5-STEP PREPRESS CHECKLIST TO GET YOUR DESIGN READY FOR PRINT
You may have been sending your marketing materials to our Dallas print shop for quite some time to get them printed. But did you know you could follow a prepress checklist to ensure nothing gets lost in transition between your desktop and our Dallas print shop? But what does “prepress” mean? In simple words, it refers to all the processes that take place before printing and finishing.
Whether it’s a magazine, a business brochure, or postcard mailing, when you send your design files to our Dallas printing company, we will be checking and proofing those files before they go to print. Usually, that’s our prepress department. Not spotting and fixing a mistake in prepress could end up being costly to fix down the line and delay the print project. Even our Dallas printing company has a prepress department, carrying out your own step-by-step prepress examination of your design files could help save time, money, and potential headaches. Given below is a five-step checklist that would ensure your printed business marketing materials appear on paper just as you have envisioned them.
1. Proofread Everything
Grammatical errors and typos in your printed materials will have a negative impact on your brand image, and your customers may decide not to read further or even choose your competitors instead to do business with you. So, make sure you conduct linguistic proofreading to fix typos as well as grammatical and spelling errors. Check the overall flow of the language used in your printed materials too. Additionally, conduct prepress proofreading that checks the visual appeal of the text from a graphic viewpoint and fixes elements like uneven line breaks, inconsistent font/text spacing, etc. It always helps to have a few additional people proof-read and check your files.
2. Confirm the Size and Resolution of Your Images
You should always save your design files at the highest possible resolution. This way, you can scale an image down, if needed. Ideally, you should never enlarge photos more than 20% of their original size or else, their output resolution in the printed document would be adversely affected and print pixelated. Before printing, you must double-check your image resolution. This doesn’t just mean the resolution of images in your design but even the resolution your entire final draft is saved at. Reach out to our print expert if you have questions!
3. Check Color Accuracy
Did you know digital cameras and computer screens show light and color in different spectrums than what they will look like when printed? While the additive RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model is used by most (not all though) design software programs, printers usually use the subtractive CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) model to overlay diverse intensities of each tone to create the complete range of colors. Check with our Dallas printers on what type of color settings they need. In doubt, they can always help.
4. Calibrate Your Screens
Check your images on differently calibrated monitors to find how different they are from each other. You may even print the design off to notice small differences that you’re unable to see on your monitor. Ensuring your images are correct before sending them to your printer can avoid headaches and unsatisfactory results. When in doubt, always communicate with our print experts here at our Dallas printing facility.
5. Keep an Eye on Imposition
Imposition refers to the process of organizing all the pages of your design onto the paper to print faster and in the most effective way. Keep an eye on imposition and don’t forget to add a bit of extra space to your design to make up for the binding. Our Dallas print shop experts can give you exact information and templates on how much space is needed and where.
Closing Thoughts
Communicate clearly with our print shop on what your expectations are and also discuss effects you want to have on your finished print product. There are many options available such as glossy, spot UV coating, satin finish, etc. If you need reliable printing in Dallas, TX, come to us DFW Printing Company, Inc. - we have our own in-house prepress department. You can reach us at 800-903-1673 or via [email protected]. Let’s discuss your next print project.
Whether it’s a magazine, a business brochure, or postcard mailing, when you send your design files to our Dallas printing company, we will be checking and proofing those files before they go to print. Usually, that’s our prepress department. Not spotting and fixing a mistake in prepress could end up being costly to fix down the line and delay the print project. Even our Dallas printing company has a prepress department, carrying out your own step-by-step prepress examination of your design files could help save time, money, and potential headaches. Given below is a five-step checklist that would ensure your printed business marketing materials appear on paper just as you have envisioned them.
1. Proofread Everything
Grammatical errors and typos in your printed materials will have a negative impact on your brand image, and your customers may decide not to read further or even choose your competitors instead to do business with you. So, make sure you conduct linguistic proofreading to fix typos as well as grammatical and spelling errors. Check the overall flow of the language used in your printed materials too. Additionally, conduct prepress proofreading that checks the visual appeal of the text from a graphic viewpoint and fixes elements like uneven line breaks, inconsistent font/text spacing, etc. It always helps to have a few additional people proof-read and check your files.
2. Confirm the Size and Resolution of Your Images
You should always save your design files at the highest possible resolution. This way, you can scale an image down, if needed. Ideally, you should never enlarge photos more than 20% of their original size or else, their output resolution in the printed document would be adversely affected and print pixelated. Before printing, you must double-check your image resolution. This doesn’t just mean the resolution of images in your design but even the resolution your entire final draft is saved at. Reach out to our print expert if you have questions!
3. Check Color Accuracy
Did you know digital cameras and computer screens show light and color in different spectrums than what they will look like when printed? While the additive RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model is used by most (not all though) design software programs, printers usually use the subtractive CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) model to overlay diverse intensities of each tone to create the complete range of colors. Check with our Dallas printers on what type of color settings they need. In doubt, they can always help.
4. Calibrate Your Screens
Check your images on differently calibrated monitors to find how different they are from each other. You may even print the design off to notice small differences that you’re unable to see on your monitor. Ensuring your images are correct before sending them to your printer can avoid headaches and unsatisfactory results. When in doubt, always communicate with our print experts here at our Dallas printing facility.
5. Keep an Eye on Imposition
Imposition refers to the process of organizing all the pages of your design onto the paper to print faster and in the most effective way. Keep an eye on imposition and don’t forget to add a bit of extra space to your design to make up for the binding. Our Dallas print shop experts can give you exact information and templates on how much space is needed and where.
Closing Thoughts
Communicate clearly with our print shop on what your expectations are and also discuss effects you want to have on your finished print product. There are many options available such as glossy, spot UV coating, satin finish, etc. If you need reliable printing in Dallas, TX, come to us DFW Printing Company, Inc. - we have our own in-house prepress department. You can reach us at 800-903-1673 or via [email protected]. Let’s discuss your next print project.