Seemed like a simple enough challenge at the time, but what I soon discovered was that it was anything but.

It wasn’t as though the process was any more difficult than it was back in the “days of film.” At the agency, we had art directors who were mocking up layouts on boards that were turned over to me for recreation in QuarkXPress. After working with the art directors and others within the agency to make final tweaks to the ads, I then had to provide them with the assurance that what I was creating digitally would reproduce in the manner they expected.

The only real difference in the workflow of “those good old days” and today is that we are no longer shipping film — and that is a great thing.

However, even though a lot of the processes were the same, accountability for the success or failure of the final print result was shifting. While in the days of film, it may have been the primary responsibility of the prepress supplier or printer to make sure the final results were accurate and optimal, in the days of digital file exchange, it’s a whole new ballgame. And anyone who wants to be able to hit the home run out of the park has to realize that it’s no longer only prepress and print suppliers who have to accept accountability. These days, more than ever, the print buyer and digital file creator assume just as much responsibility as their manufacturing partners.

It’s one of the reasons why I got out of the ad production game and decided to create a software tool that would alleviate some of the headaches of digital file workflows and make it increasingly easier for print buyers and production professionals to ensure that the files leaving their shops were in tact, had integrity and would produce in the manner that was expected of them. And with the help of my partner, Ron Crandall, Markzware was born and we became widely known in the print industry as the “preflight” company.

Preflight and postflight: Defining the terms
The term “preflight” has been adopted by the graphic arts community as the blanket or umbrella term that refers to file checking at any stage of the workflow. While we know that it’s essential to verify file integrity at several points in the process (creative, production, prepress), it would better suit us to distinguish these quality control checkpoints with terminology that , in fact, reflects when and why the file is being checked.

At Markzware, we’ve always considered the term “preflight” to be specific to the creative process, when digital files are in their native application form. “Postflight,” however, is a subset of preflighting that refers specifically to file verification that occurs, for example, after the prepress file (usually a PDF) has been created and is used to drive prepress processes, such as digital contract proofing, platesetting or digital printing. Distinguishing between preflight and postflight ensures that print buyers and their manufacturing parters are clear about when in the workflow quality control should take place.

Markzware, for example offers several tools including our flagship FlightCheck application, that will both preflight native application files and postflight PDF files.

Why do we need to verify digital files at more than one point n the workflow? Some may argue this is a redundancy that digital production and CTP was supposed to alleviate. Similarly, many print buyers and production professionals say, “Why do I need to preflight? I just send my digital files over to the printer. They’re going to check them there anyway.”

Point noted, but we mustn’t minimize the impact to deadlines and the bottom line if a printer receives a problematic file. consider this analogy: When traveling by plane, particularly these days, each passenger expects to wait in long queues at the single security checkpoint that stands between the terminal and the gate. If there were several smaller checkpoints along the path to boarding the plane, long lines could be minimized or eliminated.

While no two digital workflows are alike, there are some commonalities, and to illustrate my point, let’s take a look at a typical print buyer/printer relationship.

At the customer’s site, you may have an art director who is pulling elements from a variety of sources (images, logos, copy, etc.) and compiling them into a QuarkXPress or InDesign document. Once the creative forces and others have approved the final page, that native application file is then destined for the printer (presumably, not hopefully, along with a digital proof that represents that file).

At the printer, the file is then manipulated — and sometimes altered n any number of ways. The printer may apply things like trapping, make textual changes to the document on the customer’s behalf or RIP the file to a PF or whatever type of file format they need to drive their own proofing and platesetting processes.

If that original native application file the print buyer sent to the printer is flawless — if all the elements are in lace, fonts are embedded, graphics are all CMYK and resolution is high — this workflow should be relatively seamless, and the file will move through each of the stages without setbacks.

That’s the ideal. Now, let’s look at the real world. In the past few years, printers have noted that their customers are certainly becoming more adept at preparing digital files, but still some report that more than 80percent of the digital files (including both native application and PDF files) they receive from customers are flawed in some way. IF you think about it, that’s an extraordinary percentage of bad files being passed around – poorly prepared files that cost the print buyers both time and money to remedy.

While PDF has been lauded as the print industry savior, remember this: If flaws are resident are in the native application, they will remain in the pF, as well. Simply taking your native application to a PDF does not ensure that these problems will be remedied.

So, yes, most printers will happily accept your digital files — good, bad or otherwise — and they’ll happily run it through preflight, make fixes and changes, convert it, postflight the new file and send it on its merry way to the platesetter or digital press. But, remember, there’s a cost for this. Not only are you paying the printer to find and fix these errors, there is the potential cost of missed press schedules and distribution deadlines. It’s really a no brainer: Send your printer a bad file, and accept the costs and risks of doing so.

Quality control mustn’t be a print buyer’s afterthought. Preflight and postflight technologies are readily available, inexpensive to buy and easy to apply to the creative and in-house production workflow. Why take the risk?

MARKZWARE: Welcome, Neil. So, I’m always fascinated to learn how people find their

way into this crazy world of graphic arts. What piqued your interest

initially? How did you get your start in this business?

NEIL: While I was attending San Diego State I worked for an Large Architectural

Firm running their InPlant. They did large government projects that required

manuals and proposals for each set of drawings. I went on to get a secondary

teaching credential and a Masters Degree. I taught high school graphic arts

classes for 11 years before going to Palomar College for 25 years.

MARKZWARE: What are some of the classes you currently teach at Palomar College?

NEIL: I used to teach most of them! I am retired, just teaching part time. I teach

digital imaging classes, introduction, intermediate and advanced.

MARKZWARE: I suppose one of the challenges in teaching graphic arts design and

production is really keeping up with the fast-changing technologies out

there–all the applications, and so forth. So, how do you personally keep up

to date on technical developments as they unfold in the industry?

NEIL: It is very much “shifting sands” given changes in technology. I still take

classes at conferences and attend seminars to keep current. The internet

helps deliver educational information on broad topics in the digital world.

There is always the challenge of acquiring hardware and software to provide

students with the current technology.

MARKZWARE: One of the woes I often hear in the industry these days is that many of

the graphic arts programs out there focus so much on aesthetics–on the

creative aspect of the business–and often neglect the mechanics of how to

get those designs to print. In your courses, how do you prepare budding

graphic designers for the “real-world” of graphic design today?

NEIL: Palomar College Graphic Communications still provides that comprehensive

educational package for students. We have several Certificates that require

the Students to take pre-press and press classes. We have current CTP

equipment and presses that are used both by the college and the educational

department. The real answer to your question is that it is less expensive for an

administrator to offer pure design class than to invest in pre press and

press equipment. That is at the college level. The high school level has

totally different set of requirements and funding. The CSU and UC’s have an

enormous influence over what is offered.

MARKZWARE: So much attention in graphic arts has shifted to electronic media. Kids

coming up want to learn how to design for the Web, which is clearly

important these days. But what does it mean for print? In your opinion, what

impact will the Web have on print in the coming years?

NEIL: I think that is great! We live a digital world. Content flows to where ever

the costumer thinks is an effective way to communicate their message. Sure

market segments are smaller, but blending of the delivery systems increases

the probability of client success for reaching the target audience. I have

always felt that we have a powerful medium. Why don’t we use it more to

promote Print?

MARKZWARE: Obviously preflighting and quality-control for print is dear to our

hearts here at Markzware. And a lot of our customers face challenges as to

how best to create content for a plethora of output intentions–print, the

Web, maybe CDs or other types of electronic media. Is there any advice you

can offer to them? Any best practice suggestions for ensuring that the

content they painstakingly create reproduces the way they expect?

NEIL: Print is unique because it is “Custom Manufacturing.” (Don’t have your sales

manager call me, I know Printing is a service and is sold that way.) Each

job possesses it’s own unique properties. Workflow varies and anytime you

increase the variables in manufacturing that leads to assumptions and that

leads to problems. You have a good solution in Fight Check.

MARKZWARE: Another question I field often is “What resources or industry

associations should I know about if I’m new to the graphic arts industry?”

Any suggestions?

NEIL: We encourage everyone to seek out and become a member of Professional

Organizations. Don’t just look at one or two, look at all the related

Organizations. You may get better perspective with a related group than the

“good old boys”. All have website that have wonderful information. PIASD is

a wonderful organization, but there are a lot of valuable professional

organizations. Shop around an mingle.

]]> http://markzwarepreflight.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/interview-with-neil-bruington-of-piasd/feed/ 0 pgm4925 http://markzwarepreflight.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/file-verification-software-faciliates-both-pre-and-post-flighting/ http://markzwarepreflight.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/file-verification-software-faciliates-both-pre-and-post-flighting/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:18:35 +0000 pgm4925 http://markzwarepreflight.wordpress.com/?p=5 ]]> Pre-flight? Post-flight? Is there a difference, and if so, who cares? Ask anyone involved in the exchange of digital files for print, and you’ll be quick to learn just how important these two terms are to the overall quality control of the print creation-to-manufacturing workflow.

The term ‘preflight’ is the blanket term that printers have been using for more than a decade now, and it refers specifically to the process of verifying that the contents of a digital file are complete, accurately presented and prepared exactly according to the specifications of the file’s output intention – a printing press versus a Web document, for example. Preflight occurs at the native application stage, during document creation.

As the name may subsequently imply, ‘post-flight’ is a term meaning essentially the same thing — that a file is submitted to a software application that scans its contents and reports on its findings – but differs in where in the workflow this verification happens. While preflight suggests checking a file before it leaves the content creator’s desktop; post-flight can be used to describe what printers and service bureaus do to files that have been converted to prepress formats, such as an accredited standard like PDF/X-1a.

Why is it important to distinguish these two terms? Are we merely complicating matters? Indeed, not. As the print industry’s experience with digital file creation and exchange has matured, the paradigm has begun to shift. While many printers are quite content to continue to accept problematic digital files from their client base (and either charging or not charging for making any repairs), the smart ones have realized that to fully take advantage of the benefits of digital workflows, it’s time to share the responsibility for quality control.

Therefore, it makes sense that printers begin to evangelize two messages to their customers:

1. It’s important to understand our specifications. We have them in place for a reason, and the digital files you submit to us should be prepared according to these specifications if you wish to ensure the best possible reproduction quality; if you want to develop a streamlined and cost effective workflow; and, if you’d like to forego the cost and time it takes to fix your problematic files in favor of using these most valuable resources for other purposes.

2. Pre-and post-flighting is no longer considered to be the sole function of the print supplier. It is a shared responsibility, and content creators should take advantage of some very low-cost and simple-to-use tools that will help them ensure that the digital files they create are accurate and prepared according to spec before they are forwarded to a print partner.

As a graphic designer, has this ever happened to you?

The scenario: Youve sent your marketing masterpiece that you have meticulously designed to your printer. The deadline is tight, but you made it. Then the phone rings. Its your printer calling to let you know they are having problems printing your piece. You are about ready to scream because the client is waiting to get this piece out to his customers.

What are some of the problems, you ask the printer. The response: Youve sent low-resolution graphics, and have missing files and graphic items that have the wrong color space. Whats more, the job has missing or stylized fonts. Ugh, you say. How come I didn’t know the file I created and designed was improperly prepared and has become a can of worms?

The reason is that the job that was created was not ‘designed’ correctly.

The word ‘design’ means more than making a product look pretty. Of course, a beautiful piece is very important. But possibly more significantly, is how the piece works and functions. The ‘design’s performance is the result of the designers objectives in terms of getting the reader to ‘think something’ and to ‘do something’.

To ensure the desired performance, it is imperative that the ‘mechanical design’ is accurate. Wikipedia’s definition of ‘design’ includes this statement: ‘… Designing normally requires a designer to consider the aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object or a process, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modeling, interactive adjustment, and re-design…’

What preflighting software does is assist the ‘right brained’ designer, by providing a logical /mechanical software solution that does the left-brained work for him/her. Preflighting is a logical process. This process needs to be included within the overall design and construction of the piece to be printed. The end objective needs to be thought out well in advance. That is, that the piece will print as expected. Because, if this doesn’t happen, the entire design concept is worthless.

In the new era of digital design, graphic artists must think beyond aesthetics and accept some of the responsibility that prepress and printers once held. The idea of a quality control check, or preflight provides in macro terms the benefit of “lean” manufacturing for both designers and printers.

Preflighting for print and establishing an effective workflow also includes:
• identifying defective products
• eliminating overproduction
• excessive
• reducing work-in-process inventory
• avoiding over-processing
• stopping unnecessary movement of people and of products

• and waiting

Graphic artists of days gone by may have had it easier than their contemporary counterparts. Primarily, they could concentrate on the aesthetics of great content, allowing others—prepress and print production people, for example— to deal with the mechanics of producing it.

But the role of today’s graphic artist is a bit more complicated, thanks to the introduction of new electronic media and a shift of responsibilities. By and large, “prepress” has fallen by the wayside, leaving it up to creative professionals to be both designers and technicians, and to bridge the gap between design conception and final reproduction.

Clearly, a design’s destination (print, online, CD-ROM, and so forth) determines how a file should be created. A document bound for print will have different resolution, color-space, and trim-and-bleed requirements, for example, compared to content meant for the Web. Knowing the output intentions is important, but ensuring that digital files meet those specifications is equally as critical.

The bottom line is to follow the basic rules of print production, preflighting utility programs should be used to check designs. A systematic check of files before they go to a print vendor or are printed in-house is the best way to ensure error-free output.

One of the easiest ways to save is to pay close attention to prepress expenses. The costs of film, direct-to-plate or creating PDF files for print are enormous. And when there is a problem resulting in the job to be re-printed the costs add up, exponentially.

The printed word is a very reliable format for reaching potential audiences. Creating eye-catching flyers and marketing material has been greatly enhanced by digital technologies. Page layout programs, such as QuarkXPress and Adobe’s InDesign, have helped streamline the design and production process, which encompasses acquiring materials, designing the piece and checking the integrity of the file before final print.

Preflighting the design just takes moments. Those few seconds can save graphic professionals hours of misery fixing problems that will show up after film or plates are created. The financial savings in time and materials can be tremendous to marketers eager to get the message in the hands of potential new customers.

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