Advanced proofing system for final art

PressProofs in Bookhouse nomenclature is a PDF created especially to supply to printers as final art. PressProofs PDFs have special features which make them a practical tool for publishers during the final moments of production, when time is tight.

Check once

Once a PressProofs PDF has been created, your final checks only need to be performed once, even if further scatter corrections are required. This is an invaluable time saver.

When a scatter correction is requested, we replace the individual corrected page in the master PressProofs file. There is no need to re-check the rest of the PDF. It is common practice elsewhere in the industry to regenerate the entire PDF which can unwittingly introduce errors on pages that did not have corrections. We’ve heard those stories. That doesn’t happen using PressProofs.

This is achieved with some software we developed in-house which we call ‘Replacer’. (We didn’t think to give it a snazzier name.) It does what it says on the tin and its sole responsibility is to replace a single-page PDF into the master PressProofs file.

This software runs as a watcher, monitoring a dedicated folder where the master PressProofs are stored, waiting for scatter pages. When a scatter page arrives, it opens the PressProofs PDF and replaces the page with the corrected scatter page. It then saves the master file and closes it. This is a relatively simple task but automation ensures that human error is not introduced into the process (such as replacing the wrong page).

Replacer runs on Bookhouse’s workgroup server and is accessible from all workstations. Any one of Bookhouse’s staff can take in scatter page corrections which will all be processed by Replacer, referencing a single master file. Version control is unnecessary since there is only ever one master PressProofs file, and there is only one location where that master file is stored. It is an elegantly simple system which enables efficient processing.

Scatter corrections to PressProofs have the highest internal priority at Bookhouse. We will even take in corrections over the phone so you can get immediate turnaround at the critical moment.

Replacer enables publishers to focus on the changed pages in isolation, without needing to perform additional checks on the rest of the PressProofs PDF. That critical final checklist can be performed once on the PressProofs file. Scatter pages can be checked individually. It’s a massive time saver.

Efficiency

To support the role of Replacer, we developed a utility plug-in for InDesign which allows the typesetter to create a single-page PDF using a simple keyboard shortcut.

This shortcut encapsulates many processes which ensure that scatter pages are created efficiently, by automatically selecting the correct PDF settings and sending the file to Replacer’s watched folder. Behind the scenes, the plug-in is performing additional helper functions, such as naming the output file using the publisher’s or printer’s preferred conventions.

Automating the simple task of creating a single-page PDF eliminates the potential for human error. In practice, though, it is the superb efficiency that it provides at a critical moment of production which is most noticeable. It’s part of the system which enables us to turnaround scatter pages with industry-leading speed.

High-quality printing

All PressProofs produced by Bookhouse include high-resolution images and embedded fonts. It is a clean, uncompressed file specifically designed for high-quality printing. The structure of the PDF was derived from consultation with Australia’s leading book printers and has proven itself as a dependable format. The files are checked using the printer’s pre-flight checklist as well as our own stringent pre-flight rules.

The PDF format is an evolving thing, but many of the new features are not relevant – and often undesirable – for lithographic printing. Bookhouse’s PressProofs PDF intentionally excludes irrelevant features so that printers do not experience problems when making plates.

Soft-proofs

Bookhouse PressProofs are so dependable that some publishers use them as a replacement for printer proofs, allowing them to shave precious days from the schedule at a critical moment.

The quality and integrity of the PressProofs file allows publishers to check all the details of final art before it goes to press, making subsequent printer’s proofs unnecessary.

This process has proven to be so reliable that there has not been a single print failure since PressProofs were first introduced. That’s a statistic of which we’re understandably quite proud.