tutorial: how to ship files
A very common but very costly mistake in a project’s lifeline occurs the moment the project leaves your hands and ends up in another’s… namely a service provider like a printer or film house.
The cause of most of these problems is poor communication. Throughout your project’s life it has been scrutinised, redesigned, re-written, edited, typeset, illustrated and more. But when a project is passed into new hands it is often done so with little regard to the fact that the recipient will be seeing this job for the first time and will most certainly not know all the facts, parametres, specs and requirements the project has unless you take the time to spell it out.
To avoid incurring extra costs or engaging in rounds of “he said she said” when mistakes are made, try this checklist and the tips that follow when passing on your job to outside hands:
JOB SHIPPING CHECKLIST
- Check your work: Run a spell check, ensure your images are CMYK and of sufficient resolution, convert Pantones to Process if necessary. Taking a moment to ensure everything is fine will save your butt at some point.
- Put everything on disk: Collect your layouts, fonts, proof PDFs, images and art. Include PSD files and a READ ME with notes if your film house needs to do any work.
- Include Printouts: Make sure you have laser prints from every layout on the disk and an approved colour match proof, with Pantone® chips if necessary.
- Include Mockups: Mock up any job that is more than a simple one-sided 8.5 x 11 job. This clarifies what cuts and folds go where and also serves as a final check for you before it ships. Make an extra mockup for you to keep at the same time.
- Write your instructions: Have you re-summarised the job for your supplier? Have you added notes on the lasers of things that are important to you and the job? Are you clear when you need it to be finished? Write it down, and keep copies for yourself.
- Keep copies: Make a copy of what you send to your supplier. Include all notes, mockups and printouts as well as a copy of what was ON the disk (ie copy the disk, keep a separate folder on your hard drive for “shipped” material or burn 2 copies of the disk). That way if there are any questions or if anything is missing you and your supplier can reference EXACTLY the same things and solve problems quickly and efficiently.
- If you FTP: Ship printouts and colour proofs out as soon as you can. If you can’t, then AT THE VERY LEAST have a proof PDF generated and ensure it goes with the FTP’d files as a reference point for your supplier.
NOTES AND DETAILS
1) Include printouts and colour proofs with every job:
Even if you are FTP-ing the files you MUST make printouts of all the files you are sending as a reference point to the recipient (In the case of FTP’d files, ship them by courier immediately as a follow up).
And MOST IMPORTANTLY: make printouts from the disk you are shipping to ensure 2 things…
a) That everything on the disk has a printout and
b) That everything on the disk looks as you intend it to look.
2) Include Mockups:
Does your job fold? Does it have 2 sides? It is multiple pages? Are there dielines? If you answered YES to any of the above then your job envelope needs to include an accurate mockup of the final piece. Print it out on your laser printer, at a smaller size if necessary, and cut, trim and glue it to match the job as closely as possible. Even something as simple as a single fold or 2-sided print needs a mockup… If you do this you have expressed your intention clearly and that is the path to avoiding costly mistakes.
3) Spec your colours with samples:
If your job must match a corporate pantone colour, whether the job is Pantone or CMYK, you must attach the pantone chips to the printouts with instructions to “Match PMS Number___”. Remember though that not all PMS colours can be reproduced in CMYK but adding instructions like these can flag the printer to your intent and he will provide guidance from that point. Please send appropriate Pantone chips as well, send coated chips for reproduction on coated stock. DO NOT send printed samples on different media for your printer to match. For example: sending a PMS colour printed on matte stock with a job being printed in CMYK on coated stock and telling them to “match this colour exactly” will not yield you the results you are looking for from any printer.
4) Write everything down:
- Client: Do not discuss anything with your supplier verbally and then expect it to be remembered weeks later when the job arrives. Provide detailed follow up instructions in writing with the job when you send it.
- Suppliers: Take notes in meetings and if you notice job specs have changed from discussion to realisation, flag it to your client, especially if the changes have affected your quote.
5) Assume the recipient is an idiot:
Now this may seem insulting to some, but when packaging your job and adding notes to the package and instructions, write them in such a way that no one could possibly misunderstand. You may have full confidence in your contact at the print shop but who knows who will be first to open the envelope? Some shops run multiple shifts. Your supplier is NOT an idiot but leave no details to memory or chance, start from scratch and include notes on EVERYTHING… write all over your laser prints if you have to. Provide DETAILED instructions and your part of the job is done.
6) Answer Questions:
Even after all of this your supplier may still have questions. Having worked on both sides of this equation I can say with bafflement that not all agencies like to answer questions from their suppliers. Sometimes it means they have to go back to their clients and perhaps there is an unwillingness to do so. I won’t speculate further here but I will say that how we handle mistakes, problems and crises during a job is as important as sending those invoices at the end of the day.
A FINAL THOUGHT
The best business partners I have had have been my suppliers. I need them, they need me. I berate them on their mistakes and admit my own, I push them only when i need to and they trust me on that. Together we deliver for our clients… having a poor supplier is a nightmare so work with yours, communicate well and your clients need only know they can trust you and your network.
david
May 20th, 2010 at 1:38 am
hi im arriane, i just want to say thank you for this post i really like your blog. keep up the good work
