PDF, Designers & Bicycles- FlightCheck User Interview
More and more printers and publishers are reverting from demanding print-ready PDF jobs only. PDF and the various standards out there like PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF and the great work by the GWG (Ghent PDF Workgroup) are excellent initiatives, but not the cure-all. The reasons for this have to do with preflighting and last minute file corrections. Editing a PDF is not a trivial task. Yes, a prepress expert well trained with tools like Enfocus PitStop or Callas PDFToolbox can get away with some, but not all changes. (We will cover this in a future blog post.)
Here is an interesting FlightCheck user interview with Mr. Paul de Boer which goes into further detail on this exact topic. Paul is a freelance graphic designer from The Netherlands whom specializes in laying-out books for artists and historical societies amongst other more standard design products.
De Boer on why he bought FlightCheck on a sunny Friday afternoon; “I want this weekend to have the time to correct them [the 100 page book] properly. Now InDesign, the program (Adobe) InDesign you can have a sort of ‘FlightCheck’ as well, but I am searching for perfection and FlightCheck from Markzware is giving more detail.”
Paul de Boer, freelance book designer - http://www.pauldeboer.eu
Hear about the run-in with his printer over delivering PDFs, open InDesign files and why he uses FlightCheck Designer- even on the weekend via this YouTube interview from MarkzwareTV:
It was a pleasure servicing Paul’s order, especially since he personally picked it up on his bicycle with payment in cash! Not all of you can come into Markzware in southern California or our European office in South Holland, but still feel free to send in your videos about how and why you use your Markzware product- all entries win a t-shirt just for entering! See contest rules and regulations here:
http://www.markzware-europe.com/contest/
Testimonial from Paul de Boer:
I used FlightCheck when I was working with Quark. Then Adobe came with InDesign, and I thought:
Well, now I can check it within that programme. What a mistake !!!.
Ok, InDesign checks some basic elements, but I am a pro, and I deal with many print companies, each with their own (unique) demands. And some of those demands are not seen by InDesign.
Some people told me: You can also check it all by a programme like PitStop. Yes, but I don?t design with PitStop, I design in InDesign. So if I make adjustments or corrections, I want to make them in the original files in an easy and fast way, and FlightCheck professional gives me that opportunity. PitStop has indeed its place in the workflow, but on other moments.Last week I was finishing a 100 page book, and there was no time left for errors and delays. (yeah, yeah, the famous deadlines !!) and InDesign could not guarantee me a perfect job. So I put up the phone and called Markzware in Rijswijk (the Netherlands) and asked theme if they could help me instantly (it was Friday, and I only had the weekend left for corrections). Normally the software has to be bought by resellers, but due to the time limit I could come to the firm. I jumped on my bicycle and went for a 30 minute ride (I live in The Hague, Holland) to meet David Dilling of Markzware at his office, and I can only say that I was indeed helped instantly with great service !!
It’s really refreshing that a company gives so much service. You people are really great !!
And also important: I indeed could fix a (minor) mistake, because of FlightCheck (was not seen by InDesign), and still had time left that weekend to go to the beach.
So David, I make you a promise: I will promote your company and software programmes wherever I can, because like I said: You people are really great (as well as your software programmes) !!!All the best,
Paul de Boer
Tags: FlightCheck, flightcheck pro, flightcheck professional, InDesign, Markzware, Markzware FlightCheck, Markzware News, MarkzwareTV, Paul de Boer, PDF, pdf editing, PDFToolbox, PitStop, pre-flight, preflight, preflighting, Preflighting News, printer, problems, Q2ID, User Interview, YouTube