Prepress: Keep it Consistent Silly

The print industry is a dynamic and fast paced with its own set of unique challenges. The print process involves numerous people, which can create a range of issues when trying to successfully process a job. The range of people that touch a job can be astounding, from graphic designers, sales representatives, customer service representatives, prepress operators, dieline designers, plate makers, bindery, shipping, and many others. As a prepress operator your role is to do everything in your power to keep the job moving and keep the job as clean and correct as possible. I have been working in prepress for seven years and what I have learned in that time is that I will never feel like I’ve seen it all. Something new will always happen:  a problem you’ve never seen before or an issue that can baffle everyone involved. The best you can do is automate your process as much as possible and learn from the issues you have encountered in the past to help avoid problems in the future. Implementing some of the simplest procedures can go a long way. In this article I will share some of the processes that improve prepress productivity and success.
Ask for a PDF – While having an editable file provided to a prepress department is often helpful in making commonly requested changes, it is also important to have a visual reference for the job in the form of an approved PDF. Technology has issues and bugs happen. Opening a native file on a PC and on a MAC should be seamless, as should opening files in different versions of the same program, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case. If you don’t have a reference for comparison, then a transparency could change, an overprint could be turned off, etc. When these things happen and you don’t know what the final product is suppose to look like, you don’t know what you should be on the lookout for. An approved PDF gives you an overall visual that can help you raise flags.
Spell Check – Always spell check. Even if the job has very little text spelling can still be a big issue. In fact I’ve seen this happen many times on jobs that are not text heavy. For example one job I received had only one statement which said “Happy Rememvrance Day”. This is easy to overlook since it seems like such a short simple message but can cause an entire re-run. Spell check is free and already incorporated into most programs so it will not cost you money and takes only seconds.
Check the Blacks – Blacks can be treated many ways. There can be second hits of black, rich blacks, overprinting blacks, knockout blacks, etc. Blacks can make or break a print job since they can cause a vast colour shift when done incorrectly or can create trapping issues if knocked out incorrectly. RGB files and images that are converted can be especially important to watch for since there will be four-colour blacks after being switched to CMYK for print.
Confirm colours – Knowing how many colours go into a job determines how many plates are required. Don’t assume anything is CMYK-only when it is provided. A gold swatch in a file won’t let you know whether it is a CMYK interpretation of gold or actual gold foil. Finding out after a job is plated that it was five colour instead of four usually affects all the colours and causes an entire re-plate.
White plates – The print industry sometimes suffers from a lack of standardization of terminology. Meanings can be communicated in various ways or terms can be used incorrectly. Typically shrink sleeve or vinyl jobs will require a white backup.  However this may not be specified when the order is placed. Whites can be full coverage or spot or they may need large holdbacks. White plates often get less attention because typically they are not a dominant part of the final print appearance. However, if a white plate is wrong, then the job is wrong and the press is shut down. Make sure to have your white plate approved.
Traps – Make sure you know the trap a press can hold for the job you are working on. Better quality printers have more expensive tooling which allows for tighter registration, cleaner runs and a nicer product. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Giving too much or too little trap can change the final quality of the printed piece. Ask what is normal for the press used, since industry standards do not apply to every print shop.
Die information – If there is a pre-existing dieline being used, then everyone involved needs to know. This can affect bleed, spacing and print direction matters. If this information isn’t passed along, then it can’t be used appropriately when imposing files. Always ask if a dieline is being used.
Plate type – This is vital for the flexography market. The plate thickness needed for a job depends on the printer. Thicknesses can vary and a 0.045” plate instead of an 0.07” renders the plate useless. 0.067” is the most common thickness for packaging jobs but there are various options available, therefore clarification is required. Plate thickness is important because it impacts plate distortion. Distorting a file incorrectly is the fastest way to stop a job from being profitable.
A second set of eyes – You can be great at what you do. You can be the best in the department, heck, in the country, but everyone makes mistakes. Whether the job is simple or extremely complex, both benefit from a second set of eyes. Have the job checked at each stage to ensure your 1up proofs are correct and your impositions are also correct. Never rely on one person to be solely responsible for a job’s accuracy.
If there is an issue, flag it – My biggest pet peeve is when assumptions are made. When something goes wrong with a job and the investigation process begins I often hear, “I saw that, but I assumed ….” Print can be surprisingly complicated and there are usually a lot of people involved in any job, which can cause miscommunication. Sometimes things aren’t flagged because there has already been so much discussion about a job everyone just wants to get it done. Even if it will annoy people, flag everything, no matter how small. Send an email, call someone or let someone else know what you have noticed. This will help to avoid surprises at the press.
Approvals – People are busy. They work hard and often work long hours in print. Sometimes it seems simpler to trust something is right and move on; approvals, however, are vital. When approvals are skipped there are almost always problems. It doesn’t matter how rushed a job is. If it is not approved by the client then do not plate and print the job.
Prepress is very detail oriented and can sometimes be stressful. Things can go wrong and pressure can mount. The best way to deal with this is to be as thorough as possible and try to maintain a positive attitude. It helps to have a go-to list such as this one and add to it as you notice common problems in your environment.