Font Handling in Prepress

[csawatzki]

Most prepress environments are Mac based. Most servers are PC based. When dealing with this, how do most of you keep the resource forks on Mac fonts from corrupting when moving them back and fourth?

Customer jobs are kept on a centralized server. When an operator wants to work on the job, the fonts are copied on the mac inside a Library folder to be automatically loaded into the system. The native files are worked, and a PDF is created. When the job is done, the fonts are deleted from the Library folder.

I have seen issues with this process as the Postscript fonts corrupt when bringing them back to the mac side uncompressed. Some people seem to have these issues, and some don't. I am trying to find the perfect combination of workflow, network protocol, and storage setup.

I appriciate all input. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[JoeatData]

I have seen issues with this process as the Postscript fonts corrupt when bringing them back to the mac side uncompressed. Some people seem to have these issues, and some don't.

We occasional have problems. It depends on who's supplying the fonts.
In many cases we ask that our client to either zip the fonts if they are PC Based or Stuff the fonts if they are Mac Based.

 

[prepressdork]

If you have a Windows 2003 or older server, you can add Mac file services or if you have a Windows 2008 or newer server, give Acronis Access Connect (formerly ExtremeZ-IP) a try.

pd

 

[slush11]

At my last job, all printready art was to be sent with fonts already converted to curves/outlines. Problem solved.

 

[Sev]

At my last job, all printready art was to be sent with fonts already converted to curves/outlines. Problem solved.

What happens if a typo is found, and you need to edit the file?

-Sev

 

[slush11]

What happens if a typo is found, and you need to edit the file?

-Sev

Send it back to the client. We didn't edit outside art. When you get outside art in, you aren't being paid to make changes to it. So why waste your time. It would take the artist seconds to do it in their original file and send it back to you.

 

[WishIWasScotty]

Unfortunately it is more my experience that it will take several emails and considerable time (sometimes days) to get a corrected file back from a client, where as it would only take a few moments to correct it myself. Often likely with small errors and outlined fonts I will be able to grab pull the required letters from elsewhere in the piece to make the correction. I much rather have outlined fonts in most cases as that is much less likely to cause problems. Hopefully no changes will be needed and if art is provided with fonts I don't have, there is likely to be an issue which will stall plate production as I often will need to open the file to check or extend bleed, set black to overprint, etc.

 

[David Watson]

+1 for Extreme Z-IP. It's totally invisible to users, and it eliminates all the CIFS, AFP, SMB craziness!

 

[slush11]

It kind of defeats the purpose of having a proofing process if you're fixing outside art. I understand making small, obvious changes if you see them, but to me, if a client approves their own work, that's how it should get printed.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

At my last job, all printready art was to be sent with fonts already converted to curves/outlines. Problem solved.

What a waste of hinting technology. I would never outline a font unless I absolutely must.

 

[dabob]

Send it back to the client. We didn't edit outside art. When you get outside art in, you aren't being paid to make changes to it. So why waste your time. It would take the artist seconds to do it in their original file and send it back to you.

If we insisted on sending it back to the "client" we would have one less client . . . remember - They Are DESIGNERS - not spellers, proof readers, or legal experts . . . THEY DESIGN they don't need to know nutin else . . .

 

[slush11]

There is a reason why most reputable print houses have a list of print ready art specs on their websites. If a designer can't follow the rules, perhaps they should be in another industry.

 

[David Watson]

If you have an open communication channel to the designer, then the easiest thing for everybody is to have them fix it if it's an easy fix. However, if you need to go through CSR or salesperson, to buyer then to the artist, just fix it.
I have been in this for longer then I care to admit, and most designers are not production artists.

I agree with dabob, most customers just want somebody to handle it. If we are known as the printer that sends everything back to be fixed, then we won't have to worry about sending stuff back for long.

 

[slush11]

A good designer designs for a purpose. And unless they are in a company that has its own prepress department (which is unlikely-besides designers who work for print houses), they should know how to set up their document for print - to a point (ensuring file is CMYK, proper blacks are being used, spelling and grammar are accurate, building bleed, and even so much as adding trim marks for large format, etc...). Normally, a designer is designing for a purpose and I would venture a guess that most of the time, that purpose is print. I know many firms that won't hire a designer unless their grammar and spelling skills are top notch. I don't feel that it is pre-press' job to sort thru a 100 page document to find spelling errors.

 

[slush11]

If you have an open communication channel to the designer, then the easiest thing for everybody is to have them fix it if it's an easy fix. However, if you need to go through CSR or salesperson, to buyer then to the artist, just fix it.
I have been in this for longer then I care to admit, and most designers are not production artists.

I agree with dabob, most customers just want somebody to handle it. If we are known as the printer that sends everything back to be fixed, then we won't have to worry about sending stuff back for long.

I guess I'm just used to working for bigger clients. Our clients have pretty top notch designers but they are continually sending us files in RGB, which we are continually fixing (for free-not that it takes a lot of time). Butthere comes a time when you need to educate. Designers need to learn to do things the right way too. Were it a smaller company or an independant designer who was pretty green, then yes I would probably just fix it to save the hassle of the back-and-forth. I am also a designer and would not expect to have my work fixed by someone else.

 

[David Watson]

Prepress should not look for spelling errors, it's not their job. If something obvious is found it can / should be fixed without a lot of drama. We fix bleed on over 50 percent of the jobs that come through our shop. Not to mention 4c blacks, spot colors, RGB images, embedded profile problems, font problems, max ink density, crossover alignment, etc. etc. etc.

I'm talking quick fixes. If a job is completely botched then we send it back.

The way I look at it, if designers got everything right there wouldn't be a need for prepress besides imposing jobs. Printers used to be able to be hard-nosed and require everything to be a certain way, but anymore another printer would be glad to take those files from the customer in any condition. These days we want to get jobs printed quickly, correctly, and then delivered and billed.

 

[dabob]

A good designer designs for a purpose. And unless they are in a company that has its own prepress department (which is unlikely-besides designers who work for print houses), they should know how to set up their document for print - to a point (ensuring file is CMYK, proper blacks are being used, spelling and grammar are accurate, building bleed, and even so much as adding trim marks for large format, etc...). Normally, a designer is designing for a purpose and I would venture a guess that most of the time, that purpose is print. I know many firms that won't hire a designer unless their grammar and spelling skills are top notch. I don't feel that it is pre-press' job to sort thru a 100 page document to find spelling errors.

I didn't mean to imply that we proof read 100 page docs . . . but it seems to me that the designers design . . . art directors direct . . . and then they send us the files . .. we make a pdf and send the pdf back to them . . . and then the top of the food/design chain looks at it and finds errors . . . they couldn't have done that before they sent us the original file???????? I have yet (and I've been doing this since 1969 . . . ) to meet a "designer" who understands 10% of the printing process as it applies to todays methods . . . just fix it - bill them - and move on to the next job

 

[Sev]

What a waste of hinting technology. I would never outline a font unless I absolutely must.

Adobe has said the same thing.

-Sev

 

[Sev]

If we insisted on sending it back to the "client" we would have one less client . . . remember - They Are DESIGNERS - not spellers, proof readers, or legal experts . . . THEY DESIGN they don't need to know nutin else . . .

Our customers ask us to make edits/changes to their provided files. They dont want to bother, and in most cases they dont have the time. We charge for the alterations and they gladly pay. That could be one reason why our client list is growing, not shrinking. In this day and age, keeping the customer happy is a top priority.

-Sev

 

[slush11]

Yeah I guess if the client is willing to pay, then I'm all for it. I haven't had that experience. But then again, most of the designers who send us work aren't making mistakes. They send us a print ready PDF and we rename it and send it back to them for approval.