In a down economy, look to Preparation, Preflight and Communication
Markzware, the inventors of FlightCheck, the patented preflight technology to check documents in several file types for print quality assurance, found this post about a preflight checklist:
“In either case, your first responsibility of the prepress process is to preflight your files. Preflighting is the process of gathering together and reviewing all the elements necessary to translate what you create on your computer to the printer’s computer. Most printers can provide you with a preflight checklist.” CHUCK GREEN Source
The article can be broken down into several important parts:
- Preflight your files
- Determine who is responsible for what
- Review and sign off on a proof
- Check your job in progress
- Recheck your job after it is delivered
- Oversee and approve post-press finishing
- Negotiate a price adjustment for printing errors
- Stay abreast of developing
I want to highlight the “Preflight your files” section, for that is an important one – especially in today’s economy. Preflight has a lot to play in all of these points, especially when you want to save money on a print job and avoid bad print quality.
By using the industry standard tool for preflight, FlightCheck by Markzware, you can be sure that your job meets the specs that the printer has communicated. FlightCheck catches print errors before they happen, so that you can stay creative! Plus, if something goes belly up, you will have the saved preflight reports generated by FlightCheck to duly get discounts for serious print errors. Print quality can be affected by incorrect transparency, low resolution images or unembedded fonts (fonts that were not embedded properly).
Markzware has seen ENTIRE pallet loads of brochures ‘returned to sender’ at the printer’s cost, re-printed and re-shipped to the print buyer, once again, all on the printer’s bill. Preflight with FlightCheck to avoid printing problems, support your case and save time and money, while avoiding waste of materials and reprints.
