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GUIDELINES FOR CREATING A DOCUMENT FOR PRINTING
Read this before starting your
publication.
Regardless of the
type of program or system you are using the
principles are the same. Creating print jobs
require this type of planning and these three
elements to successfully use it in commercial
printing or digital copying. To successfully
print to production equipment we need all of
these elements:
- Publication
- Graphics files
- Fonts
1. Build or start a folder. Call it
your project. Example: C:\Mydocuments\July
Project. Start a publication and even before
you enter one word into this publication save
it to the above created folder.
(brochure21.pub) saved in above
folder.
2 .Start designing
the document. Each time you want to insert a
picture or logo (graphic file) save it to the
above folder first and then place it into the
publication.
If the program asks
you if you want to include this in your
publication say NO. Saying yes will
unnecessarily bog down your computer.
3. When you are
finished save a copy of your fonts to the
folder.
4.Compress or zip
the entire folder and drop it in our dropbox,
or burn a CD and bring it to us. Some programs
require special preparation. One such program
is Microsoft Publisher.
7. Print one copy
of the document you want printed. We will need
to refer to it so that we know what the
finished product should look like.
Other
Issues:
Using
Graphics: For raster images such as scanned art
or digital pictures, high resolution (300dpi)
graphics are best and should be saved in
uncompressed TIFF (.tif) format.
Other graphics that
are produced from digital cameras, such as
.jpg, sometimes work but must be converted to
.tif before they are used. We can do this for
an additional charge or you can convert them in
Adobe Photoshop or a similar program.
Vector graphics
(such as those composed in programs like
CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia
FreeHand) should be saved in EPS
format.
"It looks good on
my screen, why not on paper?"
Computer screens
and internet files traditionally use 72dpi
(very coarse resolution) Computer monitors make
a picture look good but paper requires a higher
standard. So if you download or copy a file
from the Internet it may not be useful or
attractive for your document.
HOW TO PACKAGE INDESIGN FILES
To send a file to us from Adobe
InDesign, start by making sure all your clipart
files are linked correctly. Check the links
window. If any of your clipart files aren't
linked correctly either a yellow triangle or a
red circle will appear next to the item. Make
sure to fix the links before sending the job to
us.
Next, go under the
file menu to "package." InDesign will check to
see if there are any problems with a file.
Click on "view info" if a screen appears saying
"Possible Problems were detected during
preflight." You will get a report telling you
what potential problems exist--for instance, it
may tell you a font is missing. When you're
done reading it, close the window. Fix any
problems, by turning on fonts or converting
them to outlines, or relinking or updating
graphic files, or anything else that InDesign
tells you needs fixing. When you're done go
back to the file menu and hit "package" again.
A screen will appear asking for printing
instructions. Fill out your name, company name,
address, e-mail and phone number and any
special instructions you want to give
us.
Click on continue.
A screen will appear with "Create Package
Folder" across the top. Type the name you want
for your folder in the space across the top,
select the place where you want your folder to
be saved (your desktop for instance). Click on
save. A new folder will be put together with
your InDesign file as well as the fonts and all
the clipart and photo files that you used in
your file. This is the folder you will send to
us.
Use Stuffit or Zip
to compress the folder and upload it to our FTP
site. If you run into any problems, we'll be
happy to help. Just give us a call at
571.209.9999.
HOW TO PACKAGE QUARK FILES
Go to the file menu, collect for output. At the top of the screen, name your folder and tell Quark where to put the folder. Make sure that all the items under collect are checked, otherwise we may not get everything we need to produce your job in a quality manner. Click on save. When Quark asks you whether you want to collect the fonts, click on OK. Quark gathers all your fonts, clipart and photos and places them in the spot you chose. Compress these files using Stuffit and upload them to our FTP site.
HOW TO PACKAGE PUBLISHER FILES
Before designing your
document:
Have the right
version of Publisher: Publisher 97 and 98 are
not useful, as they have no utility to
transport documents from one computer to
another. More modern Publisher files, Versions
2000 and later, can easily be transferred from
your computer to another computer by the "pack
and go" utility in the program.
Pick the correct
color mode, also known as color space, for your
project. On the tools menu, point to Commercial
Printing tools, and then click Color
Printing.
-If your project
will use just one color of ink, click black and
white only. We can use this monochrome image to
print in either black ink or just one of many
standard ink colors.
-If your project
will have black ink and a highlight color or
two, click spot colors. You will then need to
pick the ink colors you wish to use in your
publication.
-If your project
has more than three ink colors, or will include
full-color photographs, click process color
(CMYK). This will allow you to use any
color.
After you've picked
from the above choices, click OK.
Design the document
on one computer if possible. Resources such as
pictures, logos, graphics and fonts must be
available so that our postscript printer can
print the job the way you have designed it.
Postscript printers will not function without
these resources, which may not follow the job
if several computers are used. See guidelines
on creating a document for printing.
How To "Pack and
Go" Your Publication:
Once you've
finished designing your project and have
proofed a printed copy at least once, you're
ready to send us the publisher file.
On the file menu,
point to Pack and Go, and then click Take to a
Commercial Printing Service. The Pack and Go
wizard takes you through each step of the
packing process. Click Next to move to the next
step. If you haven't saved your publication
already the wizard will ask you to save
it.
If you plan to use
our FTP site, make a new folder somewhere
easily in reach, such as the desktop. Otherwise
choose the disk drive on which you intend to
save the file.
Publisher will
default next to embed True Type fonts, include
linked graphics, and create links for embedded
graphics. Please leave all of these clicked.
Click Next.
If publisher
notifies you that a font is not available, or
will be available in preview-only mode, you
must stop and pick another font. This problem
commonly happens when a project is started on
one computer and continued on another without
pack and go-ing in between. Preview-only fonts
are not acceptable for commercial printing and
can ruin your project.
Note: The resulting
files set called packed01.puz, Unpack.exe, and
readme.txt is a collection of all items
relating to your publication in a single
compressed file. Either upload all three
files--we need them all--through our FTP or
bring the project, again all three files, on a
disk with a sample printed on your desktop
printer.
Please bring or fax
a composite to us so we can match it up after
you have checked it over against the log which
is produced at the end of the pack and go
process and your original intentions.
Remember: We will
send you a proof before printing but this item
is not meant for your editing for type, style
or grammar. This should be all done before you
send us the publication. Changes after initial
proof may result in additional
charges.
Don't see your question answered here? Ask us!