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Planning Your Print Project (Watching Your P's)
woman holding paper sample reating a project that will be printed by a professional Printer or Publisher takes quite a bit of forethought – even beyond creating the actual design.

The world of graphic design changed quite a bit some years ago when Macintosh computers came along. Those changes continued and today, a graphic designer has more choices than ever before. But, with great choice comes great responsibility. Planning has become a necessity.

Platforms
For awhile, Macs were the only choice for creating graphic design on computers. One of the things that differentiated Macs from Windows machines (and the earlier DOS machines), was the ability to use type that was individually kerned (not monospaced), the ability to create white type on dark backgrounds, to manipulate photos and more. Today, that's not the case. Though Windows machines are still primarily viewed as "business machines," most design programs are offered for both Mac and Windows platforms. In many cases, if you know how to use the Mac version of a certain program, you would be able to use the Windows counterpart with little difficulty. I have switched between both platforms for years now.

However, some professional Printers are not set up for this. Since the vast majority of a Printer's work comes from clients using Mac machines, many Printers don't have the equipment and software to properly process Windows files. You can sometimes open a file on another platform but more often than not, this is a hassle and causes lots of problems. Many Printers just don’t want to deal with this.

Publishers & Printers
There are a few different page-layout programs that designers use these days. Though PageMaker is still available, it is not commonly used. QuarkXPress is the most common choice with InDesign growing in popularity (because of its tight alliance with other members of the Adobe family of products). It’s been my experience that most Printers can accept both Quark and InDesign. But which version?

Though Mac's Operating System (OS) X has been out for awhile, I still encounter many Publishers, particularly those who produce magazines or programs, who will only accept earlier version page-layout files (like Quark 4.1). OS X was quite a change and affected the way that the system stored and used files. As a result, many people have stuck with their earlier versions, Publishers included. This issue probably won’t last but it’s something to consider, at least for now.

Other Programs
Some publications ask for EPS files (like those created by Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand) or PDF (Adobe Acrobat) files. These documents can be created to be “self-contained” so there are fewer possibilities for problems.

When you give a Printer or Publisher a Quark or InDesign file, you have to make sure you’ve included the font files and graphic files that you’ve used. They need them to print the file correctly. In the case of Illustrator and Freehand EPS files, you have the option to convert fonts to “outlines” so the font files are no longer needed. You can also embed any artwork so, again, the art file isn’t required. This isn't always very practical for the designer since Illustrator or Freehand aren't really made for publication work (Illustrator doesn't even have spellcheck for goodness sake). Importing large graphics files can cause the EPS file to have an incredibly large file size, making it awkward to work with. If, however you need to create your project in this format, it would be good to know this before you start. I can assure you that, designing a project in a page-layout program, and then having to convert it to an EPS file, is no fun and can cause problems.

Supplying your files in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) form may be a better choice but is not yet a perfect process. Since there are possibilities that fonts can look/print differently on different systems (particularly italic fonts) and that photos can be downgraded (and so won’t print as well), it's a good idea to review the specs with the printer before you create the file.

Some printers will work with other programs such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher but many won’t since it’s much more difficult to ensure a job will print properly, particularly in terms of color and quality.

Planning
The key to your successful design preparation is to talk with your Printer or Publisher ahead of time. Ask them what kind of files they can accept and prefer. If they have a lot of experience using a particular version of software, why not use that (if you are also comfortable with it)? You want your project to go as smoothly as possible, with the fewest number of problems. As with most projects, planning is the key.

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