Advice for Avoiding the Pitfalls of Proofing

Proofing is a vital step in the process of creating your project, no matter whether it is a small business card, a large catalog, or something in between. When should proofing occur, who should be doing the proofing, and what are some key areas to focus on?

First of all, the best time to proof is before your job is submitted to the printer. Catching errors before the project moves too far along in the production process is ideal. The next opportunity for proofing is when we ask you to review and sign off on the prepress proof. This proof comes in the form of a PDF, laser proof, digital output, or Epson color proof, depending on your project.

It is often good to have two people proofing a project, especially if you are proofing your own work. The best person to proof is someone who is detail oriented and who has not been working too closely with the project. Anyone who gets too close to a project can easily fail to notice glaring mistakes or omissions in a document.

We, too, examine your project before supplying you with a prepress proof. We like to cross-reference our proof against a laser proof or PDF of your original document, to watch for anything “lost in translation” from your computer to ours (i.e., text reflow, font replacement, layout shift).

Oftentimes, it is only after you’ve had some distance from the project and are reviewing a prepress proof that you notice minor corrections that need to be made to your original document. It is usually best for us to make these changes, rather than you submitting a whole new original file. We do not charge for minor AA’s. (See “PrinterSpeak” for a definition.)

Common areas to watch out for typographical errors (e.g., spelling, punctuation, grammar, accuracy) include:photo captions, headlines, website addresses (URLs), telephone numbers, and names. Also, be sure to inspect the prepress proof for: font discrepancies, layout shifts, text reflow, missing images or graphics, proper folding, and any and all changes made to earlier proofs.

In general, your three options after reviewing a prepress proof are (1) approved as is, no other proof required, please go to press, (2) approved with changes indicated, no other proof required, please go to press, or (3) another proof required with corrections and/ or changes as noted.

For further guidance on proofs, please see our archived newsletters for: “Folding Dummies Can Be a Project Lifesaver” (Summer 2008) and “What is a Press Check and When is It Needed” (Summer 2009).

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