Before you submit your job to the printer,
make sure you're prepared to send your files.
Double-check your work, in fact double-check again.
Now your fundamental preparations should already have been made before you
get ready to submit the job, but think about things like this.
Make sure that you build to the correct final trim size, and be sure to add
bleed if you have any artwork or images that go to the edge of the page.
And when
you're working on a complex job, sometimes it's easy to overlook the basics.
Check your spelling, make sure your swatches are the correct color space.
If they're supposed to be spot, make sure they're spot.
If they're not, make sure you've converted them to process.
Make sure that all your fonts are active and you don't
have any missing fonts when you go to submit your job.
Organize your files.
Now that's not just for the printer, it
also helps you, especially again on a complex
job, when you're trying to keep track of all those pieces that constitute the job.
All those little bits of artwork and so forth.
And be sure to read the printer's specifications.
Not all printers want jobs submitted the same way.
Work flows differ from printer to printer.
Make sure you understand what they need. So be sure to follow those specifications.
And understand the schedule.
The schedule doesn't consist just of you submitting your files.
There are all sorts of processes that take place and you
have to make sure that they happen at the right time.
If you're late submitting your files, that job's going to be late.
You are going to miss your deadline.
That means the printer misses his deadline.
So, there are a lot of moving parts to a print job.
So, make sure that you keep up your end of
things, and you don't delay any part of the process.
There's no such thing as too much communication.
Make sure you know
who your appropriate contacts are.
Now your initial contact is probably going to the sales person.
But once the job is in process, the person you're going to
speak to more frequently is the customer service rep, or CSR.
And don't be afraid to ask questions.
I promise you, printers appreciate clients who ask questions.
They'd much rather have somebody ask a question up front if they're unsure how
to handle a part of a job than to have something become a problem much
later in the process, when it's much harder to fix.