Indeed there’s no shortage of workflow tools used to create, color correct, optimize, verify and exchange content bound for print. The print industry certainly isn’t lacking in technology to support the all-digital workflow. But what may still be missing is a commitment to better educate the customer – teaching them how and why they need to create “good files” for print — and a willing shift in responsibility.
Ask most any print supplier — commercial, publication, book, large-format or otherwise — about the number of digital content files they receive from clients that are flawed, in some way incomplete or ill-prepared, and you may be surprised to learn just how many “bad files” are being circulated in the market. Even with the advent of the Portable Document Format (PDF), which promised to resolve some of these problems for printers, the old industry saying, “junk in junk out” holds true.
Having a quality-control buffer between the customer and the print supplier is one way to ensure that files coming into prepress are properly prepared and complete. Another way, is to take time to provide customers with some basic file setup instruction and to encourage them to use their verification solution.
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