Timely Tips on Buying Books: first in a series
Take Charge of Prep Costs and Delays
You can avoid schedule delays and excess prep charges by following a few guidelines before sending us digital files. “The number one thing is to use pre-flight software,” says Steve Franzino, Courier's vice president of technology. “As many as 45% of our customers' files fail pre-flight, mostly because they or their comp houses aren't catching problems upstream.

“The most common problems we see are missing fonts and graphic elements, due to poor collects,” says Franzino. “For example, files typically arrive with fonts bundled in one folder, halftones in another, and so on,” he explains. “So far, so good. But the problem is, sometimes people forget to send all the folders, or they don't include all the elements in the folder.”

A quick inventory can help head off these problems. “Most pre-flight software packages do an excellent job of collecting files for output,” says Franzino. “Be sure to organize each folder and purge unnecessary elements such as older versions of graphics.”

Some problems are more complex, such as ill-defined page construction — bleeds not extended far enough, rules defined improperly, fonts not stylized correctly.

Color space management is a common problem with four-color books. “Jobs need to come to us in the proper color space, which is CMYK,” says Franzino. “When we get RGB, we have to convert them. If you have 100 images or screen grabs, that can take several hours and bump your job back in the queue. If the job behind yours is a large one involving several hours of plating, you could lose a whole day in your prep schedule, and even more time in printing and binding.

“Customers often ask us to just fix the problem ourselves, but that always adds time and cost to your project,” notes Franzino. “Sure, we have the expertise to fix most problems, but we're just not set up to be a file-repair bureau.”

Whether, you prepare your files in-house or use an outside compositor, you can avoid all these problems by successfully preflighting your files before sending them to us. The very best way to keep up-to-date with the continual developments in preflight software is to visit www.rightfromthestart.com regularly. At the site, you can download many indispensable resources including the latest Courier-specific flight controls for the leading preflight software packages. And don't forget, registered members receive automatic e-mail notification of updates.

Three steps to avoiding problems

Step 1 Check our Right from the Start website often (www.rightfromthestart.com), to make sure you have up-to-date distiller preference settings, print drivers, and PostScript Printer Descriptions (PPDs).

Step 2 Make sure your compositor uses pre-flight software and provides a pre-flight report. Refer to www.rightfromthestart.com to get Courier's preference settings or flight controls.

Step 3 “Get us involved early,” says Franzino. Have your customer service rep put you in touch with one of our Specialists — especially if you're new to Courier or if your job has some unique elements. Refer often to the print version of Right from the Start, Courier's acclaimed handbook for preparing electronic files. “Get the book into your comp house's hands too,” says Franzino. Call your Courier sales rep if you need extra copies.

“We want customers to get the most out of their prep dollar,” Franzino emphasizes. “The best way to do that is to make sure the files they send us are as plate-ready as possible.”

Right From the Start Tip
Keep the following factors in mind when evaluating CTP proofs:

• Imposition inkjet proofs are uncalibrated color proofs, and are used only to show color breaks, while contract-quality inkjet proofs are calibrated for color, but cannot predict potential moiré patterns.
• Digital bluelines reflect layout and text flow but are not accurate for images or type rendering.

For more tips, please visit www.rightfromthestart.com