A print buyer's checklist when working
with a designer and/or submitting a disk
to a printer to save time and money
and to prevent confusion.

 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

There is an expected completion date.
Jobs that lack a completion date will usually be delayed until more urgent jobs are completed.

There is an expected completion cost.
Knowing the bottom line prevents added cost.

The printer has the equivalent application to run out the designer's disk.
If a designer uses an application and version that the printer doesn't have, the printer won't be able to produce negatives or camera ready copy of the job.

A hard copy (paper or PDF format) is included with the job.
A printer will need to verify the correctness of the printed job with a copy supplied to him by the customer when running out a disk. Camera ready copy obviously serves as its own hard copy.
 

PHOTOS/GRAPHICS/COLOR

Any pictures are scanned at the printer's specifications.
If not, they may be too dark, too light, or blurry when printed. Ask the printer how any photos/graphics should be scanned. Grayscale and color pictures and graphics should be scanned at 2 times the line screen of the printing presses. (For example, if the presses print at a 133 lpi scale, grayscale and color pictures should not be scanned at any higher than 266 dpi for an excellent print or lower than 200 dpi for an adequate print. Any higher will waste time, disk space and the client's money.) Black/white line art/images can be scanned at higher 600 dpi+ resolutions. Be sure to save all scanned art files in either TIF or EPS formats.

A JPEG can also be used, but it is a compressed format where quality IS lost. A client/designer must decide whether the smaller file size is worth the loss of some clarity.

For a 2-3 color job: photos and graphics are scanned as spot colors.
If they're scanned as 4 color process, extra expenses by the printers will be incurred since they will be mixing 4 colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) to produce 2-3 colors. For exact color matches, choose colors using a Pantone swatch book. If you don't have access to a Pantone book, please discuss your color options with one of your sales representatives.

For a 2 or more color job submitted on a disk, the application can separate colors.
Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and WordPerfect are wonderful programs that can print a multitude of colors on a color printer.

But unfortunately, they can't separate those colors into different plates (needed for offset printing) in many cases. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and WordPerfect are best used when only one color (any color) is needed.

Microsoft Publisher will normally separate any color into 4 process colors (4 colors consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), thus producing 4 plates and costing more. At the present, it does not have the ability to produce an individual color plate for each individual color in a document. Therefore, if you want only 2 or 3 colors in a job using Microsoft Publisher, you will probably end up paying for a 4 color process job!

For multiple colors to be offset printed, you'll need to use a more advanced program such as PageMaker or QuarkXPress.

For a 4-color job: photos and graphics are translated into CMYK.
Photos are usually scanned into RGB color format, especially if taken from the internet. They must, however, be translated into a CMYK color format to be printed. If they're not translated, you'll incur extra expenses for the printer to do this.

The individual plates have been run out and supplied to the printer (if a 2-4 color job).
If not, there may be a problem. The pictures/scans/graphics might not be in the proper format or there might be some quirk in the file that will add cost for the printer to fix.

All photos/graphics have been updated in the file.
Sometimes a photo or graphic is modified that's already linked to a file. Without updating the link, the file may not print properly.

There is only one type of color used for a specific spot color.
A designer, at times, may use 2 similar pantone colors for a color that seem identical on the screen. However, the computer will separate them into different plates when the file is run out. This will incur the customer extra expense. Be sure to check your color usage menu for any discrepancies in your color selections.

All the graphics/photos used in the job are included in the disk.
Many times, we receive files from customers that have graphics and/or photos missing or that are saved within the application (as PageMaker) and are inaccessible. If there's a problem with a photo or graphic, the printer may need to rescan or modify the photos/graphics so they'll print properly.

Photos and graphics are not resized more than 75%-150% (as a general guideline).
If a photo or graphic is enlarged more than 150% when imported into a file, it'll lose over half of its resolution and may not be sharp. If it's made smaller than 75%, you may be wasting disk space and time as the computer still must process the whole file since the size remains the same.

When photos or graphics are resized, they're always resized the same percentage vertical as horizontal.
Sometimes a designer will force a photo to fit into a certain space. If they don't make the vertical resizing the same as the horizontal, the image will look distorted. Rather than resizing the photo or graphic disproportionately, cropping extra space from the photo is more desirable.

 
FONTS

All fonts are included with the job.
Both screen and printer fonts must be supplied to the printer for the system that will produce the negatives.

If the designer and printer use different systems (Mac vs. PC), the printer has the equivalent font.
If the designer uses a Macintosh system and the printer uses a Windows-based computer, or vice versa, the fonts won't transfer unless the printer has an equivalent font to match the Windows version.

Try to avoid TrueType fonts because many imagesetters misinterpret them.

 
TRAPPING

The file is trapped properly if it is a 2-4 color job.
PageMaker and Quark both have trapping available, but it must be enabled to work properly.
 

OTHER

The designer is available to the printer.
If there are problems with the disk or job, the printer may need to talk to the designer.

There is at least a 3/8" margin space around the edges.
Printing presses need "gripper" space of about 3/8" (white space around the edge of the paper) in which to "grip" the paper for the printing process on at least one side. Any print or graphics in this space will probably be cut off.

Colors that "bleed" extend an 1/8" into the margin.
Colors that print right to the edge should extend about 1/8" into the margin to protect against misalignment during cutting and trimming. If the color only goes to the edge, a slight misalignment may leave a small white line at the edge.

For a booklet: the number of pages is divisible by 4.
Booklets and newsletters are usually printed and assembled in groups of 4 pages (4 pages equals 1 signature for binding). If your page count is not divisible by 4, you'll have some blank pages at the end of your print job. Designers can rectify this by either increasing or decreasing the size of your type or photos, adding white space, or simply (for a booklet or book) allowing blank pages within the document. Remember, though, that the more a printer has to do to prepare the job, the more it will cost.

The job has been thoroughly spell checked and proofread.
This is often an overlooked item. Spell checkers that come with application programs won't identify wrong words that are actually other recognizable words, incorrect punctuation or other errors. Ideally, proofreading should be done by someone who didn't take part in the graphics/design phase. As a rule, it's generally easier to catch someone else's errors rather than your own.

Specific instructions are included for any special items the printer needs to be aware of.