PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

A pilot is required to go through a rigorous checklist the ensure safety and efficiency of the aircraft BEFORE he begins his flight.  Printing is no different.  This is the stage of printing referred to as “PRE-FLIGHTING”.  It refers to going through all the elements of a particular print job before the files get set to the printer or the files get sent down to have negatives processed looking to make sure we have all the elements needed, making sure that all the elements contain the proper formating, trapping, sizing, resolution etc.  Here are some elements that you should be aware of as you do your own “Pre-Flighting:

Graphics

• All graphics destined for print, MUST be converted to CMYK: Any images left in RGB may be subject to an undesirable or unexpected color shift.
• Resolution: Typically an image should be set at 300 dpi. Any image, such as photograph, that is not vector based is subject to its quality governed by the resolution. The lower the resolution, to poorer the quality of the image.  Please keep in mind that simply taking a low resolution image and increasing the resolution, does NOT increase the quality of the graphic
  Note: Images taken straight of the internet are too low resolution for print unless reduced to 1/4 their original size

Text and Fonts included

• Any program relies on the use of fonts that is on the user’s computer.  They are not contained in the prgram itself.  Hence when you take your file to a different computer and that computer is not loaded with a font or part of a font used on your design, then funny things will happen.

Other Considerations

• Bleed
  • When you are printing to the very edge of a page, you must bring that color or image past the page edge.  This is called “Bleed”. Allowance must be made for this.

• Bindery
  • Creep and allowance for paper thickness are required when producing a folded piece or a multi-page piece.  Please contact us for more specifics in this matter.  Often it is something best handled by us.