
PAB7
PAB7 Insert
Page Size (yellow trim line): 7 in. wide x 12 in. high
Safe Area (white & orange): 6.625 in. wide x 11.625 in. high
Banners (orange): 0.625 in. high. These stick out of top and bottom of book.
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
PAB10
PAB10 Insert
Page Size (yellow trim line): 10 in. wide x 12 in. high
Safe Area (white & orange): 9.625 in. wide x 11.625 in. high
Banners (orange): 0.625 in. high. These stick out of top and bottom of book.
Bleed (red): 0.125 in. on each side
Distribution Map
Best Buys Guide is delivered monthly to the areas below.
Download Distribution Map [PDF]
Interested in advertising in our publication?
Schedule | In-Home Dates
Year: 2025
| ISSUE MONTH | IN HOME | RESERVE BY | COPY DEADLINE |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | January 8 | December 16 | December 27 |
| February | February 6 | January 13 | January 24 |
| March | March 6 | February 10 | February 21 |
| April | April 3 | March 10 | March 21 |
| May | May 1 | April 7 | April 18 |
| June | June 5 | May 12 | May 23 |
| July | July 3 | June 9 | June 20 |
| August | August 1 | July 7 | July 18 |
| September | September 4 | August 11 | August 22 |
| October | October 2 | September 8 | September 19 |
| November | November 6 | October 13 | October 24 |
| December | December 4 | November 10 | November 21 |