Prepress Bloopers
Though major printers now utilize systems that handle trapping, your pages might contain elements that require additional attention.
Incorrect traps add time and money to the production cycle, so discuss trapping with your printer early in a title's production, preferably during the design phase.
After-design trapping requires complicated and pricey "reverse design" of pages to analyze document structure, and trap elements accurately.
FIRE FIGHTING
The simplest way to assure smooth prepress production is to avoid panic situations by planning ahead.
Work with your printer to develop a schedule that meets your needs, and stick to it! Allow enough time for file testing, plan on an unhurried review of proofs, and build in adequate opportunities for editorial revisions.
The time you spend organizing and reviewing your projects up front will reap big rewards during production, on press, and beyond.
-Marcia Lerner
Marcia Lerner is a manager of solutions development for R.R. Donnelley's
Book Publishing Services Solutions, in New York. Her responsibilities
include project management, workflow analysis, and communications that
support the publishing arts. She has twenty-five years of industry
experience.
