Why didn't my fonts work?
The fonts supplied on your computer (TrueType) are not suitable for printing--they are essentially smoothed bitmapped fonts, supplied in fixed sizes. Professional type fonts (Type 1) are completely scalable, because they are actually computed from algorithms that determine their size and weight (requires installation of Adobe Type Manager). The difference is obvious to a designer, but many users don't understand that a bold version of a font is actually a complete typeface in a Type 1 font, and not just a heavier version, drawn on the fly by your computer, of the same face. In fact, some typefaces have many weights available.

Type 1 fonts are sold by numerous type houses (ex. Adobe's Type Library, Bitstream), and have both screen and printer fonts as files that you must supply with your document. The reason you must supply your own fonts is to allow the type foundries control of the copyright--Adobe offers over 2500 fonts, and each is painstakingly drawn and refined before being offered for sale.

What size files can we e-mail?
Some ISPs limit the size of files that can be sent as attachments to under 2MB, in order to provide a higher level of service to all users. Since documents that are going into prepress are often over 100MB, e-mail is often not an effective file transfer method. Larger files should be sent on removable media, such as Zip or Jaz disks, or via the Internet using the standard File Transfer Protocol (FTP). In our WebLink area, there is a link for customers to our FTP site. If you have a relatively small file that you think can be e-mailed, you can compress it using a utility such as StuffIt, PCZip, or other compression software.

What do you need besides the document in a file?
Well, besides the document itself, we need all the files that are referenced or used in the document. A partial checklist would include images, fonts, logos and other graphics. Any checklist for getting a file ready for electronic imagesetting (what we call a preflight checklist) ought to include the most obvious, but least well-remembered utility you have: spell check! You can save time, expense and aggravation with this valuable tool. Collect your files by type into folders, such as fonts, images, graphics, and double check that the names on the files are correctly matched with their file names in the document.

Is there anything else you need besides the document, fonts and images?
Since our job is to transfer your electronic document into several thousand printed images, it really helps to see what you intended. Send us a paper "dummy," so we see how the job should be assembled and folded. We're not sure how these miniature pieces got their name, but folding up a piece that's printed front and back and then discovering that there's a problem can sure make you feel like a dummy! And make sure you send along the last, approved laser copy of the content--we proof against that, to make sure there aren't any text re-flows or other surprises.

Speaking of surprises...my designer said he set the traps...what's that?
Let us do the work! Trapping is a technical adjustment to the mechanical art, and for the best product, it should be done taking into account our presses. Some software has an automatic trapping function, but generic traps may not be right for the specifics of your job. We would prefer to set the traps ourselves, after looking at each case where trapping is needed. Why do we need to adjust that job you just approved? Good question.

On press, the ink spreads just a little (called "gain"). And each sheet can stretch or shift just a hair as it goes through the press. So in order to have the plates set up to take into account the registration tolerance of printing, we add and subtract very tiny areas where colors butt, encircle or entrap one another.

For example, imagine a circle of yellow inside a block of blue. If that circle shifted upward, there would be a white area at the bottom, and a green area at the bottom. To provide some tolerance, we enlarge the yellow circle, just a little, all around. In this way, the blue area traps the yellow, and the result is a smooth, error-free print job.

Your prepress guys bounced back my Web graphics. What's the deal?
We all get used to seeing images on screen, and forget about the specifics of the graphic files. The GIFs and JPEGs that load quickly on the Web do so for a reason: they're low resolution, compressed images. Your 72 DPI images are perfect for monitors that can't show higher resolution--but those RGB colors are going to shift around in a CMYK interpretation, and we need at least 300 DPI (at 100% of the size you are printing), typically TIFFs, Illustrator files or EPS for reproduction. One way to manage this headache is to have your Web art created using higher resolution, and then use low-res images on the Web. Then you'll have what you need when you're ready to use those images in a brochure or data sheet.

Why couldn't you read my images?
One common error is compressing images and sending us the compressed images for output. In large data files such as photographs, compression can remove valuable information, and can cause errors in the output of the imagesetter (especially LZW compression). Another error is including outdated image files, such as a logo that was created in Illustrator 88. If you must use old files, import them into a current version of the software, and then provide us the "updated" file.

What's the best way to provide photography?
Ideally, you want to crop and size the photograph before you send it out for scanning. In this way, the file size is kept as efficiently small as possible, and there is less chance for error or misinterpretation. When you spec the scan, make sure you understand how you are going to use the photograph, and what kind of stock and printing you plan. A rule of thumb is to scan at about twice the DPI you plan to use as a line screen, for example, printing at a 150 line screen, you would scan at 300 DPI. However, this is assuming the image is cropped and scanned! If you scan a full-length portrait at 300 DPI, and then decide to crop down to head and shoulders, you only have enough information in your scan for about a 45 line screen--coarse and grainy reproduction, at best.

For scans, we prefer transparencies (slides), rather than reflective art (prints). And of course, larger formats give you lots more information for the color reproduction.

I thought that having a digital camera would make this easy!
Again, we're dealing with a question of resolution. The new digital cameras with multi-million pixel recording devices can do a fine job…unfortunately, the hype was pretty far ahead of the technology when these went on the market. Another thought: just like having a PC doesn't make an administrative assistant a graphic designer, having a digital camera doesn't give you the same results as a professional photographer. Lighting and composition are essential elements for good images that we can reproduce accurately.

In talking about layout and type, I've heard you use some terms I'm not familiar with--kerning, for instance.
Back when type was set by hand, there was a need for a new vocabulary. In fact, we heard that the reason for calling letters "upper case" and "lower case" is that the capital letters were in the top drawer, and the little letters were in the lower drawer of the type case. Kerning, which actually refers to the little serifs that extend beyond the letter's block shape, is subtracting space between characters, to tighten them up, perhaps in order to draw up a single word, left as a "widow" on the last line, onto a full line. Tracking type is intentionally adding space, which a designer might do with the letters in a subhead. "Leading" refers back to bars of lead that spaced out lines of type--now it just means the spacing between the baselines (the imaginary line the type sits on).

What file formats do you recommend for printing?
Native Quark Xpress files. Native means it is the cleanest form of that application's file, i.e., no Quark EPSs, no PostScript files, no PDFs.

Capital Spectrum can support virtually any file format but Quark Xpress is still the preferred file format.

What are your specs for compression that won't hurt the quality of my job?
Any file compression is acceptable for fonts, text, illustration and layout files, but not recommended for images. "Images" includes halftones, duotones, tritones, quadtones, cmyk, rgb, and Photoshop files. Common compression formats are .zip and .sit.

I've been hearing a lot about using PDF files for printing. It sounds like that would make all our jobs easier...what do you think?
The much-written-about "seamless" PDF workflow has yet to meet expectations. We believe it will ultimately be the format of choice; however, at this time PDF file integrity is only assured if it is a perfectly accurate file. This is most evident by the apparent disclaimers in the web-based print on demand industry.

How can I be sure that what I see is what I get?
We wish it were that simple! Typically, you are working on a computer with a monitor that produces colors from red, blue and green phosphors. These colors are actually light that is being projected, or "soft color," not colors that are reflected from light hitting paper, what we call "hard color." There is a lot of science behind color reproduction, but the common denominator for most of us is "four color process." This is the method of simulating the millions of colors in the visible spectrum using only four colors in various combinations: cyan (a bright blue), magenta, yellow and black. This is sometimes referred to as CMYK. To simplify just a little, the 16,000,000 colors that you can see with 24-bit monitors are simulated in the 5,000 colors that can be produced using CMYK. Thus, for critical color matching, such as a corporate logo, you may want to add a special spot color. Spot colors (sometimes called PMS colors in the graphics industry, for the Pantone Matching System), can be matched specifically, and include the strong reds, deep blues, and fluorescents and metallics that cannot be rendered with CMYK.

Also, you may want to watch out for spot Pantone colors which are incorporated in your layout, but which are not anticipated in the print job. Designers can easily pick a great Pantone color which doesn't have a close equivalent in CMYK. Make sure that you are choosing colors from a CMYK palette when you design a piece, and you'll always be pleased with the piece on press.

Why do you make such a big deal about proofs?
Proofs are intended to show you an approximation of what your job will look like on press. You may have a color inkjet printer in your office, and you would immediately recognize that the colors are much too vivid, too contrasty and that photographs have poor resolution, compared to a printed piece. Our objective is to have a full range of proofing technologies--including digital color proofs, WaterProofs, Cromalins and our new XP-4 proofs, that can show you the halftones in place--all in order to simulate the end product. After all, printing is actually a complex manufacturing process, using many skills and technologies, and it's not easy to anticipate the end result!

There are three places where you can alter or adjust the color: as you adjust the graphics on your computer, when we do the prepress work, and when the job is actually on press. Use the experience of your rep to help you understand how to adjust the color. For example, when you are incorporating photography, the "loose color" proofs are the first look at the separations. These may be just right, too warm, too cool, too green, too yellow…tell us what you see (and make sure you're using accurately-balanced lighting, such as in our proofing booths), and we can adjust the color balance appropriately, as needed, on each image.

Contract proofs are final proofs--as in final approval and transfer of responsibility, i.e. "contract" --typo correction and design decisions should have been made long before we got your file. However, getting a little warmer or cooler tone to the job OVERALL can be done on press. Remember that corrections to individual images cannot be done on press, so pay close attention to each proofing step as the job progresses.

Our contract proofs are intended to show you color as close as possible to the way it will look on press. In fact, for really critical color decisions, such as when you're printing process color on a colored stock, like a cream or speckled paper, we can even proof the job on the actual stock. We can also proof with very accurate rendering of Pantone (PMS) spot colors--even metallics! Just ask your rep about the best proofing technology for the requirements of your specific job.

You mentioned special lighting for working with proofs...why is that?
Many people have had the experience of buying clothes inside a store, and then discovering that the color shifted outside in daylight. In the graphics industry, we prioritize our color proofing against the color temperature of daylight (5500 degrees Kelvin), since it is the prevalent natural light that we all use. It is also the color temperature of the lighting that professional photographers use in the studio.

As you know, incandescent lighting is more yellow, or warmer, and fluorescent lamps are a little green or blue, unless they are specially balanced toward natural light. With so many different lighting sources (mercury vapor, sodium, etc.) in the business landscape, there needed to be a standard, and natural light is it. This is especially important to consider when looking at proofs or printed pieces, since they both depend on reflected light to generate what we think of as "color." The color of the light source, or the glare of the reflection off the surface of the paper, both have a strong influence on whether or not we think the color is accurate.