Print Production | Sending Your Design to Print

Sending Your Design to Print

We're just about ready to hit the presses!

Since we started this course, you have been learning about the process of print production in all its myriad facets. From the inner workings of an offset press to the best ways to accommodate a budget, we have covered a lot. You have been designing and adjusting a print project along the way, and this project is nearly complete. All that's left is to put the final tweaks on the design and get the file ready for print!

In this lecture, we're going to go learn how to do just that. It's the last phase of the print production process, where your file is finalized and delivered to the printer to be printed. Excited? You should be.

 

In the final days of the project, you will have made any needed edits, really taken care of the design details, and started getting your file ready for print. When you have a final draft, print it out and present it to the client or send him a PDF.

After the file is vetted, you will go through the stages of proofing, then prepress, and finally the job will ship. Let's take a look at the steps in this process, starting with preflight.

What Is Preflight?

Once your client has approved your design, it's time to get it ready for print. The next step is making sure that the digital aspects of your file are in order. This part of the process is called "preflight," a name borrowed from the process pilots go through prior to takeoff.

In aviation, preflight is a thorough check that makes sure the plane's controls are all working and the plane is ready to fly. The designer's preflight is designed to protect the integrity of the job and the safety of the designer's vision in its transfer to the press.

A preflight checklist goes through all the different elements of your project in order to ensure that everything is set correctly before you send it out to your printer. Fonts, links, colors, and inks...everything gets a full check for accuracy and inclusion. But why go through these tedious steps?

Here's why: the dreaded phone call at 3 a.m. from your printer, claiming that you forgot to include the headline font for your project, or that you are missing images in your layout, or that your colors were all set to run as spot colors, not process. Even if the phone call happens during waking hours, it's truly a nightmare.

You can download a starter checklist by clicking here (also available in the Course Downloads area). Keep this handy for all of your print projects and edit it as needed.

InDesign Preflighting

InDesign has built-in preflighting that acts like an automatic checklist for you. The document is constantly being checked while you work, and you can view its information live in the Preflight panel (Window > Output > Preflight).

The Preflight panel alerted me to missing fonts and missing image links.

The software basically acts as another set of production eyes to look at the job before it is sent out, but you still need to understand what to look for. Many of the alerts that this brings up will not affect your project or will simply call to your attention something you're already aware of.

To make sure InDesign's preflighting checks your document for the right things, define a profile. Click the flyout menu in the Preflight panel and choose Define Profiles. Create a profile that is appropriate to your print job. For example, you might set it to alert you if there are any RGB colors in your document.

Defining a preflight profile

Here are some of the main things to have the Preflight panel profile check for:

	Fonts: Are any of the fonts corrupt, embedded, or protected? Links and images: Are all of the images still in their expected locations? Colors and inks: Does the readout match your specs for inks? Are any of the images in a color space other than CMYK or grayscale? (This is the most common catch in preflight for me.)

Definitely pay attention to any of the errors that appear in a preflight. If one of your images is in RGB color mode, for example, preflight can catch this and bring it to your attention. However, it's up to you to make a note of which images require updating, open them, change the color mode, save them, and update the links from within InDesign. Preflight doesn't fix anything, it just brings things to your attention.

Also keep in mind that many times printers use second and third shift people (people working late into the night) to run film or set up print jobs—and they often have been working too long and may be tired or inattentive, so you want to set a job up to make it as "foolproof" as possible.

Repairing Color Space and Resolution Issues

Preflight isn't very complicated, and needs only be done as the last step before packaging for print. It's really not even a process, but a quick check that InDesign does for you. More than anything (for me at least), it is good for catching images that fall outside the CMYK or grayscale color space. Since this comes up a lot, let's quickly discuss how to handle it:

Okay, so everything in your Preflight seems to check out...but wait! There seems to be an image that is still in the RGB color space. Whoops! Easy mistake. So now what? First, let's identify the culprit. The Preflight panel tells you the file name of the image.

Now you can head over to the Links panel. Select the correct filename in the Links panel, then click the Edit Original button (pencil icon) at the bottom of the panel. This will open up the image in Photoshop. In Photoshop, make the shift to CMYK, then save. If saving as a separate filename, relink the image using your InDesign Links panel. Check your Preflight panel to ensure that the problem is resolved.

The Links panel is also useful in solving resolution issues that may or may not come up in your Preflight panel check. For every image, the Links panel displays really critical information. You can see the filename, the last time your link was updated, and two last pieces of vital info: the file's actual PPI and effective PPI.

Now, if you've been vigilant in preparing all of your images for print, you'll have ensured that all of your images are 300 ppi or higher at their native resolution. This would be the file's actual PPI.

But here's the catch. On occasion, with all of the shuffling and scaling and cropping that goes on in a placed image, it's often possible to lose track of a few details. So while your file may be 3" x 5" at 300 ppi, you may have accidentally scaled it to 4" x 6"—not a huge leap—without really thinking about it. This alters the PPI at which the file will actually print...the effective PPI. Using the Links panel, you can find out exactly what the effective PPI is and determine if you've scaled anything past 100% scale, which would cause it to print below the 300 ppi level.

If you catch a resolution issue like this, perform the same steps as the color space fix, hopping to Photoshop to make the edit. Adjust the resolution in Image > Image Size in Photoshop. You'll need to determine the size of the image in your layout, increasing the dimensions of this image to these dimensions at 300 ppi. Just be sure that the resolution adjustment doesn't create any blurriness or other issues.

Lastly, save the file in Photoshop, then update the link through your Links panel in InDesign. Make sure that the image doesn't shift in scale or position. Then resume the preflight process or wrap up by finalizing your files for print.

Finalizing Your Files

Done preflighting? Time to get the files ready for your printer. This can be done either with an InDesign package that contains the INDD and relevant files, or it can be done with a print quality PDF file.

Making an InDesign Package

InDesign's Package command (File > Package) is used to create a file folder on your computer that houses all of the necessary files to print your job. You'll use this folder to deliver all of your files to the printer. Running Package will automatically run a preflight check beforehand, so even if you didn't pay much attention to your Preflight and Links panels earlier, you have one last chance to find problems here.

The Summary page of the Package dialog shows me that I've got one missing font file and one image that uses RGB color space.

Page through each section of the Package dialog to ensure that all of your files and settings are exactly as you intended. Click Cancel if needed to go back and make fixes.

The Links and Images section of the Package dialog tells me the color space and ppi information in case I missed it earlier.

When you're ready to roll, click Package and InDesign will make a new folder. This folder will contain a copy of your INDD file, all of its linked images, and copies of any fonts used in your document. This "package" is a self-contained file system that grants your printer easy, well-organized access to all of the files needed to print the job. It's no coincidence that this is a fantastic way to deliver your "final art" to the printer.

If you ever need to edit your InDesign file or its links after running the Package process, be absolutely sure to do so from the files within the package itself. This is a common occurrence, as you may package a document, print it out from the packaged file, and only then catch an error. Editing this file and updating the link from within the package is totally okay. Editing the original file that is not part of your package won't do, unless you want to repackage the whole thing.

Just remember: All of the linked images for your printer are in this self-contained file system. Once the new INDD file is created within this package, it only remembers links and images within its newly created Links folder.

Having INDD files of the same filename can also be confusing. So I always save my print-ready document as something like "ITF_Stationery_v5_PRINT.indd" so I don't accidentally edit the wrong document.

PDFs

It is becoming common practice to send a print-quality PDF in lieu of InDesign packages. A PDF, as we discussed earlier in the course, has plenty of advantages. For instance, the file can't be edited by accident. It arrives as a "locked" file, but one that is a print-ready document if set up properly.

As you know, you can export a PDF using File > Export. Usually, the default settings for a print ready file (the Press Quality preset) are a good start. This at least insures that all of the images go out at an acceptable resolution, provided they already exist at 300+ppi.

Here are a few additional things to check inside the Export Adobe PDF dialog:

	In the General page of the dialog, look at the Pages box. Do you want a PDF with all the pages in the document, or just a range? You should also specify if you want the file to contain spreads. Otherwise it will break all spreads into single pages. Under Compression, all of the numbers should indicate a ppi of 300 or more. I usually don't touch anything in here, but it is important to check so you don't end up with a low-res print. Marks and Bleeds: Now this is important stuff! If you set up your bleeds in InDesign and then export to PDF without checking the appropriate boxes, your PDF won't have the bleeds. If you are sending a print-ready PDF, it's safe to check "All Printer's Marks." (If you're curious what this does to the PDF, try it yourself!) Assuming you created your bleeds from InDesign's Document Settings (and you should have!) you will also need to check the "Use Document Bleed Settings" box. I would never use the manual bleed settings from within the Export PDF dialog. That's just asking for trouble, because how will you know if your images are in the proper bleed area? The other tabs may come into play if your printer requires something very specific or unusual. However, I've never needed to play with these. Seems like a good way to mess something up.

On occasion, you may have a request for a PDF that uses very special and very specific protocols like "X-1a." My experience with these requests has always been related to sending a print advertisement to a magazine. While I can't tell you exactly what "X-1a" does to the PDF (that's for the printer to understand), I do know that it is an industry standard that helps ensure your PDF is more likely to print properly regardless of technology issues or settings problems.

And I can tell you how to create a PDF with this preset, in case this ever comes up: just select the X1-a preset in the Export PDF dialog. (You'll notice there are other X- options here too.) Once you've selected this option, don't play with any other settings. Any changes will violate the very specific settings standard!

Package vs. PDF

Make life easier for the prepress tech. Packages for big jobs, PDFs for small, digital jobs.

When it comes to shipping your job to print, I would recommend using an InDesign package whenever you have the option. The depth of an INDD file allows the printer a bit more flexibility in setting the file up for prepress.

However, a PDF ripped using the Press Quality preset with all of the printer's marks turned on can make sense for small, simple jobs like a four-color postcard. This is especially the case for something intended to run on a digital press. There's not a lot of prepress time for these sorts of jobs, so there's usually no need for all the flexibility of an InDesign package.

For massive jobs with tons of images, lots of pages, and the need for lots of editing during proofing, you better bet an InDesign package is the right choice. Why?

Many pages, many colors, many images, and loads of text. This job required an InDesign package so corrections could be made by the printer if needed.

Once your printer has put your file through their prepress process in order to rip (make a PDF of) the proofs, changes are marked on the proofs. The prepress department is then responsible for handling those corrections in the controlled prepress environment. Once they have prepared your file for print, it is most efficient for all edits to be made through the printer. Otherwise you will have to make them yourself and resend the file, undoing all of their prep work. In the end, this just means a big waste of time and money.

If you consider that they may have taken five hours to get your 50-page book's files print-ready, it would make sense that you don't ask them to do this all over again. They may have taken care of things like trapping issues, color management, photo retouching, fixing typos, or anything, really... depending on what the job's needs are. So, PDFs can be really great, quick, convenient tools. But use them wisely.

I always export a high-quality PDF for reference and drop this into the InDesign package before archiving (or zipping or compressing) the file. Point out to your printer that this is provided for him to check against your ripped InDesign files. Since an INDD file can have strange font issues or broken links, a high-res PDF is a reliable way of cross-referencing the designer's intent.

PDFs are useful for other purposes as well. When sending drafts for approval, I always use PDFs. They can usually be emailed easily (if you use the Smallest File Size preset) and can be opened on any computer thanks to Adobe's proliferation of the free Acrobat Reader software. You may prefer a face-to-face explanation with printouts or a hand-built comp, which is completely understandable. In fact, this is a great idea for pieces with unusual folds or unique design ideas. A PDF isn't very good for indicating dimensionality.

 

What Happens in Prepress

When your printer receives your files, they will be delivered to the prepress department, who will take a look and see if there's anything funky going on in the file. How hard or in-depth they look will depend highly on the other work going on or perhaps the quality of the print shop you've chosen. Don't treat the prepress department like a catch-all; in fact you should assume that they won't catch anything. Odds are they will open the file simply to ensure that it opens at all, and then run the file through the RIP.

A RIP, or raster image processor, as we touched on in Lecture One, is a combination of hardware and software whose sole function is converting your file's vectors, images, and text into a very high-quality bitmap image. Once color separations are created, these bitmap images are burned into your print screens.

Fonts: Where They Cause Trouble

In the world of typography, there is no end to the benefits of detail and specificity. Type designers are absolutely obsessive people, and rightly so. When you consider the impact of a typeface's "voice" on the content it demonstrates, it's no wonder that we have so many options available. Things get tricky when we have options within our options!

Printing the wrong font on Northwestern University's graduation packet is simply not an option!

Have you ever encountered different versions of the Garamond typeface? Different type foundries have each decided their version was the most thorough, historically accurate, or technologically advanced rendition of Claude Garamond's original drawings. So each of them have over the years published and re-published this popular and handsome font.

In highly specific instances, such as "Adobe Garamond Premier Pro," it may be hard to mistake this with another foundry's version of Garamond. However, it is easy to see how two fonts—both named "Garamond" but designed with very slight variations—could end up causing a lot of confusion. If the printer's version of the same name replaces the designer's version, the rendering of the copy through this font could extend a paragraph by a single line, causing the end of a column to disappear.

Three different Garamonds. Notice how the line length is differs along with the character details.

Images...Lost and Found

Fonts aren't the only causes of prepress troubles. On occasion, an image in your document will inexplicably disappear in the prepress process. I've never learned why this happens, but I've seen it enough times to be very concerned and watch closely for this in my proofs. If this occurs, mark it very clearly on the proof, and get on the phone with your print rep to let him know immediately.

Something seems to be missing!

And remember that if you include a PDF with your InDesign package, the printer may actually notice this him/herself and fix it for you...you'll never know there was a problem!

Proofing
The Value of Proofing

Finding out that you misspelled the title of your 20,000 finished piece project after you open the package from the printer is not a good learning experience, and it is a sound reason for your boss to fire you or for your client to "lose" your number.

Proofing various prototypes of your project throughout the production process will ensure that the final piece turns out the way you want. It is essential that you budget the proper amount of time to properly proof your project at various stages. Always remember the finality of printing: Once it is run, it is done.

Managing the Proofing Process

You should always have the client sign off on any work that you will be sending off to print for them. I usually require some sort of written "okay" from the client, which covers me in case there is a dispute later on about any detail, text correction, or color spec that they may claim they did not approve. Mistakes always happen, but if you have solid communication with your client and a good paper trail to refer back to, you will be much better off.

Tell your printer that you want to see the proofs first, before the client does. As long as you can avoid it, never let your client see the proofs before you do. If there are any errors on it, large or small, this can cause a lot of confusion. Or worse, it can make your client really unsettled, like a spooked horse. If your client is seasoned in the proofing process, it may not be that bad, but why risk it?

When you get the proof first, it allows you to mark up any changes or elements of the design that are out of order. This shows the client that you're paying close attention to detail at this critical point in the job, and allows them to focus on the content. You want to keep you client calm and happy in this final phase.

You should check and double-check the proofs before you sign off. Ensure that the client understands how to make their changes to the proof, and that their sign-off is final. If there are more than a few changes per spread, it may make sense to ask for a second round of proofs.

Imagine realizing on a press check that the CEO's name is misspelled because of some miscommunication on the proof markup. (I guarantee this has happened to some poor designer before.) The cost of a second round of proofs is minimal compared to the cost of reprinting the job. Be the advocate for a second round if your client doesn't know to ask.

Work closely with your print rep in communicating your changes. This is one of the rare instances where someone else is shepherding a really important part of the process for you. Be clear and concise, write legibly in bright ink, and if necessary write a note on a separate page to detail anything that might be confusing.

Bottom line: Take every possible precaution in the proofing process.

Let's now take a look at some of the proofing types you can expect to encounter.

Monitor Proofing

Monitor proofing, or viewing the piece on screen, is always the easiest, but least reliable, form of proofing a job. It is your first proofing device—but the reality is that you can't tell how the colors, fonts, or graphics will print. This means you should never "proof" from your own monitor. However, monitor proofing is sometimes an option through the calibrated monitors of your printer's prepress computers.

Monitor proofing at the printer is a very affordable way to proof when color accuracy is an issue, but the budget isn't there for a lot of hard proofs. I have only ever seen monitor proofing used once, when my boss proofed the images for a 200 page art book at the printer's prepress department, instead of doing a third round of hard proofs.

If color accuracy isn't a huge deal, just do a PDF proof from the comfort of your own computer.

Color Proofs

It's standard to ask for some sort of printed color proof. A press proof or matchprint will provide you with the most accurate color representation of what will come off of the press and should be run for any important client work or when color accuracy is imperative.

A proof checked carefully using a loupe for magnification. (Photo credit, Laura Schwamb)

Color proofs will usually come on something that looks like glossy photo paper. They aren't trimmed or collated or paginated. They are there simply to indicate how you can expect the image to look in print. On occasion, your printer may proof the image onto the same stock that your piece will actually print on.

Blueline Proofs

A blueline proof creates one photographic print from the film separations. This multi-page proof is cheap and easy to create. For a multi-page publication, a printer will usually supply you with a blueline that is completely assembled, so you can check the imposition, page order, and positioning, and check to see that all of your text and images have appeared.

Remember the orientation problem I had with my glossy postcard from the online print service? Had I seen an assembled blueline (or other hard proof) I could have seen how the printer planned on orienting each side.

Oh, by the way...this blueline is, well...blue. A blueline is not at all for color checking. It's only for placement and document assembly.

Press Checks

Going on-press (actually visiting the print shop and supervising the press run) is a worthwhile experience and can often lead to not only to a better quality output from the printer, but also to a better understanding of the processes we've discussed throughout this course.

Checking Out the Job

Usually you would only go on-press to supervise a press run for a four (or more) color job. However it could be good to do on a two-color job just to learn how the whole thing works.

How to do it? Start by calling your printer to find out when your job will be set up to run on their press, then get there just before they start the job. When the job starts rolling, the signatures start coming off the press, and a press operator will show you pages under a color-corrected light table.

You can check for any final errors and check the quality of the colors within your images. If the color is off, the press operators have the ability to manipulate the amount of ink flow to a printing unit to correct minor color shifts. It is also a good chance to check the registration (use those registration marks!) to make sure the job hasn't misregistered, though the printer will certainly have done this ahead of time.

If you are using any PMS solids or mixes in your print run, especially in the case of trademarked corporate colors, be sure to have your swatchbook handy to check against. If the colors aren't accurate, hold the printer accountable, and see what you can do to get an accurate match. Sometimes there will be small shifts due to paper tone, and CMYK matches can be tricky and will require a little room for error. But really, if the printer isn't matching closely to a PANTONE swatch, he's completely missing the point of the whole system, right? Sometimes it's the designer's job to be a real stickler here.

When you are happy, you must sign the approval page, and the rest of the print run will match the page you approve.

The press check is your last look before the machines take over.

Fixing Film and Plates

Okay, so you're on-press, the job is running right before your eyes and you are the king of the press, ready to sign off on your client's job and head down to the beach for a well-deserved getaway. But you suddenly realize the name of the client's CEO is spelled wrong. (Hey, I warned you about that!)

Is it panic time? Well, depending on the exact change, and how many times a printer can correct text or slight mistakes right on the plate or film, the cost of corrections might actually be reasonable.

You will have to pay for the service of having them stop everything to make the correction, but usually printers will be reasonable in add-on charges—especially if you took the time to show up on-press. If the mistake is more extensive, new film may need to be run, new plates may need to be made, and the press will need to be setup again. That will cost you a considerable amount of money, and I don't recommend it.

And After It's Printed?

The job is printed and ready to go to the client. You're happy with it, right?

If you've taken all of the precautions we've covered throughout this course, the possibility of a mistake on the final printed job is impossible, right?

Well, as I said earlier, mistakes do happen, and especially so in a process where many aspects are outside of your control. The bottom line is that your job—as a print production expert and designer—exists in part so that problems like these don't arise for your client.

Designers do have to occasionally deal with projects that have mistakes in them. There are a number of creative ways to try to correct errors in printed work, such as stickers to cover up typos, but clients tend to reject that sort of creativity.

My hope is that with the skills and knowledge you've acquired, you'll be able to avoid these common pitfalls, while being able to concentrate more of your time on your real love: graphic design!

Discussion Share your thoughts and opinions on print production with other students. Exercise Finalize your design with client edits and package it up for print.