There are some prepress issues we see regularly, from simple formatting issues to ensuring all images used are the correct format and sufficient quality to print successfully. Although printers can run prepress checks before printing, using our experts to prepare your files before they go to print is time well spent. You are guaranteed your final print-ready files will sail through production and the final printed copies will look exactly how you expect. With over 30 years experience in all types of print and digital media there’s not much we can’t help with.
Some of the more frequent prepress tasks we are asked to help with:
Reworking/resizing previous books for production. Some publishers have titles set in a particular format, maybe a US or hardback standard size, that they would like to re-size to a standard UK hardback or paperback format. This can be a fairly simple task, or it could involve moving images, running heads, folios and other items to suit the new format.
Extracting copy from PDFs. Sometimes all you have is a PDF. We have years of experience extracting copy and images from supplied PDFs and creating fully editable new titles, that can be reset to match the original or reformatted to suit a new page design.
Checking and adjusting PDF elements. It could be you have been supplied a PDF you’d like to use in one of your titles. Looking at the file on-screen won’t tell you any issues that may occur during printing, but at Falcon we have a prepress checking facility to ensure all elements, such as colour, font usage, image size, etc will print how you expect them to. If there are any issues we will flag them and put them right.
We can also edit your PDFs, removing or adding elements, changing sections of copy and adjusting the layout and colours if required.
Working with and updating old files. Over the years digital typesetting has moved at a steady pace. At Falcon we hold digital files dating back decades, and you can imagine in that time software has moved on considerably. If you have digital files dating back many years that you’d like to re-use, perhaps made up in QuarkXpress or PageMaker, there’s a good chance we will be able to open, edit and prepare them for printing.
Image checking/adjustment and Photoshop editing. When preparing images for print it is vital that they are of sufficiently high quality and in the right format. Often images photographed on a digital device are supplied in RGB format, which is no good for printing, and some at a resolution too small for their intended use. Our prepress procedures ensure that all images supplied are formatted properly and will print well.
We also have extensive in-house photo editing skills and have worked on many images to alter effects, add colour to black and white elements, make minor adjustments or even create completely new images to suit publisher’s particular requirements.
Preparation of print-on-demand publications. Many small publishers have requirements for reduced print runs from time to time. Modern print-on-demand services such as Amazon and Lightning Source offer the flexibility to print very small quantities of a book or even a single book to order.
The difficulty for the publisher can be understanding the printer’s technical data so the artwork is supplied correctly. We have experience of working with several print-on-demand services and preparing our customer’s files so there are no issues and their printed copies are exactly as they hoped they would be.
Whatever your prepress issues, however small or large, we are happy to help. Contact us by email at [email protected] or call on 01580 766001. We will always be able to find a solution to your prepress problem.