DO

DON'T

DON'T use Microsoft Word or WordPerfect as a desktop publishing application. When it comes to commercial printing, Word is not going to get you very far. Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, etc. are word processing applications, NOT desktop publishing/layout programs. They handle font replacement differently and often cause reflow.

DO provide the printer with a hard copy laser printout of your project, as well as all of your layout files (in Quark, Pagemaker, etc.), graphics and fonts. Inkjet printers are fine for initial proofing and printing, but always get a final printout (and proof it) from a PostScript laser printer.

DON'T assume that what you have printed out and submitted as hard copy or see on your monitor is what you will get. Take a good long look at proofs and bluelines supplied by the printer.

DO take your printer's advice!

DON'T assume that you know more than the printer!

DO supply the printer with ALL of the fonts used to create your project (even the symbol, fraction and dingbat fonts). Use PostScript Type 1 fonts ONLY, and make sure you supply the printer with both the screen and the printer font parts. Remember to include fonts used to create EPS graphics, and fonts that the printer probably already has (i.e. like Times, etc.). There are many different versions of some fonts and a "wrong" version can cause reflow/repagination problems.

DON'T use Bold or Italic in the style menu or hit the Bold or Italic button when you want to bold or italicize text in your page layout program. Use the actual font. For instance, if you want to create text that is Helvetica bold, don't select some Helvetica text and then bold it using the Style bar or menu. Instead, select the text and change the font itself (not the style) from Helvetica to Helvetica Bold:

DO:

DON'T:

DO use PostScript, and Adobe PostScript fonts (Macintosh or PC/Windows) are always a safe bet.

DON'T use TrueType fonts. TrueType is fine for printing to a laser or inkjet printer, but TrueType fonts can cause severe problems when it comes to commercial printing.

DO supply ALL of the graphics used to create your project. Desktop publishing applications like QuarkXPress and Pagemaker link to your graphics; they do not embed them in the document.

If you DON'T supply the graphics, the printer will get an error and won't be able to proceed until you supply the graphics.

DO use TIFF and EPS graphic file formats:

• Use TIFF for halftones: graphics that are not just black and white, but rather, have many shades of gray.
• B&W clip art (no shades of gray — just 100% black and 100% white) looks best if scanned in and saved in 1200 dpi Bitmap format.
• Use EPS for line art, illustrations, charts, etc.: graphics that were created or edited in applications such as Illustrator or Freehand, and for graphics that contain clipping paths. Resolution should be at least 600 dpi, 1200 dpi is the standard and creates the best print quality.

DON'T use other graphic file formats like PICT, JPEG, GIF. Just because you can import them into your desktop publishing application doesn't mean that you should. Stick with TIFF and EPS. If your graphics are in any other format, convert them. This is especially true of the PICT format.

DON'T compress TIFFs. In Photoshop, for example, when you first save an image as a TIFF and you have the option of saving the TIFF in an IBM PC or Macintosh TIFF format, don't click the LZW Compression box.

DO name your graphics with the appropriate file extension: .tif, .eps.

DON'T rename graphics once you have placed them in your desktop publishing application.