Ok, you have received a Proof. What next? Below is checklist of items which you should be doing or looking for:
- If the proof is sent by email i.e. PDF Proof, then print it out on your laser printer and then proof read it, rather than proofing on the screen. There is lesser distractions and it is much easier to proof.
- Involve a friend, colleague or family member to go through the proof also. A second pair of eyes always help and you will be surprised what he or she finds which you completely missed out.
- Do not rush it. Usually mistakes are made when you rush. Unless this is a rush print job where you need to send the approval ASAP, take your time to proof read it. Do it second time after few hours just to make sure everything is correct.
- Check to make sure the Phone Numbers, Name, Address, Email and Website are correct.
- We do NOT check for spelling or grammatical errors in your file. So you have to make sure that your content is correct.
- If you had used transparent object, like drop shadows, special text effects etc. then make sure to check the PDF very carefully. 90% of issues are because of this reason. Now days PDF files can be generated by almost any application for e.g. Microsoft Word, Power Point, Adobe CS 1 to 6 Suite and many more. All of them generate PDF in their own way. To make sure they get printed properly we have to process your PDF file through our preflighting workflow software which makes sure that the PDF is at a certain standard and will print properly. But not everything gets handled the way it should and the PDF you generated on your computer and the one we preflighted may be different. So it always a good idea to check the file to make sure all the graphic elements, special text effects and other artwork are showing up in your Proof.
- Position & Placement (for e.g. No text is getting cut, or nothing is very close to the edge of the paper)
- Pagination (e.g. - for multi-page documents, like booklets or prefect bounded book we provide a digitally printed hard copy mockup as it is very important to see how the pages look after it has been bounded.)
- Low Resolution images (on the screen it will look fine, but when printed they will look pixilated, due to the fact screen is 72 dpi vs print is 300 dpi)
- Borders and Margins: Make sure they look even all around
- Check your file to make sure there is no text or critical art very close to the edge of the paper. There maybe a chance of that getting cut off.
- Color Critical: This is one of the hardest thing to do for any printer. If your job is color critical then you need to discuss that with us. We print to industry standard and none of our Proofing methods guarantee any kind of color accuracy. We print to Gracol G7 Standard, but colors depend on various things - Paper, Printing Process and more. If your job is extremely color cricital give us a call and discuss what are the options.
- If this is version 1 of whatever you are ordering, go for a small quantity. That way even if you missed something once you get the completed job, you can change and then place the big order.
- And finally if you have done your Proof Review make sure to Approve or Reject the Proof. If this is a Online PDF Proof then you can do that online. If it is a Hard Copy Proof then follow the steps mentioned in the document when you received the Proof.
Article ID: 338, Created: 12/21/2012 at 3:46 PM, Modified: 12/21/2012 at 5:24 PM