I read an interesting article on MarketWatch.com some time back (Digital business cards move networking off paper) proposing that traditional business cards may be under threat from some new kids on the block – digital business cards and their associated networking services. Check out mine from BusinessCard2.com:

Yes, my BusinessCard2 card would look nice on my email attachment and handy for social networking, Tweets and the likes. But… yes, the but word; how about at a trade show? What about in the elevator? Or at my boys football (yes, soccer) matches?

There is work being done where these can be zapped from one cell phone to the next. But till all cell phones can communicate equally, the printer need not worry about printed business cards with fancy color graphics, maybe even made with Publisher software (!), going anywhere, anytime, soon.

This said, Stephen Beals gave us some stark warnings in this recent post, titled, “Don’t be too Certain About Print’s Future“…  Read more... (256 words, 1 image, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

Printing tips on the prepress side of things for graphic designers. How to create color graphics and InDesign layouts, which will ultimately print perfectly, or output to PDF without problems.  First, here are the 10 most common preflight problems or things you should avoid:

This graphic is from about TEN YEARS AGO! Amazing how it all basically stays the same: Missing fonts, incorrect trapping (when two different colors overlap), incorrect color usage, images in the wrong color mode, improper page set-up settings, unlinked graphics or images, inadequate bleeds, no proof (soft or print), missing images, too low (or too high) image effective image resolution.

With this in mind, here was a great, colorful blog post titled, “10 Pre-Press Tips For Perfect Print Publishing” which I wanted to highlight. The 10 items from the post, which are of course from a strictly design perspective are:

1. Use RGB Color Mode For Photoshop Images
2. Specify The Right Color Settings
3. Ditch Photoshop EPS Files And Use PSD Files Instead
4. Accurately Simulate CMYK While Working In RGB
5. Selecting the Right CMYK Output Profile For The Job
6. Use InDesign Instead Of Photoshop To Make The Final Color Conversion
7. Download All The Profiles
8. Exporting A Perfect CMYK PDF Using RGB Images
9. Avoiding Errors When Using RGB Images And Spot Colors
10. Share Your PDF Files With Acrobat.com
Source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/  Read more... (300 words, 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

FTP, although as reported here, is almost as old as me, is still the preferred and main method of file transfer to the printer:

This was all in a very interesting and detailed production survey for publishers by FOLIO over at FolioMag.com, where we read:

FOLIO:’s 2009 Manufacturing and Production Trends Survey reports what tools—like ad portals, virtual proofing and XML workflows—continue to come into their own and save publishers valuable dollars, as well as those areas that manufacturing and production execs are avoiding. Facing so many challenges this year, it appears that decision makers are remaining status quo and investing only in upgrades that will save big in the long run.
Source: http://www.foliomag.com/2009/folio-s-2009-manufacturing-and-production-trends-survey

Let’s just check out a couple of the color graphics they had, but, much more when you click through and read the entire article…

So prepress is continuing it’s migrating in-house by publishers. No surprise there, as it helps streamline the preflight process (note: FlightCheck Pro v6.5 is shipping with Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, PDF CS4 support and Quark 8 checking – preflight and package with FlightCheck!) – And we see that XML and the conversion to a more readily readable file format is also on the move:  Read more... (202 words, 3 images, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Moore’s Law is exactly the last reason, albeit a very serious one, to preflight your Photoshop color graphics and InDesign layouts. Here is an interesting piece on Moore’s Law and the prepress department, which was a good insight into pre-media:

“These components of pre-media all have their place of importance and need to be correctly executed and managed whilst considering the hardware they need. I showed in the last post how the effect of Moore’s Law played a part in the productivity of a pre-media department, but increasing your companies hardware performance doesn’t not equal faster throughput without addressing the pre-media operation as a whole, just like having the fastest formula one car doesn’t automatically qualify you as the winner of the race.”
SOURCE: http://tunicca.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/moore%E2%80%99s-law-%E2%80%93-the-effect-on-pre-media/

Moore’s Law in Prepress – Oh so true! And let’s not forget about Murphy and his law… For that you surely need Markzware FlightCheck Professional!

Here was an interesting Tweet I came across on a Twitter Watch List for InDesign which has an in-depth report with reviews for alternative desktop publishing or DTP applications for a Mac.

It is long, but interesting and starts with:

“You probably recognize this class of software I’m reviewing now as Desktop Publishing (DTP). Page layout tools allow a designer to arrange artwork, photography and type into a meaningful and attractive composition. Usually the features allow a designer to flow text across multiple pages and around artwork, exercise special control over type and other details, and make accurate and easy adjustments to anything in the publication. Better programs offer ways to make templates and master pages that can be used over and over, and for serious professional level work, they support different colour spaces (RGB for screen production and CMYK and spot colours for designing press ready materials).

In my professional life I use InDesign CS4 daily, and really like its features and tools. I have a very high regard for Adobe’s typesetting engine which has automatic optical kerning and a fantastic paragraph composer that sets text with real grace. I will be using this as my professional measure to compare and contrast the contenders in the review.”
Source: http://jonwhipple.com/blog/2009/08/08/laying-it-all-out/  Read more... (899 words, 1 image, estimated 3:36 mins reading time)

We now have 108 educational and useful videos created and uploaded on the Markzware TV channel on YouTube. We have been active there for about a year-and-a-half and it has proven to be an excellent way to both demonstrate, as well as offer support for our preflighting and conversion software.

Here was our very first upload on how to preflight CS3 about Adobe InDesign CS3 Preflighting vs FlightCheck…


And here are some of  the various categories or groups of videos, which YouTube calls, “PlayLists” which you may find useful or perhaps want to share (Tip: Use the little “>” buttons to the left and right of each embedded playlist to browse the selection of videos available):

Product Demonstrations – Markzware

Testimonials (video) – Markzware

Markzware Technical Support Videos

Many more video playlist’s to watch, for all and any in graphic design, printing or publishing… Whether you are looking for Adobe file conversion, InDesign troubleshooting, Quark XTensions or a way to better output your color graphics. See: http://www.youtube.com/user/markzwareTV#play/playlists

By the way, here are some cool advanced YouTube tricks for embedding and sharing videos:
URL tips and tricks with YouTube.com

DIY (Do It Yourself) is in. However when it comes to Adobe Photoshop and trying to touch-up the way your house looks on your online listing, you better get a professional graphic designer. Check out this real-life listing and associated picture:

Source: http://newsusa.myfeedportal.com/item.php?&itemid=1088960

Would have been cheaper to paint the grass and get a new set of shrubs on the side, then to publish this. Yes, this falls in the category pre-preflight. By the way, here is the original house listing. I have seen some terrible color graphics, posters and postcards, but this example is a classic! (I like how they have the lawn mower in there too!)

Here is an nice initiative from a print-shop in the U.K.- online school for print buyers:

Manchester-based printer Frederik Law has launched an online ‘Print School’ aimed at helping customers get the most out of the medium.
The print school section of the company’s website offers a resource for those new to design and small business owners to help them get to grips with print terminology. It also includes best practice guides that are open for users to comment on and ask questions.

Frederick Law managing director Nicky Acton said: “Quite frequently our customers are unsure what certain printing terms mean, we are more than happy to explain but felt an online resource would be helpful.

“We also find it common for graphic designers new to print to send us what they consider to be print ready documents, yet they are missing vital things such as crop marks and bleed. By providing an online print school we are offering our knowledge and experience with an opportunity for people to comment or ask questions.”
Source: PrintWeek UK

You can check out the informative, educational site on how to prepare files for print and output to Adobe PDF here:  Read more... (236 words, 1 image, estimated 57 secs reading time)

When reading a status update from Scott Abel (ContentWrangler.com) on Linkedin.com, I came across this headline, “[Publishing] The Printed Blog is dead (already)” which naturally caught my attention. We can read more about why ThePrintedBlog.com stopped here:

“It is with great sadness that I must report that, due to a lack of outside investment capital, The Printed Blog is ceasing publication….

Last year, I had an idea. I wondered what would happen if some of the business model principles that work online were applied to the troubled newspaper industry. The more I thought about it, the more the curiosity got to me. So I registered a domain name, developed an action plan, and started the process of building a new kind of newsprint publication.

Everyone said I was nuts, but I did it anyway.

Creating a new breed of newsprint publication from scratch was an amazing experience, and it was humbling to have been so prominently included in the global discussion on the future of journalism and the print media….
Source: http://graphicstart.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=367  Read more... (293 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

“I see more and more people using lo res images more then ever and they don’t care about the results once the job prints” says “Prepress_Online” via their Twitter account to “Markzware.”

Is a low-resolution image pandemic sweeping the world of printing?

• Are creatives, graphic designers and print-buyers preflighting less than ever?
• Is quality assurance taking a back-seat to price?
• Do you use an electronic method of preflighting on your brochures, color graphics and other posters & cards heading to print?

Would love to see, via the comments section below, some answers to these general preflight and prepress problems. Hearing from both designers, publishers and printers would also be great.

You can follow Markzware’s and Prepress Online’s tweets here:
http://twitter.com/Markzware
http://twitter.com/Prepress_Online/