In the past years PDF has become the standard file format in the printing industry. A PDF can be created through most design software suites. If not, you can use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Distiller to convert your file to PDF. There are also many inexpensive applications available today to create PDF files. By using PDF we eliminate the risk of embedded fonts, overly compressed images, missing picture links and many other issues. At Integrated Design Solutions we highly recommend you to consider PDF as your preferred file format.

Even though we work with Ms. Publisher files as well as other Microsoft applications we do not recommend using them. Publisher is simply not a professional design software. Among other issues, it has low-quality JPG compression, text outputs as "4 color black" which can lead to misregistration, and its files take a long time to rip.

Choosing the type of font to work with is the first step in making sure the type on your pages displays and prints correctly. The two main font standards are PostScript Type 1 and TrueType. Competing font standards make selecting fonts an important decision: the same typeface design maybe available in a PostScript font and a TrueType font. The visual characteristics of one font standard differ slightly from another. Because of this difference, using one type of font for displaying and proofing your work and then using a different font for printing can cause unpleasant surprises like different letter spacing and line endings. PostScript fonts are the industry standard for imaging to any PostScript output device. PostScript fonts are PostScript language-based outlines—object-oriented vector graphics—that can be scaled to any size, and still remain sharp and smooth on any platform, or output device.

TrueType fonts work well with non-PostScript and PostScript output devices. The disadvantage of using TrueType fonts when printing to a PostScript printer is that the font must be converted to a PostScript outline; the quality of the resulting font depends on the quality of the conversion. TrueType fonts retain their quality when scaled, but may not support all typographical features available for example in PageMaker. Important: Use the specific weight or style of the font instead of assigning the weight or style through the character style menu to avoid inconsistencies when submitting fonts and also when printing.

Most layout applications, like Adobe InDesign or QuarkXpress, organize projects in Document-Picture Links-Fonts. The Document is the main file that the application creates, it's often called the native file. Every time a user imports or places a picture in the document the program creates a "link" to it. That's why it's very important to keep your pictures organized in folders and to use naming conventions so when you submit your files to the printing company, there won't be "missing links". NEVER change the location of your folders or files before burning a CD: it "breaks" the links.
All the fonts that you use in your documents are installed in your system, but not all of them will be installed in the printing company's system.

You must include all the fonts and pictures used when you submit a job to a commercial printer. At Integrated Design Solutions we recommend you to use "convert font to outlines" (for some applications is paths or curves instead of outlines) to avoid font issues, but remember: after converting the fonts to outlines you won't be able to edit the text anymore, so ALWAYS save a copy of the file before doing this. Important: Empty text boxes will also ask for a font when the file is opened on the printer's computer so make sure to check for empty text boxes.

Paper is produced by the amalgamation of fibers, typically vegetable fibers composed of cellulose, which are subsequently held together by hydrogen bonding. While the fibers are usually natural in origin, a wide variety of synthetic fibers may be incorporated into paper as a way of imparting desirable physical properties. The most common source of these kinds of fibers is wood pulp from pulpwood trees. Vegetable fiber materials such as cotton, hemp, linen, and rice are also used.

Paper is often characterized by weight. The weight assigned to a paper is the weight of a ream, 500 sheets, of varying "basic sizes", before the paper is cut into the size it is sold to end customers. For example, a ream of 20 lb, 8½ x 11" paper weighs 5 pounds, because it has been cut from a larger sheet into four pieces. In the United States, printing paper is generally 20 lb, 24 lb, or 32 lb at most. Cover stock is generally 68 lb, and 110 lb or more is considered card stock.

Coated paper is paper which has been coated by an inorganic compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight and surface gloss, smoothness or ink absorbency and usually to protect it from uv-light.
Important: Know what paper you will print on when creating your file. Paper affects the way colors look. There is a big difference in color between coated an uncoated paper.