Courier Workplace is PIA's “Best of the Best"
Courier Corporation has been named "Best of the Best ” — top recognition in the Best Workplace in America competition. This award is sponsored by the Printing Industries of America (PIA), and recognizes excellence in the human relations practices of all types of graphic arts companies. This is the second consecutive year that the PIA has recognized Courier as a standout in this competition. Last year we earned a Best Workplace in America award, and this year we improved our standing to “Best of the Best.” All Courier subsidiaries and locations contributed to this year’s submission.

Entrants in the Best Workplace in America contest are reviewed by a team of expert judges in the following categories:

• Work environment/culture
• Training and development
• Retirement programs
• Personal/work-life balance
• Recognition and rewards
• Health and well-being programs

“I am proud to say that Courier is a place where employee pride in craftsmanship thrives, and employee contributions are valued and rewarded,” says Jim Conway, President and CEO. “Nurturing this environment is a critical component in our efforts to achieve the industry’s highest level of customer satisfaction, so it’s particularly satisfying to receive this award.”

The introduction of the PDF file over five years ago solved a bundle of very pesky file problems for printers and publishers, and since then, improvements in PDF have solved a bundle more. PDF has become today’s standard file format for print work, and that is just as it should be. However, you should be aware that not all PDFs are created equal. Some are better than others, and some are no good at all. Many of us in this industry, in our attempts to promote the general use of PDF, may have overstated its powers a bit. You may be under the impression that you will always get a print-ready PDF file if you create a PostScript file from Quark, run it through Acrobat Distiller, and check it with PitStop. Well, that’s not exactly so. The problem is that there are over 30 million ways to create a less than perfect PDF file! (40 Quark settings x 53 Distiller options x 103 preflight possibilities x 145 PitStop actions = 31,662,200 different files, only one of which is just right.) With so many variables, it’s really a long shot to get it perfect.

So what’s the solution? It’s to properly set the all the critical settings in all the applications while you make the PDF. Fortunately, our partners at CreoScitex have developed a very clever application called Synapse that does just that. At Courier, we use the Synapse Creative Suite to create and maintain “directives” that define all the critical settings and that reflect our particular workflow and equipment. Many of our publishing customers and their compositors have begun to use the less expensive Synapse Prepare to select a Courier "directive” and to prepare printready PDFs with just one click according to that “directive.” Synapse Prepare also generates a preflight report and brands the PDF file with a stamp of approval.

At Courier, we are very impressed with Synapse, and we recommend it to all our customers. The product goes a long way toward eliminating costly file rework and the resulting schedule delays — and the savings from just one avoided problem job are likely to exceed the cost of the software. Learn more about Synapse at www.creoscitex.com/products/workflow/synapse. And of course, you can download the latest Synapse directives for all Courier operations from the “Tools” section of rightfromthestart.com.

Right From the Start Tip
Never apply a tint or shade to a four-color process color. For example, if you’ve composed a red color from 100% magenta and 100% yellow, do not make pink by applying a 30% tint to that color. Instead, select the pink you want from a process color swatchbook and define it as an independent color. Then use this built-up color at a shade of 100%. This guarantees that you will get exactly the color you want.

Reminder — FastPath Status Check
In the last issue we told you how to get your Courier job and inventory status online with FastPath Status Check. Many customers find this to be a quick and convenient way to get information, particularly during non-business hours. Why not give it a try? You can sign up at rightfromthestart.com.