We are redesigning our checklist used in the production dept. It's mostly inhouse ads etc. that we have to clean up from creative.
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Mike Lacy
Pre-press Manager
Stylecraft Inc
22922 Avenida Empresa
Rancho Santa Margarita 92688
949-709-2000 xt123
mlacy@stylecraft.net

Hi MacMike,

Welcome to the group. After training publishers and prepress operators in first time right pdf workflow for many years I have recently written two online articles. This one is the one regarding a preflight checklist and will give you a good starting point. I really would encourage you to use this article, and the other about preflight as a process to focus and train employees and customers by. It is all some very well groomed content that I have used and improved over many years now.

Preflight Checklist Article

Preflight is a Process, Not a Program to Use
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JoePostscript -- support administrator

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Wind Turbine Buyer's Guide


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Love the checklist, but unless you are dealing with people who actually care about the final product, then this is sometimes useless. I am not putting this down, and yes, there are many designers that would want to havethis to get better at what they do, but not all. I have a few customers that are given files, they make updates and changes, then pass them on to me. This sometimes would have to go up the food chain many, many generations of people, departments, etc in larger, non design firm companies. I even have some secretaries that make some changes and pass the files on to me. I am not complaining, because the times I have mentioned something, work seems to stop coming to us for a few months. I have learned to ask for what I need from some, and find a way to fix it and make it work with others. Yep, sometimes people still just say "Let the printer fix it" because, believe me, many of them I print for.

The graphic designers and file preparers, the ones that don't care are definitely job security for all us prepress dudes. It's what we do.

The graphic designers that will take it and learn and try to do a better job, they can bolster their own job security. To any graphic designer or file preparer out there...

Yo, Word Up to Graphic Designer Folks!

Any hack can just send a pile of crap to the printer with no regard of doing a good job. Thus the high turnover in graphic design positions, people who don't care about integrity of their work get whacked.

The designer/file preparer who works with, and listens to his printer, prepares files well, etc. That guy is a professional who the printer would recommend for a job someday to someone else. That guy is also one who is never having drama of missed deadlines or alterations because the files are a mess. He's the designer with integrity who has job stability. Becomes the "Go To Guy"
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JoePostscript -- support administrator

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Wind Turbine Buyer's Guide


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If I had a dollar for all the bad files I have been given, I would be rich. My favorite though is the CMYK tif files that are in PDF files, and need to be spot colors. "But it looks like the spot color, why can't you use it" Ahhh, if I only had a dollar. Me and spot color problems, boy that is at least a few jobs a day.