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Publishing Hints Begin by starting at the end. Who are the intended readers of the book? Will they be an inner circle of friends or anyone worldwide that may be interested in the subject? Is it meant to be a promotional piece, or will the book be for sale? How will the book be distributed? Through a national book distributor or perhaps through an internet web site? How will you promote and market the book? Networking with friends and colleagues, direct mail or advertising in magazines may work best, depending on your subject matter. There can be many factors, driving forces and motivations behind publishing a book. Before you begin, learn the process by talking to colleagues and experts in the business. One excellent resource is "The Complete Guide to Self Publishing" by Tom and Marilyn Ross. This 400 plus page publication covers almost every aspect of book publishing and is an invaluable tool. Customer Service Communication is essential. At Prepress, Inc., we have gained the trust of many publishers, art directors and designers. Our customers have come to expect the highest quality and service from our facility. We invest in the newest technology in order to make innovations in printing accessible for our clients. Our staff is experienced from start to finish with any project you may have in mind. If you have any questions or concerns regarding direct to plate technology, or any of the many services we offer, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the newest trends in printing. The preflight process is the first of many steps to ensure a successful project. Our technicians are well versed in today’s standard applications. We can guarantee your job will benefit from our process of thoroughly examining your digital files and making sure you are satisfied with the final product. Here is a short check list of items we look for when preflighting your files:
As your service provider, it is our job to look for conflicts and adjust your files to make certain your job runs smoothly. Let our experts help with your next project. Whether your precious vintage photos and hand written copy are all stuffed inside an old shoebox, or you have everything nicely set up in a Microsoft word file, or you are providing a print ready PDF document...we can help design and layout your book. Call or email our customer service at The combination of our state-of-the-art laser drum scanners with our highly skilled technicians give us the ability to produce some of the best color reproduction in the industry. We utilize LAB, RGB and CMYK workflows depending on our customer’s needs. 16-bit LAB and RGB scanning allows repurposing of images for recording to photographic film, placing on the Internet or even 6-color Hexachrome posters. In order to bridge the gap between a complete computer to plate workflow and clients still furnishing film ads, Prepress offers copy dot scanning service. Your film ads are scanned and saved into a separated copy-dot file. Your scanned files are now in a digital format and can be imaged directly onto printing plates. The descreening function also enables us to edit and repurpose images. Call us to see how this may help with your special project. Color Retouching/Image Construction Prepress Assembly specializes in color retouching and image construction. Open communication with our clients have yielded beautiful printed results. Technical expertise in the discipline of color management is our key. But nothing is as important in this endeavor as color communication between the client and our knowledgeable color experts. We make sure to understand your specifications as it pertains to your printing needs. Image construction encompasses a wide range of techniques our expert operators have learned over the years. Whether combining images, creating special effects or creating masks for retouching, we do it all. Our digital photography service is great for product photography. We work in our studio or on location with our customers. Digital photography bypasses the scanning process and clients can benefit from faster turnaround times using this workflow. In combination with our color management system, the results are excellent and the savings substantial. One of the most critical aspects of working with color is the communication between us and our clients. Personally going over contract digital matchprint proofs with the client prior to any color work has proven to be the best solution. Color is subjective. The dialog used to discuss color can sometimes have several connotations, which if misinterpreted can lead to unexpected results. Recently, our industry has seen a lot of research and development to simplify, streamline and provide more color control for color management. These new procedures have become more complex than the traditional methods. Our advice is to consult with an experienced color house such as Prepress Assembly when setting up color controls for your specific environment. The computer-to-plate technology bypasses the process of traditional stripping and film output. This workflow requires substantial investment in digital plate imaging equipment. The typical CTP system includes computer stations, applicable software, a digital proofing device, a raster image processor (RIP), a plate imaging device, and a platesetter processor. The printed quality is vastly improved due to the plates directly imaged in this process. Images output from film are considered second generation images, where images created through the direct to plate process are equal to first generation and therefore have more clarity and higher quality. With this workflow preflighting and proper file management are essential to a trouble free job. With our computer-to-plate setting equipment, we provide our customers with the advantages of a modern digital workflow. Bay Area printers without CTP in-house, now have the option of a computer-to-plate workflow. These printers have been certified by our company to run digital plates from our Creo Trendsetter Platesetting equipment. Go to www.prepress.com for the most updated names and addresses of printers that are CTP Certified. With our printing services, we can manage your entire printing project. We coordinate all aspects including the delivery of plates and paper stock to the printer, bindery work, ware- housing and delivery of the final printed pieces. In 1994 Adobe developed the PDF file format that preserves fonts, formatting colors, images and graphics into one file. These files are compact and accessible with the use of Acrobat Reader. Postscript files can be processed through the Acrobat Distiller to create PDFfiles. Our digital workflow utilizes this PDF format. We utilize an industrial strength version of the digital PDF workflow called Prinergy, which was jointly developed by Creo and Heidelberg. The PDF composite workflow includes the following process: • Embedding fonts and graphics Stochastic Proofing and Plating Traditionally printers reproduce images with halftone screening. Images are converted into small dots which are arranged in a grid pattern. Color and grayscale images are adjusted by changing the size of the dot within the grid. From a distance, the dots in the grid pattern simulate a continuous tone. This process is called Amplitude Modulated (AM) screening. But detail is sacrificed with this form of reproduction. As a by-product of the process, unexpected artifacts may occur such as a moiré pattern. In order to eliminate this Prepress Assembly offers Stochastic screening. Frequency Modulation (FM) as it is also known, was developed to simulate tones and color. In FM screening, the dots keep their size and the number of dots in a given area are varied. Rather than placing the dots in a grid pattern, the dots are randomly placed avoiding all the unwanted problems created using the AM screening method. Short Run Digital Printing Services and ePressBooks With our new Canon 7000 digital press, Prepress, Inc. is now equipped to print short run projects directly in house. Jobs include business cards, postcards, brochures and direct mail pieces. We also recently started another division of our company called ePressBooks. Currently we can print short run books anywhere from 5 to 500 copies. The number of pages can vary from 8 to over 300 and depending on the paper thickness, can be saddle-stitched, wire-o bound or perfect bound. Our Digital Press produces beautiful saturated colors and in many cases equal to or better than conventional offset printing. Editorial, proofreading, production and design services are also available. We produce a vast array of products including memory books, art and photograhy books, cookbooks, poetry books, manuals and prototypes. Show us your creation and let us help you bring it to market. Be sure to visit our new web site “www.epressbooks.com” for the latest updated information. If your job is a few thousand copies or more and you would like our assistance, we can produce your entire project from prepress to print to bindery. We coordinate every stage from plate delivery to ordering stock and then outsourcing the printing, binding and mailing. Most of these jobs are produced locally. For years we have had the opportunity to work with printers throughout the United States due to our experience producing magazines and catalogs. We can assist you when selecting the best web printer for your next project. Our services include consulting, obtaining quotes and going on press checks. For case bound books, packaging and other products quite often the cost savings to print overseas is undeniable. Prepress now has established relationships with several printers in Southern China. The printing quality in China is world class. Many facilities are ISO Certified and receive excellence in printing awards. Call us for more information about printing overseas.
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