More Copresco Principles for Print... Seven Habits for Highly Successful Documents

More Copresco principles for print…

Seven Habits for Highly Successful Documents

In Overnight Lite’s February and May issues, we covered four of Copresco’s seven important habits for highly successful documents.

Three to Go

Your masterpiece is nearly finished. You just have to follow these last three rules, and your project is ready to print.

5. Follow Our Formatting Tips

First, don’t use printer’s or reader’s spreads in your layout. Use single page format. It will reduce the computer time necessary to prepare your document for printing.
Your page size should be defined as final trim size.

Crop Marks and Bleeds

You don’t need to add crop marks, but bleeds are essential if any of your images will run off of the edge of the page.
Please do allow enough margin or white space on all four sides of the page so that Copresco can make necessary adjustments to accommodate various binding styles.

6. Prepare PDFs Properly

PDFs have become the most popular method to send print files to Copresco for digital printing. In past Lite issues, we have given our readers instructions on how to make printquality PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Distiller—and we will continue to do this in the future.

Acrobat Preferred

While we prefer the use of Adobe Acrobat, acceptable PDFs can be made directly from graphic layout applications and other software programs.
An important fact to remember is that print is only one of many uses for a PDF. A PDF that is prepared to serve as an email attachment or a web posting is not acceptable for printing.

Points to Cover

Whatever PDF preparation method you choose, please make sure:

That “print quality,” “high quality” or “print optimized” has been chosen as the PDF default setting in Distiller.
That all the fonts are embedded in the file. Under the fonts settting in Distiller, there is a setting you can use that will cancel the PDF if the fonts are not successfully embedded.

   Resist the temptation to ignore this setting, or it will come back to haunt you when you go to print your PDF.
   Avoid the use of exotic or rogue typefaces that may cause print production problems without enhancing the readability of the piece.
   Also, please provide any special instructions or other details necessary for your project for Copresco’s production department.

Shingling

   The problem of shingling needs to be considered, but you can leave the details to us.
Shingling is an adjustment for the way page images in a folded signature tend to move toward the outer or facing edge of a book.
   The amount of shingling steadily increases as you move toward the center signatures of the book.
   This is one reason why there are limitations on the number of pages a saddle stitched book may contain.
   Years ago, offset negatives had to be physically moved to compensate for the image shifts. Today, Copresco makes these adjustments digitally so you don’t have to do it yourself.

7. Practice Good Housekeeping

If possible, print out and review a proof of your final document before sending us the PDF. This will give you a chance to check for any mistakes or missing photos and graphics.

Hard Copy

   Sending Copresco a hard copy of your document is another great idea. We can then check our production proof against your original copy.
   If you are sending Copresco native files, please send us a complete hard copy of the document including page layouts with artwork, photos, graphics and order of printing.
   Type reflow, font substitutions and artwork resolution problems are more likely to occur when using native files rather than PDFs.

For Special Delivery

We recommend that you use our internet files transfer system to send us your jobs. Go to the Copresco website, click on Send Us A Job and follow the simple onscreen instructions.
You’ll get an email confirmation and our tracking number after your files have been uploaded.

Final Tips

Don’t change your file after you have given us the final proof copy.
Have someone else do the final proofreading. It’s virtually impossible to effectively proof your own work.
Delete any old digital versions, and throw away your old hard copies.

Note: See the May 2010 issue of Overnight Lite or TechTopics No. 12 for indepth information on the fine art of proofreading.

The Crown Jewel

You now have all of Copresco’s seven successful document habits. Put them to good use when you prepare your next digital job. Then, call the company that will turn your masterpiece into a pièce de résistance.
Call Copresco.

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