LeftBrain Artist
05-08-2007, 06:22 PM
Cuz stupid is on the rise.
I submitted a job to a printer I've never worked with before - they're working directly with my client. So I contacted them and asked them if a press ready pdf would be OK, or if they would prefer original InDesign files with linked images and fonts. They said eps would be preferred, to which I responded, "so if I just rasterize the layout to 300 dpi we'll be OK"? Yes, they said. Oh, and its a notepad with a front and back cover on a plain CMYK green background, so I asked "would you like me to set it up as it should be for print (one continous signature that has a fold in the middle), and if so what is the thickness of the spine"? I'm then told not to worry about the spine, they can just expand the artwork I supply as needed. Fine, I setup the file as a contiguous signature and place the photoshop eps into a .zip archive and email to the printer. This was 6 days ago.
So yesterday I'm out at a meeting all day, and get back to an URGENT email - the printer needs a version of the file with the fonts converted to outlines - they need it ASAP so they can get it on press.
Ummm. What?! Hello McFly? Is there anyone there? Its a RASTER file. There are NO fonts to convert, its all PIXELS? So I count to 10 and turn myself back from purple to my normal pasty complexion. I'm ready to excercise my diplomatic skills. I call the printer and it goes something like this:
Me: "Hi, I hear there's a problem with the file I sent you, I just wanted to touch base and make sure I really need to..."
Her: "The factory says they need the fonts converted to outlines."
Me: ".. uh, yeah, I got that; you see . . ."
Her: "it has to be eps, I couldn't open the file you sent."
Ok, now the purple is rapidly rising up past my waist
Me: "the file I sent was a raster file, so there's really no fonts to convert..."
Her: "I dont know anything about raster, can you send a new file with the fonts converted to outlines? And make sure its eps."
Now I know for sure I'm dealing with a moron. I don't care if you are just a brokerage firm or middle man, if your selling print, shouldn't you have some idea of what your selling. Even the girl at McDonalds knows hamburgers are round. I should be talking to the person who is going to be actually working with my file.
Me: "Can I talk to the person who is actually going to be working with the file, or can't you tell me"? (I know these brokerage firms love to shroud their vendors in veils of secrecy.
Her: "No, we can't give out that information"
Me: "OK, I'll get you an eps file with the fonts converted to outlines, what version of Illustrator do you want?"
Her: "Ummm, let me get back to you"
So, she calls back and says version 8. Yeeeaaaahhh. So I embed the raster in an Illy file and export it to eps version 8 and send the raw file via email. Of course, the guys at the "factory" wont actually be working on it until later in the night, so she couldn't say if that was actually OK. I haven't heard back from her yet so I'm assuming no news is good news. But still, how ridiculous is that. I'm betting that I get a SUPER URGENT email on Friday from them saying that there's no spine accounted for in the file.
Frustrating
I submitted a job to a printer I've never worked with before - they're working directly with my client. So I contacted them and asked them if a press ready pdf would be OK, or if they would prefer original InDesign files with linked images and fonts. They said eps would be preferred, to which I responded, "so if I just rasterize the layout to 300 dpi we'll be OK"? Yes, they said. Oh, and its a notepad with a front and back cover on a plain CMYK green background, so I asked "would you like me to set it up as it should be for print (one continous signature that has a fold in the middle), and if so what is the thickness of the spine"? I'm then told not to worry about the spine, they can just expand the artwork I supply as needed. Fine, I setup the file as a contiguous signature and place the photoshop eps into a .zip archive and email to the printer. This was 6 days ago.
So yesterday I'm out at a meeting all day, and get back to an URGENT email - the printer needs a version of the file with the fonts converted to outlines - they need it ASAP so they can get it on press.
Ummm. What?! Hello McFly? Is there anyone there? Its a RASTER file. There are NO fonts to convert, its all PIXELS? So I count to 10 and turn myself back from purple to my normal pasty complexion. I'm ready to excercise my diplomatic skills. I call the printer and it goes something like this:
Me: "Hi, I hear there's a problem with the file I sent you, I just wanted to touch base and make sure I really need to..."
Her: "The factory says they need the fonts converted to outlines."
Me: ".. uh, yeah, I got that; you see . . ."
Her: "it has to be eps, I couldn't open the file you sent."
Ok, now the purple is rapidly rising up past my waist
Me: "the file I sent was a raster file, so there's really no fonts to convert..."
Her: "I dont know anything about raster, can you send a new file with the fonts converted to outlines? And make sure its eps."
Now I know for sure I'm dealing with a moron. I don't care if you are just a brokerage firm or middle man, if your selling print, shouldn't you have some idea of what your selling. Even the girl at McDonalds knows hamburgers are round. I should be talking to the person who is going to be actually working with my file.
Me: "Can I talk to the person who is actually going to be working with the file, or can't you tell me"? (I know these brokerage firms love to shroud their vendors in veils of secrecy.
Her: "No, we can't give out that information"
Me: "OK, I'll get you an eps file with the fonts converted to outlines, what version of Illustrator do you want?"
Her: "Ummm, let me get back to you"
So, she calls back and says version 8. Yeeeaaaahhh. So I embed the raster in an Illy file and export it to eps version 8 and send the raw file via email. Of course, the guys at the "factory" wont actually be working on it until later in the night, so she couldn't say if that was actually OK. I haven't heard back from her yet so I'm assuming no news is good news. But still, how ridiculous is that. I'm betting that I get a SUPER URGENT email on Friday from them saying that there's no spine accounted for in the file.
Frustrating