Reply To: Help! Print production wants me to use mostly Photoshop

DCurry and David, Thanks for your responses. I’m still learning a bit about this process, so the education and expert opinions help.

If she says my ID files cause a crash at export, then perhaps she’s referring to the print shops process of ripping the file? Excuse my ignorance, but does this mean my production team is providing the printer with a PDF or with an ID file? Or does the ripping process involve just the PDF the client provides to them?

I can run an export of the PDF and see how it responds. But it’s pretty telling if you’re saying, DCurry — with your 20 years of experience — that you’ve never had an ID file crash during PDF export ever. I’ve never had that issue, either.

To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are using an out-of date print shop. This magazine has been around since the 1950s and it’s a small team of people who aren’t exactly on the cutting edge of technology, LOL. It actually makes me sad to think they are potentially making the process more complicated for themselves. But like I said before, I’m in an awkward position because here is the new girl to tell you you’re outdated and ass-backwards, haha! (THAT’S a fun conversation.)

David, I’ll check out those articles. I’ve had issues with the thin lines before and I know sometimes they only show up when previewing the PDF and not actually in print. Ooo! I’ll check out your Lynda course. (Now how to get the production team to take the course…)

Let me check out these articles and see if I have any follow-up questions. However, is there a list of must-haves a print shop needs to offer that I can review — hypothetically if the magazine were to go with a better print shop?

Thank you both!