Production

FILE CHECKLISTS

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Typographic Management

Spell and grammar check, dictionary spell check also, proofread

Use ligatures [example: Find and Replace fi with fi ligatures (shift + option + 5)]

Use Alternative Characters [cidillas, tildes, etc. when appropriate, façade (option c + c) neño (option + n)]

(System Preferences>>international>>Input Menu>> check character palette and keyboard viewer, then go to the U.S. flag in the menu bar & select

Show Keyboard Viewer, holding down the shift and shift + option keys will reveal the alternative character map of your keyboard for your chosen font)

(Illustrator Glyphs window>>double click your choice)

Find and Replace double spaces with single spaces between sentences

Use correct dashes:     Hyphen, only hyphenated words (directly from keyboard) –

En dash, between durations of time (option + dash) –

Em dash, everything else (shift + option + dash) —

Correct Typographer’s or curly quotes and apostrophe’s set as a preference

or (shift + option + open or close bracket)

Use Smart Punctuation from under the Type menu to correctly format many variables at  once

If using a large Initial Cap letter then you must use some form

of Diminuindo following it.

Line length (measure) is between 40 – 60 characters or

between 1 1/2 to 2 alphabets in length of your chosen font

Kern Display type (headings, subheadings)

Kern around dashes, figures (numbers)

Avoid or eliminate Typographic Widows

Use no more than two typeface families on any one design,

not counting identity marks/typefaces.

Use typographic variables to create forms of emphasis, indicate hierarchy, and

vary typographic color.

Convert display type to outlines.

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Image Management (bitmaps)

Edit in RGB color space, export images for inkjet print (here at school or your own personal printer) also in RGB, but for professional printing to a press change the color mode to CMYK

72 ppi for images used on screen only (web and CD ROM)

Find out screen resolution from your printer early in the process to determine the correct dpi for images going to print (300dpi would be average)

Avoid using JPEG images for print, use higher quality TIFF files instead

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Graphics Management (vector)

Avoid creating colors from the transparency or opacity window if possible. Instead create tints or spot colors.

Create spot colors from the Pantone system matching the type of paper to be used (coated or uncoated)

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Layout Management

Use character and Paragraph Styles

Use Master pages for elements such as pagination & folio

Place or Import files and manage them through the links window rather than copy and pasting them

Grid is determined by leading of text type (change in preferences)

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File Management

Label or name files clearly and descriptively.

Clearly indicate the latest or newest version of your project file. (space, option + asterisk in front of file name) This will make this file the first one in the list. Give it a color label (Desktop Menu Bar>>File>>Color Label)

Group all related or linked files together in the same folder

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Pre-Press File Preparation

Color space of all linked images should be in CMYK

Check correct resolution

Proofread all text

Flatten layers for import from Photoshop

save file under a new name and keep unflattened file also

Set rastor transparency settings on high (Illustrator)

Flatten layers and transparency in Illustrator,

save file under a new name and keep unflattened file also

Proof color separations from laserjet prints

Preflight and Package from inDesign or save as PDF for print

Set PDF settings according to your printer’s requirements before saving as PDF

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