Get Smart
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM
Tools for print & media buyers
‘Helvetica: The Movie’
It's the feel-good font film of the year! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kern! The DVD includes the full 80-minute feature film, plus over 90 minutes of additional interviews with Massimo Vignelli, Matthew Carter, Erik Spiekermann, Hermann Zapf and more.
See www.helveticafilm.com/shop.html
Outstanding in the field
Monadnock Paper Mills (Bennington, NH) has published the second edition of “A Field Guide: Eco-Friendly, Efficient and Effective Print.” The guide is printed on Monadnock's Astrolite PC 100, a 100 percent uncoated post-consumer fiber, process chlorine-free, archival quality paper.
New information includes a full chapter dedicated to packaging, an expanded section on energy and emissions, and an overview of the various environmental programs, logos, and mill terminology.
See www.mpm.com/info.
Is your PDF ready to print?
What makes a PDF file print-perfect? Ideally, the application used to create the original layout should be true design software, such as InDesign or QuarkXPress. “All too often, content creators use a product like Microsoft Word as a layout application,” says PIA/GATF's Julie Schaffer. “This is like baking a ‘mock’ apple pie with Ritz Crackers and expecting it to taste exactly like a pie made with real apples. Word is not a graphic design application; it is a word processor! As anyone who has submitted (or received) a Word document for print output knows, the text in the document has a good chance of reflowing once the document is opened.”
Avoiding text reflow woes
Shaffer explains that Microsoft Word obtains font metrics from the operating system based on the resolution/characteristics of the target output device, not from the device — and resolution — independent font metrics. So when you create a Word document with your desktop printer set up as the default, the text in the file is set up to output at that printer's resolution, usually 600 dpi. If you change the target output device to another printer with a different resolution (like your 2,400-dpi CTP engine), or even to the Adobe PDF/Distiller virtual printer, and the text flow is very likely to change, as well.
Shaffer's free article, “The Best PDFs,” is available at www.americanprinter.com.
‘Pocket Pal’ is better than ever
“Pocket Pal,” the handy guide to print production, is now in its 20th edition. RIT's Frank Romano has updated all sections of the book, with a particular emphasis on the major trends in digital printing and PDF workflows.
First published 75 years ago, it includes:
- The history and evolution of printing.
- Overview of all major printing processes.
- Prepress basics such as typography, copy and art preparation, imaging for graphic arts, image assembly and imposition, digital prepress and plate-making.
- Digital presses, printing inks and statistical process control.
- Postpress techniques including folding, perfect binding and saddlestitching.
- Paper manufacturing, characteristics, grades and more.
See www.ippocketpal.com.
Do you have certifiable skills?
Founded in 1915, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is the largest supply management association in the world. ISM administers Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM), a professional designation program. Established in 1974, it is the first nationally accepted standard of competence and knowledge for the purchasing and supply management field.
See www.ism.ws.
Take a letter
Mohawk's new Web site for Strathmore Writing and Strathmore Script lets users build a spec sheet, order paper and envelope samples, and get the latest mill promotions with a few clicks. Another tool allows credit card orders of small quantities of paper and envelopes.
See www.strathmore.com.
