The deal teams Loveurope's colour management and pre-press services with Specle's free online advertising specification database.

Following the launch of the updated Specle.net website this week, this will give users searching for the ad specs for any particular title the ability to send artwork via Lov­europe's Goswell Road hub.

Here, Loveurope will use its pre-press and colour management expertise to prep the file for final delivery to the relevant publication, charging a flat fee of £50.

Steve Owens, chief executive of Loveurope, stressed that the work would be carried out by "real people" in the company's London headquarters, rather than being outsourced to South Asia or done via an automated pre-flighting and file correction tool.

He added that from a financial point of view, the benefits of the partnership "had to be about scale" and that, as such, the company hoped to be recruiting more pre-press operators in the future at its 48-staff hub.

Specle managing director Tom Beckenham said: "The aim is really to streamline the advertising process and to make it easier for everyone in the supply chain.

"We found that there was a requirement from publishers who were using Specle to offer pre-press services as part of the same package.

"They want transparency throughout the whole process and that's something that this can deliver – by linking pre-press, colour management and ad delivery all in the same process."

The new-look website, which includes the option to send work via Loveurope for £50 or £95, depending on the speed of delivery, has already been beta tested with a number of publishers, including Bauer, Guardian News & Media, and Telegraph Media Group.