Print-Ready means a project is ready to go to press (digital or offset) with the expectation the final printed product will be a success. To be considered print-ready, the following steps must be completed:
- Colors have been properly designated (e.g., spot or process)
- Images and graphics provided are of sufficient resolution
- Bleeds have been defined (if included in the design)
- Item finished size is declared
- Margins are properly placed
- Crop marks are properly placed (if needed)
- Selected fonts are provided or embedded in the file
The responsibility for getting a project to the state of print readiness falls on different people via different processes depending on the nature of the project and the nature of the print shop.
Pre-Press vs. Print-Ready
As described in Understanding Terminology: Pre-press, printers commonly use software programs to review project files and ensure the above steps have been properly completed. Indeed much of the time the project files will have been generated using templates provided by the printer and these templates will have built-in capacity to enable bleeds, crop-marks, margins, etc. Sometimes the project will be assembled in-house using raw materials provided by the client. In other cases the client will be expected to submit files in print-ready condition.
Proofreading
The list above does not include spell-checking, grammar-checking, content-checking (are phone numbers, addresses, urls in text correct?). Content is considered the responsibility of the client and they will have been expected to provide proof-read content.
Significance of Software
Print projects all originate in software programs. Professional designers typically use programs such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, or Quarkxpress, which are intended to create files to be used by commercial printers. These programs are complex and loaded with tools related to every aspect of layout, font management, image creation and placement, text manipulation and all other elements necessary to create a professionally designed printed piece.
Microsoft programs (Word, Powerpoint, Publisher) work readily with desktop printing devices and are designed to be used by non-design professionals. Thus, most commercial printers will not accept files created in Word or Publisher due to the likelihood of encountering problems created from a lack of knowledge or understanding about commercial printing processes.
PDFs Are Not All Equivalent
As printing moved from being an entirely physical process to a combination of digital-to-physical print shops and commercial printers were faced with a constantly shifting array of software programs that could in theory produce print projects. Needing to purchase and master them all was costly and unmanageable. In the early 1990’s Adobe created the Portable Document Format (pdf) which was intended to translate any document type into something that could be viewed/read on any computer platform. Over time commercial printers adopted the PDF filetype as the default and many commercial printers accept only PDF files.
These days the ability to export native files as PDFs is included in many software programs. But just because you can export a document as a PDF doesn’t mean that PDF contains all the information a printer needs to take the project to press.
Give us a call at 330-597-8560 if you need help with getting your project ready for print, or need a referral to a professional who has the necessary tools.
