Preparing Your Digital Files

Or the Importance of Preflight

Preflight in the printing industry is based along the same principles as in air travel. Before the airplane gets to the runway, the mechanics and pilots both have their own set of preflight checklists that must be run through before takeoff. All parts of the plane must be in working and safe condition, fuel tanks need to be filled and so forth. Your file should run through a similar checklist before being sent to any printer or service bureau. Failing to check for problems before a file is sent, will result in additonal costs for file editing or resetting the job entirely! What follows is the top ten most common mistakes in file prep, a checklist to help you with preflight, and our accepted file formats.

Top Ten Common Mistakes in File Prep

1. Spelling - Spell check all documents to ensure later corrections will not be necessary. It will also help you to check the names of people and cities for proper spelling.

2. Proofread - Check all important information, including your address and phone number.

3. Fonts and Images - Include all fonts and images used in your file to ensure proper output. Include all printer fonts used

4. Hard Copy - Don't forget to include a printout of the final version of your document. If emailing files, please include a PDF file with fonts embedded for preview.

5. Inappropriate Format - Make sure all your images are in an EPS or TIFF format. JPEG, GIF, BMP and other formats are not designed for high quality output.

6. Low Resolution Graphics - Check the image resolution of your graphics. No less than 300 dpi for a quality output. Images from the web (72 dpi) will not output properly on high resolution equipment.

7. Font Styles - Using the tool bar to change to bold or italic is convenient, but it may cause printing problems. Use the bold versions of fonts when available.

8. Incorrect Colors - All colors in your files must be CMYK or specified PMS colors. It is a good idea to delete any unused colors in your document or graphics.

9. Inappropriate Program - See out list for compatible programs. Certain programs may be inexpensive and easy to use, or come included with your system, but there is no guarantee that they will print properly to prepress equipment

10. Incomplete Information - By not providing us with proper specifications of your job, it may not come out the way you expect. Color separations, paper stock, ink colors, quantities are all necessary when ordering and when asking for a job estimate.

Programs Accepted:
	Quark XPress
	Illustrator
	Photoshop
	Adobe PDF
	Pagemaker
	Word
	PowerPoint
	Excel
	Publisher

Pre-Flight Checklist:

1. Spell Check

2. Check Font Usage

3. Check Pictures (CMYK/Grayscale)

4. Add bleeds as necessary

5. Trapping for 2 colors or more

6. All colors used in CMYK or specified PMS colors

7. Check resolution - 300 dpi or more, EPS or TIF

8. Latest printout of final version

9. Collect all documents, fonts and images on a labeled disk

10. Print out of disk contents

11. If emailing, fax copy or include a PDF with embedded fonts.

12. Call to acknowledge file was sent and confirm job specifications.