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Instructor:
Marilyn Hager email: info@mediaresourcepartners.com
Pre-Print Production is a course designed
to send you well-prepared for entry into the world of digital
graphic design.
- Prerequisites
are suggested so that the pre-press information
can be transferred to students who are prepared to create projects
that would be as complete as if you were actually working in
the field. If you don’t know how to use either Pagemaker
or QuarkXPress to quickly design simple pages, Photoshop and
Illustrator or Freehand to create image files, you may spend
too much time figuring out these tasks to adequately focus on
the pre-press process.
- There
will be an emphasis placed on
“good design”, and a
large focus on understanding what steps need to be taken to
create and submit a correct and successful piece for printing.
Some of the students in this class are already professionals
in the field. This will make the class a much richer experience
by giving each person the opportunity to add another bit of
information to solve the pre-print troubleshooting puzzle. I
will encourage the class to be as much of a forum as
possible for sharing our combined understanding on preparation
before trouble arises.
Digital
Pre-Press can be a mysterious process, and sometimes rather
unsettling. This is true because part of the process
is out of your hands (while separators, output bureaus and
printers do their jobs) and the computer doesn't always show you
exactly what you will see once the piece is printed. I intend
to create a forum that will take as much of the mystery and insecurity
out of the process as possible by following troubleshooting
guidelines and pre-press lists to insure that each step is
complete before taking the next one. Each project is a unique
example of anything quirky that might arise in the pre-print process.
It
is very important that you make every effort to attend each class,
every class will contain valuable foundational information. Most
of the factual information can be learned from the suggested book,
but important visual aids will be presented to clarify points
in class. Class time will be given to complete projects, however,
additional time may be needed during lab hours. Please be prepared
to spend some time outside of class, especially on the color projects
near the end of the course.
Overview
- Printing
processes with emphasis on:
The Offset Lithography Printing Process
• film to plate (paper vs. metal)
• sheet fed vs. web
• paper types, usages, quality & expense
• embossing, foil stamping
• collating, binding
• printer spreads, trim marks, registration, trapping
Alternate Printing Processes for proofing
Digital Presses
- Digital
Set-up
Page layout programs (Quark vs. Pagemaker)
• Word Processing for transfer of copy
• Visuals programs (Freehand & Illustrator vs. Photoshop)
• Visuals types & usages (object oriented [eps] vs.
pixel [tiff])
• FPO’s vs. hi-res vs. APR
• Scanning with pre-press in mind
• Photos, transparencies
• Dpi/resolution, generations, line screen
• Color and b&w tone correction
• 1/2-tone, duo-tone, quad-tone
• Dot gain, dot displacement, screens, moiré patterns
- Color/color
models
• PMS/Process (printed reflective)
vs. RGB (backlit from monitor)
• 1, 2-3, 4-color + 5, 6 (process +pms or laminations &
acquious coatings)
• Relationship between color and film/plates
• Monitor calibration vs. matchprint for visuals/ PMS formulas
for type
• Proofing
- Postscripting
• Printer drivers
• Fonts
• Postscript vs True Type
• ATM
• Suitcase
• Flightcheck/Quark preflight troubleshooting
• Prepress work order form from separator
• Media transfer:
• Jazz vs Zip vs CD vs floppy
• Media storage:
• Zip vs Jazz vs CD storage
• Bar codes
- Bidding
a job: Issues and Contractors to Include:
• Design time & materials
• Production costs
• 1-time creative costs
• Separations
• Bar Codes (books and retail products)
• CIP data (books)
• Photographs/Transparencies/Model fees/Stock photos
• Scans/Photo CD
• Fonts
• Clip Art
• Printing cost
• Paper
• Size
• Colors (plates)
• Binding
• Folding
• Discounts for quantity
• Separators (local vs. national vs. international)
• Printers (local vs. national vs. international)
• Photographers
Recommended
Reading
Information
set forth in this class has been gleaned from a variety of the
following sources. I recommend that you examine each book and
think about purchasing it for yourself.
Pathways
to Print Series by Robin McAllister, Delmar Publisher Inc.
Albany, NY, ©1997.ISBN: 0-8273-7917-X.
Digital
Prepress Complete, by Donnie O’Quinn, Hayden Books, ISBN
1568303289, $55.00, available and ships in 24 hours from Amazon.com
Understanding Desktop Color, Michael Kieran, Peachpit Press,
ISBN 1-56609-164-0, $32.45
Pocket Guide to Color with Digital Applications, Thomas
E. Schildgen, Delmar Pub, ISBN 082737981, $16.95, available and
ships in 24 hours from Amazon.com
Pocket Guide to Digital Prepress, Frank J. Romero, Van
Nostrand Reinhold, ISBN: 0827371985, $16.95, available and ships
in 24 hours from Amazon.com
Pocket Guide to Digital Printing, by Frank Cost, ISBN:
0827375921, $16.95, available and ships in 24 hours from Amazon.com
On-Demand Printing: The Revolution in Digital and Customized
Printing (Prentice Hall Ptr Professional Graphics Series)
by Howard M Fenton and Frank J. Romano, ISBN: 0130964247, $64.99,
available and ships in 24 hours from Amazon.com
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