Prepress Tips for Designers

[MacTwidget]

Yeah. I've gotten real good at button pushin'

 

[Possumgal]

Don't use three kinds of "black" in your design. I've gotten files from a "professional" design house in which each instance of red was a different CMYK mix, or black 1, black 2, black 3, etc. For a two-color job. If you're going to use default swatches, at least hit the same one each time.

 

[JoeatData]

Don't use three kinds of "black" in your design. I've gotten files from a "professional" design house in which each instance of red was a different CMYK mix, or black 1, black 2, black 3, etc. For a two-color job. If you're going to use default swatches, at least hit the same one each time.

At one time it wasn't uncommon that a designer would select a pms color within illustrator and proceed to use that pms from each library. CV,CVC,CVU. Then proceed to do the same thing with their photoshop monotones and duotones.

 

[JoeatData]

Yeah. I've gotten real good at button pushin'

View attachment 3397

Another area where the Technologies have taken over the Arts. There use to be a time where this was a highly skilled industry. We really can't refer to printing as Graphic Arts anymore.

 

[MailGuru]

Don't use three kinds of "black" in your design. I've gotten files from a "professional" design house in which each instance of red was a different CMYK mix, or black 1, black 2, black 3, etc. For a two-color job. If you're going to use default swatches, at least hit the same one each time.

It makes a big difference in cost when you are designing for digital print. If your black is just "K", you will be charged a B & W Click. If your black is a mixture of CMYK, (even though to a laymen it may look like the same black), you will be charged a color click. On Xerox mid-level production machines, that's a difference of 4 - 5 cents per impression!

 

[BarbWPP]

Reminds me of the occasional space-between-words set in an obscure and unsupplied font.

Or extra returns in same font. Or otherwise empty text boxes with same.

CLEAN UP THE FILE BEFORE YOU SEND IT AWAY, or you just look like a slob.

 

[BarbWPP]

With small text edits I much prefer outlines to raster. At least then I can copy the letters from elsewhere in the file to make up the text they want.

I sometimes do this in Photoshop.

 

[BarbWPP]

..

Setting up your document as 8.75 x 11.25 is NOT the same as defining .125 bleeds.

No but a lot easier to work with than some things we get.

 

[BarbWPP]

Having been on both sides of the fence, I know it's fun to rant at that kind of stuff. That being said, I'm just glad not all prepress workers have been replaced with such systems: SendMyAd

Is this where the pdfs using some"Photoshop PDF maker" (or some such creator name) come from???

 

[amybest222]

1. Any thing Microsoft IS NOT a design tool, Word is NOT a page layout application.
2. If you are going to be sending me "print ready" PDfs please embed your fonts. Thanks

 

[amybest222]

How about 50 seperate Indesign Documents for a a Pms change layer? Please learn to use layers. A base and a change layer. Thank goodness for versioning!

 

[Colorblind]

Is this where the pdfs using some"Photoshop PDF maker" (or some such creator name) come from???

No, after you upload your InDesign-generated PDF, I think it uses iText http://itextpdf.com/itext.php to preflight and generate a "final normalized" PDF that is sent to publications afterwards.

 

[dabob]

Die lines need to overprint and be a spot color!!!!

 

[Possumgal]

How about learning how to set tabs for menu prices or tables of contents. No, just holding down the period key does not make a proper leader.

A subscription to Creative Cloud does not a professional designer make.

 

[Fredpan123]

you are so right flexogrunt > the craftsmanship is lost in the process > but who really cares > most of the people now are just as you said; this is ok now push the green button.
the passion that at one time pervades within our industry is gone > no wonder the wages keep going down > soon the industry attitude will be like all workers in the printing industry are like chinese workers > hehe

 

[BarbWPP]

If we want the "designers" to send us what we need, WE clearly have to make an effort to educate them. It is only too often the case that the "teachers" don't have appropriate real-world experience. Perhaps calling the schools and offering tours to the relevant classes, where they can see how the presses work, what the ink really is, how it has to go down one color at a time, how it builds up for the final appearance, will show at least some of them what separations really are, 'cause they surely aren't going to come across it anywhere else in their lives...Hopefully at least some of them will pick up on the FACT that this is a different workflow from their desktop printers, and get the message about asking first.
Bitchin' and moanin' about it only relieves some stress, not the problem, not that I object to relieving some strss.
Any other education ideas out there?

 

[zombie]

BarbWPP,

You are right, but in my 10+ years of prepress, I met over 100 "designers". I remember exactly that only 4 of them were open to learn, probably because they understood that learning for FREE the correct way to build a file and some prepress tips will help them a lot in their career and after few years will raise their salary. The rest of them were rude, arrogant, they were acting like I was a monkey and they are GOD. And I am pretty sure I'm not the only one who experienced such behavior.

 

[Fredpan123]

@zombie and @barb > that's because the schools are homes to these "new elite" that because they think they have a college degree they are out to rule the printing world. what they do not realize is this world is built by people who learned from each other especially their predecessors about all the tricks of the trade. they tricks of the trade then is a whole galaxy of machinery and tools: ghosting, halation, film negatives, overexposure, plate underdevelopment, bearer pressure, and a whole gamut of things.
today the sit in front of their screens; their eyes drolling over how "beautiful and cool" their design is not even understanding what is going to happen when paper meets toners or when paper meets ink on the press > i look at them at times feel sorry how short changed they are in terms of what their school have to offer them. thanks for your opinions and comments on this interesting subject

 

[zombie]

Fred, I agree, but they don't have the common sense to realize that "a college degree" is not the same as Heidelberg Print Media Academy. I'm 39 years old, and I remember it was a time, years ago, when we were like doctors. The customer comes to your shop with a file, and lots of problems came out. You had a nice chat with him/her, finally solved the problem, everything was fine, everybody was happy. I was happy I was able to help the customer, and tell him/her what mistakes were and what to avoid in the future. Today this is not happening, at least not in the part of the world I live. But maybe I'm too old and too tired for this business. I just hope better times will come for us. And I bet while we are talking such things here, no "designer" will read this. They are too busy looking for new fonts and cool Photoshop plugins ...

 

[dabob]

Fred & Zombie . . . et all,

I've been doing digital file work since 1990 and in the biz for 44 . . Not sure if this customer is the worst I ever had but hes in the top five for sure. He was an "instructor" at the San Francisco Academy of Art - a school that has a "sterling" reputation in the design industry - Knew it all and deaf as a post to suggestions - one of the best days of my life is when we sent him on his way!!!!