Magazines are almost always printed in signatures on a large sheetfed or web press. The “high-end magazine” that ER’s client described would certainly need to be printed that way.
There’s really no way the designer can impose the job into properly laid out signatures since designers rarely know the press requirements or own imposition software. Anyway, imposition is a standard part of the printer’s pre-press work that, for good reason, they’d want to handle themselves.
It’s a little odd for a printer to request single page files. A few specialty situations might require it, but I’ve not found it to be common. Anyway, that’s not really what imposition refers to. Like you mentioned, imposition involves arranging the spreads in a way that best fits the size of the paper stock and will fold up correctly for trimming. Since ER mentioned supplying pre-imposed artwork, I’m assuming this means actually imposing the pages using imposition software and not breaking the job into separate pages.
I have a messed-up story about a situation where I needed to buy and use imposition software when the department head decided he didn’t want to spend his budget hiring a commercial printer for a critically important marketing booklet. Instead, he decided to use their big office laser printer that he had just purchased for the job. No amount of reasoning could get him to change his mind since the salesman said it could do the job. It was a disaster that resulted in him being demoted and moved to a different department. Aggggh!
Having said that, maybe there is some miscommunication going on with regards to single pages as compared to the number of files.
The printer I mentioned does not want each page as its own file. I agree that seems like a lot of unnecessary work. They want one file with each page on its own. Let’s say it’s a 16-page self cover newsletter: I’d deliver one file with 16 pages with bleeds on all edges. As opposed to delivering one file with eight 2-page printer’s spreads spreads or one file with two pages set up for work and turn.
That’s what I thought you meant, but that’s not really imposition. Instead, it’s your printer’s preferred way of getting the files so that they can impose them.
Maybe that’s what ER’s client was referring to when she said “pre-imposed,” but the way ER described it, it sounded like a client who was likely in over her head and stubbornly insisting on something that didn’t quite make sense.
Hang on – In my particular case it meant that for a 16-page book I needed to butt p.2 against p.15 and so on, except that this spread was set up as a single page, and that the magazine was supposed to run on hundreds of pages. For some reason this (presumed) client was convinced this was the way I should follow.
@Just-B’s assumption is correct. I’m glad I terminated my association soon enough. No point in talking to a wall.
This could be another point of miscommunication in this thread. Does “pre-imposed” mean:
A) deliver the pages before imposition
or
B) deliver pages that have already been imposed (like when you order something ahead of time, it’s called a preorder)
The way I read the initial post was A — delivering the pages before they were imposed.
Another confusing word is “dust.” It can mean to take dust off (dust the furniture) or it can mean put dust on (dust the brownies with powdered sugar).
Ahh, that explains the disconnect we were having. I interpreted it to mean fully imposed before sending it to the printer. You interpreted it differently. I think we’re on the same page now (bad pun, I know).
Yea you can’t be too nice. Some out there would abuse this and lie that they didn’t like the work. So awful.
Lol!! To all the poor English terms. I learned bi-weekly’s double meaning recently and got so mad
Thank you all for the red flag stories. I’m trying to teach my boss/salesperson how to spot the clients who will waste our time… Slow but steady or burns.
I’m also concerned about paying a price due to clients’ tastes and personal preferences. Most clients know what they like. Fewer understand that their subjective likes and dislikes should probably not form the basis of their design decisions.
When clients hire me, they’re not hiring a pair of hands to implement their ideas. They’re hiring someone with the experience to develop solutions to problems they can’t solve themselves. When they don’t like my advice, that’s too bad, but I still need to be paid for the work I’ve done.
Similarly, a dentist might tell me things I don’t want to hear, but my decision not to proceed with getting a new filling doesn’t mean that I don’t need to pay for the diagnosis.
Yea I totally get that. Unfortunately been there… client did not like that she couldn’t get her dream website within her budget. She didn’t like the options I gave her so she went to my boss on multiple occasions. Thank goodness my boss is no fool.
Working through a committee almost always ensures substandard, lowest-common-denominator work. Most clients get opinions from others when making design decisions, but that’s different from an official committee tasked with evaluating the work while injecting their own ideas and reaching a group consensus.
I find myself becoming more and more selective these days. My excuse: I feel this project is not in my “wheelhouse” and I doubt I can live up to your expectations. I actually enjoy walking away from those situations. Agree with PrintDriver on the design by committee. There are still a few empowered decision makers out there.
On the contrary, he was being foolish and unprofessional, and anyone who accepted his terms would be be as well. Some folks are deeply entitled, and refuse to accept that anyone has rights other than themselves. It’s the employee-as-chattel thing. Sad, but moderately common. I avoid those prospects like the plague.
such truth