Preparing Files For Your Commercial Printer

You have finished you design and layout, made all of the necessary revisions and are ready to send your files to the printer of your choice. Here are a few things to consider before you hand them over to your printer:

1. Did I include all of the fonts used with my job? This usually is the #1 thing that is forgotten about when preparing your files. Even though the printer may have the fonts you used, sometimes there can be several versions that exist, this could potentially create a problem with text flow.

2. Did I convert my images to CMYK for four color printing or if printing in spot colors, are my images converted to spot color? A lot of times if photos, jpeg, or tiff files are used they are not converted to CMYK, but left in RGB. This will present a problem when the printer goes to output the files. Usually they will convert these for you, but it is good practice to do it yourself before sending the files.

On the other hand, if you are using a vector image or even clip art in a piece that is intended to be printed in spot color, be sure that the images can be color separated into the spot colors you would like to use. If the images(s) cannot color separated, a simple 2 color piece may have to be printed in four color process, which will drive the cost of your project up greatly.

To be continued…