Re: [WinMac] DTP files [WAS:Re: Desktop Publishing Tools]
Chick Foxgrover(cfoxgrover[at]truenorth.com)
Sat, 20 Mar 1999 18:47:37 -0500
Dan Is absolutely right about this one. At our agency studio we always
demand to see files not just finished work. If you've been in the business
any time at all you'll have seen the horrors Dan mentions and have had to
go through the files to get them to print and we're still out there
reminding folks of the ground rules. Its would be the first sign of a well
run shop to ask to see the files.
> Dear Alex,
>
> So YOU'RE the one who created those files that crashed the RIP at
>deadline!
>
> ... And YOU'RE the one that created a 3 column 60 row price list
>table in
>QX with 180 text boxes, making editing virtually impossible!
>
> ... And YOU'RE the one that inserted a 23 MB TIFF into a document,
>rotated
>it 90 degrees and then cropped out two-thirds of it, causing the proofing
>RIP to choke!
>
> And **I'M** the one that takes the blame when a deadline is missed
>because
>the artist didn't know even the basics of page layout!
>
> ----------------
>
> This sort of reminds me of the joke:
>
> Pat: Do you know what the difference is between a shower curtain and
>toilet paper?
> Mike: No.
> Pat: So YOU'RE the one! :)
>
> ----------------
>
> All kidding aside, I've seen all of the above events... One of them was
>for a major magazine!
>
> Today's RIP's are a lot more "forgiving" than in the past - Both in
>terms
>of accepting "garbage" input as well as CPU "horsepower" to compensate for
>errors; but they can still choke, either bringing on a complete crash, or
>take forever to "grind up" the file into a rasterized image.
>
> THIS is why, as a secondary part of the interview process of an
>artist, I
>always ask them to bring a copy of several of their design files on a
>SyQuest or ZIP drive. Yes, there are literally hundreds of ways to create a
>given page, and most of them will work. But some will not work at all, and
>some others can cause headaches downstream in the prepress process.
>
> I've been called upon at two customers' locations to aid in the
>interviewing process. Granted, I don't have an eye for art (EXCEPT
>typography, which is my hobby). However, I looked at the files to see how
>they were assembled... Not so much whether they are "perfect" but whether
>they are "reasonably usable:"
>
> A) Can they be easily edited;?
>
> B) Do the links to the graphics match up;?
>
> C) Does the file rasterize cleanly, without errors?
>
>-> AND GUESS WHAT?
>
> These rules apply equally for Web page (HTML) as well as Desktop
>Publishing (PostScript®), since the underlying fundamentals are virtually
>identical!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Chick Foxgrover ----- Foote, Cone & Belding
212-885-3735 - cfoxgrover@truenorth.com
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on Sat Mar 20 1999 - 15:49:34 PST
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