Steps to Printing
1 The artwork for your job is ready, so print to a local laser printer to create a hard copy for the printer to work from
2 Close your application and copy all used files to a disk
3 Fill out an order form
4 Bundle everything up and call a courier
5 Courier Arrives and picks up Job
6 Courier Delivers Job
7 The Printer calls, the font you gave him is corrupt
8 Attach font to an email and send it to him
9 Printer calls, has font and it is working
10 Leave office to go and view Proof
11 Arrive at Printer's to see the proof
12 Look at proof, Approved
13 Are we on deadline? No the font problem caused delays job will be ready day after tomorrow
14 Come back day after tomorrow pick up job
The Solutions
As you can see this is no small problem and as Desktop Publishing comes of age in its 21st year it is appropriate that this technology becomes mature enough to plug this gaping hole.
There are three main ways to solve this problem, the first answer is the oldest and a cure, not prevention, that checks the PDF after it is created and alerts you to any potential problems, two later solutions are prevention and involve controlling the way the PDF is created.
The good news is that there is much time and money to be saved,
The better news is that the two latest methods for artwork delivery are:
- easier for you, your staff and / or your Graphic Designer
- faster
- more convenient
- much more reliable
- cheaper
- provide more feedback
- and give you more control