Prepress best practices

Think you’re ready to go to print? Be sure. Without good file preparation, valuable time can be lost and results are less predictable. When prepping a file for print there are a series of steps to take to make sure that your end product is clean and consistent.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking that if they have a PDF, they’re ready to go. To the average person, a PDF is a PDF is a PDF. However, from a printing perspective, this is simply not the case. You can read this article for a breakdown of the different PDF file types but what we’re the most concerned with here at PMG are Press-Ready PDFs. Press bound PDFs must first come from a sound file from a competent layout program like Adobe Indesign. A sound file means all images are high-resolution (and ensuring that none are in RGB mode), fonts are high quality and can be embedded, the document has appropriate bleeds, etc. A PDF must then be generated with a tool such as Adobe Distiller.

If you have a PDF already and you would like to evaluate the print quality of that file, the easiest way to do that is with Acrobat Professional. This article will walk you through that process.

However, the easiest way to be safe is to ask us here at PMG. We are always available to answer any of your questions, be they prepress or otherwise. We also truly enjoy teaching anyone willing to listen about the printing process. It is our passion, it’s what we do - and we want to share the love.