Moving to a PDF workflow can reduce your headaches, improve your speed and accuracy and keep customers happy.
By Mike Renn
Suffering the pain of file conversion? A fast-acting PDF workflow can help.
Adobe Portable Document Format files save time and money, while increasing customer satisfaction. These tiny, encapsulated files are aspirin to the headaches of accurately reproducing client files created in different programs, versions and platforms.
In the not so good old days, electronic print request files would show up in the overnight mail. We would hope—no, actually pray—they would open properly. This was providing they were created in a program our prepress unit could accept. If not, we were forced to turn down the request, or deal with a service bureau. If we had the program, we'd need it in the right version. If not, we'd have to ask the client to "save down" the file to the version we had.
Even the right program and version weren't a trouble-free guarantee. What if the program application was in a different platform? Compatibility became an issue. In the most ideal program and platform situations we'd still have to pre-flight the files to make sure all fonts, graphics and photos were included.
The files would bounce back and forth between the in-plant and the client. You could almost hear the frustrated grunts from both sides as the files were slapped back like ping pong balls.
Valuable production time eroded. Deadlines became more nerve-wracking. The overnight mail service was the only happy participant.
Our publishing operation started buying software like collectibles. Once you started you couldn't stop…QuarkXpress, InDesign, PageMaker, Illustrator—name the version we had it. Fonts stacked up. Operating systems were loaded. When PDF software was first announced our group thought it was going to be another versional fiend to add to the collection.
Familiar Format
Wouldn't it be great to be recognized no matter where you showed up? A PDF has this familiarity. It is quickly recognized by different platform workstations, RIPs and printers and is happily waved to the front of the line.
Using Adobe Acrobat, the details of large files from other programs can be captured and condensed for reproduction. This is as simple to use as a Lewis Carroll potion. With PDFs the client and printer don't have to worry about shifting formats, funky fonts or roving decimal points.
PDFs Eliminate File Collection
Mildred Rondon, desktop publishing manager for Dreyfus, in New York, appreciates the advantages offered by PDF files.
"We do use PDF technology to print all of our reports, prospectuses and stickers. The PDFs used are print-quality, high-resolution with a dpi of 2,400," Rondon says. "All of our print files are in QuarkXpress, but we create the PDFs through the distiller setting in Acrobat Standard 7. The advantage to using PDFs is that there's no need to collect files for output. This means that we don't need to send the printer any fonts, artwork, graphics, etc. thus making the files much smaller."
Much to the dismay of the overnight mail services, the need for many of those bloated files is gone. Reduced to PDFs, they are able to travel as e-mail attachments.
"A PDF is much easier to e-mail than large files that may crash the receiver's e-mail," says Rondon. "In addition, fonts are embedded into the PDF file so it ensures the file will print properly."
Time and money are saved when files show up ready to print. Normally that might be enough, but PDFs prove to save more.
Proof in the PDF
Nancy Hagerty, senior graphic designer for Mellon Financial, in Philadelphia, endorses the proofing capabilities of PDF files.
"My main use for PDFs is for proofing. It is a quick and reliable format and seems to be pretty much universal. Whether they are on a Mac or PC, the client can get a quick preview of their work before we print it," Hagerty says. "It is almost instantaneous, especially when a job has multiple changes within the hour. I can send a new one every time they make a change."
"It speeds up the proofing process," she continues. "Once we get to a final version, however, I usually suggest to the client a hard copy proof via mail before printing."
Hagerty tempers her enthusiasm with caution on the subjective properties of PDFs.
"The only drawback to PDF proofing is it is meant to be viewed on the screen, and every screen is calibrated different. It may not print the way the client views the file," Hagerty says. "The color may come close to the actual printed product but can't be relied on for being 'dead-on.' It is always better to do a hard copy proof before printing on press. However, for quick, simple and especially rush jobs that don't allow time to overnight a hard copy proof, the PDF is the way to go."
The Next Level
Elaine Piccone, manager of Graphic Arts at Mellon New England, in Boston, tells how PDF proofing is going to the next level. It is no longer just the proof, but also the product.
"Every proof we send out is a PDF," says Piccone. "Much of our print work has been alleviated due to more and more people e-mailing out newsletters, invitations and press releases in PDF format."
Here at our in-plant, having the ability to accept, proof and print from PDFs has helped our business grow. We use PDF technology to process almost all of our digital print requests and we are now looking at replacing our imagesetter with a computer-to-plate system that will separate PDFs into CYMK for offset production.
The only side effect from taking PDF files is success.