Printing Tips: Avoiding Prepress Bloopers
Preparing files for output is full of potential booby traps. The wrong files, missing images, nested graphics — all these can gum up your prepress process and add hours (and dollars) to your printing bills. Failure to abide by the rules of your print shop can quickly give you the reputation as a client from hell that incurs the wrath of prepress operators.
In theory, things should be easier than in the past when designers were just getting use to the brave new world of digital file preparation. But if anything, even more gotcha’s exist today than ever before. According to the folks at RR Donnelley, one of the world’s largest printing companies, the errors that come through its shops are a mix of old (missing fonts) and new (badly distilled files).
Here, courtesy of BookTech magazine, are the most common prepress bloopers you need to avoid when sending files to your printer.
We’ve posted this story as a PDF file. All you do is click this link “Prepress Bloopers” to open the PDF file in your Web browser. You can also download the PDF to your machine for later viewing.
To open the PDF, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get it here:
.
To learn how to configure your browser for viewing PDF files, see the Adobe Reader tech support page.
This story was originally published in BookTech magazine. Copyright © 2003 North American Publishing Co., Phila., Pa. All rights reserved worldwide. Reprinted by permission.
This article was last modified on January 11, 2022
This article was first published on October 22, 2003
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
Recommended for you
Using Lightroom and Photoshop Together on the iPad
Sophisticated photo editing techniques using the iPad versions of Lightroom and...
Why You Should Consider Using an External Webcam
In a world where remote meetings and classes are the new norm, an external webca...
InDesign Tip: Use Quick Apply to Drag and Drop Text
When you’re editing text in InDesign the ability to drag and drop text, i....