Proofing / eliminating design mistakes?

[jdr999]

What steps do you take to eliminate errors during design work?

We've been getting busier with larger and larger design jobs. One of the issues we're facing is our customers are not carefully checking proofs before print.

How do you ensure that no mistakes were made on your end during the design phase? And what happens when a customer signed off on a proof, the project is completed, and an error is later found?

And what if that error was on your end -- something that your staff entered incorrectly or just missed -- but was approved by the client?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[jdr999]

And just to clarify.. While I'm interested to hear how you handle those situations, I'd prefer to put a system in place to eliminate it altogether.

 

[gordo]

A signed proof is a contract. The conditions of that contract is usually printed on the proof tag affixed to the proof.
If the customer signs the proof then your job is to print it as per the proof. If mistakes are later found then that's the customer's responsibility - and cost if a reprint needs to be done.
Proofing used to be a trade. Failing that, it's usually helpful to have someone or two who weren't involved in the job check the files and proofs. They are more likely to spot an error than someone who's been working on it. Fresh eyes.

 

[prepressdork]

Can you give some examples of design mistakes?

Thanks,
pd

 

[jdr999]

A grammatical error or misspelling, a player with a wrong jersey number, a typo in a year or house number, etc.

The only way I can see to prevent that is to sit someone else down with all the notes and emails and cross-check everything. On a 100+ page journal this seems daunting....

Should that be our responsibility or the clients?

 

[gordo]

A grammatical error or misspelling, a player with a wrong jersey number, a typo in a year or house number, etc.

The only way I can see to prevent that is to sit someone else down with all the notes and emails and cross-check everything. On a 100+ page journal this seems daunting....

Should that be our responsibility or the clients?

The client supplies the files. They are deemed to be what they want produced. Therefore it’s their job to ensure it’s correct- not yours. Unless they specifically engage and pay you to proof their work.
If you introduce errors due to your processing of the files then that’s your cost.

 

[jdr999]

Not client supplied files -- file creation they are contracting us to do. As stated, they are not checking their proofs carefully before signing off.

Should a customer be in any way responsible for a typo we made by signing off on the proof?

And is proofing solely on us?

 

[gordo]

Not client supplied files -- file creation they are contracting us to do. As stated, they are not checking their proofs carefully before signing off.

Should a customer be in any way responsible for a typo we made by signing off on the proof?

And is proofing solely on us?

As before, the proof is the contract. They are responsible if they don't catch an error - not you, even though the mistake was one you made.

From a print production business perspective, determining and documenting the source of mistakes helps clarify whether issues are random, intermittent, systemic, or trending in some way. This clarification informs your decisions about how to resolve the problem. That's a production systems issue.

The three most common ways people make errors are:

Perception-based. These occur when there is incomplete or ambiguous information. For example: “We need a quote on a four-page folder” could mean many different things. Perception-based errors can be avoided by providing clear and distinctive instructions, standardizing instructions, and avoiding assumptions intended to fill in missing information.

Decision-based. These occur because of stress, pre-existing biases, assumptions, and over-confidence. This type of error can be avoided by using checklists, decision trees, and go-no-go flow charts.

Knowledge-based. These occur due to a lack of knowledge, information, and/or poor communication. These can be avoided by standardizing terms and operational conventions as well as through formal training.

If your clients are not checking their proofs carefully before signing off then you have a different problem.

If there is no incentive for them to check their proofs carefully before signing off, or if there is no direct cost (financial or otherwise) to them, then they won't change. You might try educating them about how to check proofs, however, since you're the one making them, you might not be the preferred educator.

So, first fix your own production issues and don't depend on your client to check for mistakes you make.

 

[lenasal]

Our agency has a really strong proofreading team and proofreading process in place, where different elements (copy, images, repeating elements, addresses, phone numbers) are reviewed at different stages by different proofreaders. We do use contractors on a regular basis, with good results. Freelance proofreaders and writers are out there, and perhaps you could develop a good working relationship with one or two who could provide their services on an as needed basis. I certainly agree that clients are responsible to check their proofs carefully before signing off, but if you're looking for more, some kind of proofreading review somewhere in your workflow prior to the vendor proof stage, could at least help minimize errors.

 

[prepress labels]

Our prepress has a preflight form that also serves as the QA form for proofing, and later, stepping for plates. There's a column of parameters for both stages, and two check boxes per parameter (one for the prepress tech, one for QA). All of our jobs are checked by two people at each stage. There's QA software out there (we use Esko's AE viewer, and there's something else called GlobalVision). However, it's hard to overstate the value of an extra set of eyes.

We also have documented procedures and a general flowcharted end-to-end process.

When an error occurs, we try more to correct the process that led to the error rather than assign blame (unless an established procedure wasn't followed properly).

We're a label printer, dealing most with 1up files, and not multi-page catalogs or journals, so that is definitely a different animal, and probably more opportunity for mistakes. We do produce a 32-page sales catalog about every three years, and it involves the same process, with possibly more input from other departments. And still we spot errors in it whenever we print the next edition.

Gordo makes a lot of good points--this will most likely take some work on your end as well as on your customer's end. The idea that "the proof is a contract" is technically correct--however, it can be difficult to convince a customer to pay for an error you generated, even if they saw it and signed off on it.

In house, you may need to create a spreadsheet cataloging any errors and their nature for a block of time. You also may need to meet individually and as a group with your personnel to get their input, or possibly sit and observe their processes.

Involve your customer as well. Let them know you're looking into your processes, and ask if you can do anything to help them when they check their proofs. If there's anything they can do to help make your job easier, by all means let them know (with a soft touch, and be sure to get your house in order first).

Some of this involves a change in mindset, and you'll probably spend more time in planning meetings as well.

 

[budgetms]

One thing we've found, on anything other than a flat sheet, is to create a printed, folded dummy, rather than just checking proofs on a screen. Over the years we've caught an embarrassing number of stupid errors, on supposedly carefully proofed work, by doing this.

Also, I understand that a signed proof is a contract, etc., but I have a problem with always holding the customer completely responsible for catching mistakes we've made. We're the professionals at this, and if we can't get it right I can't see making it the problem of the customer who's relying on us to know what we're doing. Things happen, of course, no matter how careful we try to be, and every case is different. How we handle these problems is often guided by how we're being dealt with by the customer. But I know there have been occasions where our willingness to at least share in the responsibility has resulted in the customer staying with us instead of leaving, spending money with us, instead of elsewhere, for years to come.

 

[BobRym]

Transcribing lists of numbers (phone numbers, addresses, jersey numbers etc.) and other data is deadly work - we deal with many different directories and programs each year - mistakes are inevitable - these could originate with the client (incorrect info) or thru input. Proofing is very difficult - we use several different people who have not had anything to do with the input of the data. You can rightly take a hard attitude with the client as to who is responsible if a proof is signed off. Believe me (as a business owner for over 40 years) - you won't have to concern yourself with who is right or wrong for long - you will soon not have to worry about it at all. There are many choices out there for your clients to find a company to deal with that can provide a reasonable solution.