Pre-Flight Instructions

The mission of a good file pre-flight starts with our customers. The investment in making sure files are clean and accurate at the very beginning of the print process, before you submit your files, can minimize any unforeseen occurrences that can cause delay and extra costs downstream.

Here are some pre-flight tips you should do BEFORE files are submitted.

Customer Pre-Flight Checklist for PDF Files

If you are supplying PDF files, trust Adobe Acrobat to do the work.

Pre-flight for PDF files should be done using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or 7.0 Professional or Pitstop

  • After making your PDF’s, run PDF X-1a compliancy filters to see if your PDF’s pass Acrobats inspection of the file. If Acrobat says your files are compliant, you're ready to upload files.
  • Always soft proof the PDF’s to make sure there are no obvious blunders with the file layout.
  • Hard copy should be made from your PDF file.

Customer Pre-Flight Checklist from Native Files

If you are supplying native files, have you checked to make sure Rogers Printing Inc. can support your file format?

RPI supports the latest versions and older versions in both Mac and PC applications:

  • QuarkXPress
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Pagemaker
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Corel Draw

Have you supplied all of your fonts?

  • Include all screen and printer fonts in separate file folders.
  • DO NOT make software enhancements to obtain bold or italic versions of a font.
  • Always use a specific bold or italic version of the font you have chosen.

Have you included all of your images?

  • All images, digital or scanned, should be saved at no less than 300 dpi.
  • Confirm that all images in the native file are properly linked to their supporting image files and have been updated.
  • Images should be saved as a TIFF, EPS, or JPEG.
  • All images should be saved in CMYK for color images or Grayscale for black & white images.
  • Convert images saved as RGB to CMYK.
  • Images in the native file should be scaled at 100% or less. Images scaled higher than 100% may become pixilated and may not print as expected.

Do you have a proper bleed on your pages?

  • All files should include 1/8” bleed for any graphic or image that bleeds off the page.
  • All files with more than 64 pages should include 1/4" bleeds.

If you have QuarkXPress or InDesign do the following pre-flight procedures.

QuarkXPress

  • Choose File > Collect for Output.
  • Choose Save and in the next dialog box, make sure “Report Only” is unchecked and the other boxes (Layout, Linked Pictures, Embedded Pictures, Color Profiles, Screen Fonts, Printer Fonts) are checked.

Adobe InDesign

  • Choose File > Preflight to confirm that all files and fonts are properly linked and that there are no problems detected in your file.
  • Click on “Package” at the bottom of the Preflight dialog box and fill in the appropriate instructions.
  • In the next dialog box confirm that the boxes beside Copy Fonts, Copy Linked Graphics and Update Graphic Links are checked.

If you need help.

If you have any questions or concerns or require technical support, please contact Brent Kantola at BKantola@RPImail.net or call 800-622-5591.