Tips, tricks and advice for advertising management and print production.
Jennifer | 10:19 am | January 11, 2008 | prepress, terminology, printing, process, workflow, General
Production works in acronyms, here are some you might come across:
Other terms and phrases you might hear thrown around include…
Working files. When someone requests working files, they are asking for the files used to generate the graphics. This means fonts, images as separate files that are linked to the page layout file. Working files are necessary if adjustments might need to be made. For example, you would send your printer working files if there was concern that some photos might need to have adjustments made.
PDF/X1-a. PDF files can take many forms, they can be small files meant only to be used on screen, or highly specific files made to run on presses. The PDF-X series are common formats used in printing, and PDF/X1-a is usually the file type requested by most magazines.
I’ll keep posting more as I think of them. After awhile all these terms become a part of everyday language, it gets difficult to remember what isn’t common knowledge!
Jennifer | 10:07 am | December 18, 2007 | budgets, terminology, process, workflow, plan, planning
When beginning a job, the best defence against cost overruns is to properly spec the job. To create specifications is to define the limits of what you’ll do for the price you charge. All too often I see vague specifications lead to misunderstandings between creative and client. Properly detailing the job will help prevent this.
Specifications on a job should note the following:
Keeping to the specification is important when developing a job, especially with a new client. Go with the motto that no detail is too small and this should protect you from a client demanding more than what you expected.
Jennifer | 2:56 pm | December 6, 2007 | paper, suppliers, terminology, printing, budgets, planning
Paper comes in a myriad of colours and weights, so it’s important to know the differences when you’re running your job. This will give you a brief primer on selecting your paper stock.
Paper comes in coated and uncoated versions. Coated papers have a slicker feel and can be matte, dull or glossy. These are typically used for collateral pieces such as brochures and rack cards. Photographic images usually print more clearly on a coated sheet, because the coating stops ink from soaking into the sheet. Uncoated papers are used for stationery and fine collateral pieces. If the design is done with an uncoated sheet in mind, you can get a very elegant look at a low price.
Papers come in various weights. The tricky part is that the weight is determined by putting 500 sheets on a scale, but those sheets might be different sizes. As a result an 80lb sheet in one grade won’t be the same thickness as an 80lb sheet in a different grade, but they’ll likely be close. Most paper stocks come in text weight and cover weight. The cover weights are for use as covers, folders and anything requiring a stiffness to the sheet. The text weights are for lighter brochures and inside pages.
If you’re going to do a stationery package, make sure the stock you pick has envelopes available. To create an envelope is a very expensive process, so it’s best to use a sheet where #9 and other common business sizes are available.
There’s a lot more to know about paper. This site will also help you with your choices.
Jennifer | 10:34 pm | September 17, 2007 | terminology, workflow, General
Production has it’s own language (and it’s not all swearwords). Here are some common terms that you might hear someone in production say…
pubset - the newspaper will make the final change. Usually when a change comes in too late for the agency to make and ship to the publication, the newspaper does it. Sometimes the pubset isn’t noticeable, sometimes it ruins the design. You take your chances.
snipe - we don’t hunt them. These are usually those diagonal messages you see on ads and billboards saying things like “Hurry! Offer ends soon!” or “Only 3 days left!”. Designers hate them (not that you should care, I’m just saying).
camera-ready - a hold over from the olden days. Used to mean the publication would take your paper ad, place it on their layout, take a picture of the whole page and print. Now it means you send files to them exactly as per their specifications, so they can just drop it into their computer page layout software.
mechanicals - file specifications from the publication. Types of files, image resolutions, file sizes, ad sizes, all the stuff the person responsible for sending the file needs to know.
bleed - art that isn’t supposed to be seen. Many magazines run on shaky web presses (more on press types later). So they aren’t trimmed exactly. Bleed is the artwork that extends beyond where the page should get cut. That way if the press doesn’t cut right where it should, you don’t get a white border on the page.
live/safety - artwork area where all the important information goes. As with bleed, your live area relates to trimming. This time, it’s the space within the trim that the press, no matter how shaky, won’t cut away. All the important information in your ad needs to be kept in your live area.