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Preflight nightmares...
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killer_735
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Aug 5, 2003, 01:06 PM
 
So I just found out that a combination of things done by myself, other people in my department, and advertisers that we work with, cost the magazine I work for $2000 in revenue.

Dammit. The boss is not happy. He gets that calm, I'm-really-mad-but-keeping-my-head-because-it's-scarier kind of thing. Paul Atraides would be proud.

So here's the question;

We send out our ad specs..they're very specific, and they allow advertisers to send lots of different types of files if they need to. Alas, some advertisers don't bother to read the thing, and send us stuff like Freehand 8 documents where clipping paths won't export and fonts conflict with each other after they're packaged. Now I understand that this is the woe of every preflight person in the worlld, and my idea had always been that my job was to find a way to make it work, no matter what. This situation has me re-evaluating things, though. If an advertiser sends something totally out of spec, is it our right to say "Hey, read the freaking directions and send us something we can work with," or is this basically how things go between advertisers and magazines. I should mention that our mag is totally ad-supported, so...the answer to that last question may be yes.

Dammit.
"Leave it. Leave it, it's fine. It's fine. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" -Morbo
     
DesignerTerp
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Aug 5, 2003, 02:19 PM
 
Originally posted by killer_735:
So I just found out that a combination of things done by myself, other people in my department, and advertisers that we work with, cost the magazine I work for $2000 in revenue.

Dammit. The boss is not happy. He gets that calm, I'm-really-mad-but-keeping-my-head-because-it's-scarier kind of thing. Paul Atraides would be proud.

So here's the question;

We send out our ad specs..they're very specific, and they allow advertisers to send lots of different types of files if they need to. Alas, some advertisers don't bother to read the thing, and send us stuff like Freehand 8 documents where clipping paths won't export and fonts conflict with each other after they're packaged. Now I understand that this is the woe of every preflight person in the worlld, and my idea had always been that my job was to find a way to make it work, no matter what. This situation has me re-evaluating things, though. If an advertiser sends something totally out of spec, is it our right to say "Hey, read the freaking directions and send us something we can work with," or is this basically how things go between advertisers and magazines. I should mention that our mag is totally ad-supported, so...the answer to that last question may be yes.

Dammit.
Yikes!
We advertise with a lot of magazines (Robb Report, Dupont Registry, etc) and they all have very specific spec sheets. You may want to make yours more specific if you find you are having problems in a certain area. I definitely think you guys have a right to say something to the advertisers. They may not know what problems they are creating for you guys and thus keep doing it. Ad specs are for a reason--to help both sides (advertiser and art department) run production/print smoothly.
Just my opinion.
     
killer_735  (op)
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Aug 5, 2003, 02:26 PM
 
Yeah, I think that the specs are pretty specific.

It's interesting, since it feels like we're trying to kiss ass with the advertisers. I've always felt like even if someone's selling me something, I'd rather they were up front about things.

Hard to tell how much is just the business and how much is us or the specific advertisers we work with.
"Leave it. Leave it, it's fine. It's fine. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" -Morbo
     
headbirth
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Aug 5, 2003, 03:59 PM
 
The publications I work with either charge the advertiser to correct it in house or have them resend the film or files. Some of my clients even have staffers that do nothing, but g through the files advertisers send and correct them...

The only way to get them to read the instructions is to charge them for incorrect materials.
     
killer_735  (op)
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Aug 5, 2003, 04:12 PM
 
Dear god, I love that idea. Especially if I get a cut. Do you think this could work for an ad-supported trade publication, though?
"Leave it. Leave it, it's fine. It's fine. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" -Morbo
     
designbc
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Aug 5, 2003, 05:29 PM
 
Originally posted by killer_735:
Dear god, I love that idea. Especially if I get a cut. Do you think this could work for an ad-supported trade publication, though?
I'm in the very same situation. And in my case I have to kiss their ass big time. Our magazine has to be flexible with that since we can't afford to lose our customers.
This morning I spent almost an hour on the phone with a customer that has submitted her ad twice in PDF. The first time it was bad. The second it was worse. She told me this morning she created the ad in Publisher (WTF?) with 72 dpi images. When I asked for 300 dpi images, she just increased the resolution of those images. Still doesn't understand why I keep telling her that she should get new high res images if she already had the images at 300 dpi. She thought I was crazy or something when I asked her to send the PDF file with crop marks (I swear I have no idea how to position it in the page) AND WE HAVE SPECS!!!

Still waiting for the new version...
There is no spoon
     
EnVoy
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Aug 5, 2003, 05:49 PM
 
What happened exactly?

Every publication I have ever sent files to has specs that have to be complied with. If not, they charge for fixing the files, or require you to resend the proper files. I think you are perfectly right in requiring specs to be followed, and charging to fix improperly submitted files.

That being said, I have received specs from pubs that made absolutly no sense. So, first, make sure your specs are completly clear and specific. Maybe post them here?

It's up to you how much you want to enforce these specs, though. If your pub is hurting for cash, you may not want to piss off advertisers by being a stickler. However, as in this case, if they end up costing you money, you may have to teach them a lesson.
     
arclight
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Aug 6, 2003, 07:30 AM
 
I agree with many of the other posters. Charge a resubmission fee or offer to fix it (for a fee) for bad or "out of spec" submissions. It's quite common and it provides an incentive to preflight their own job before sending to you. I've had several issues with image resolution from advertisers. The problem seems to stem from poeple who have no business doing ad layouts for their companies. They don't understand specs because they're not designers.

I had a client who sent me an entire CD rom full of images he had grabbed off of his website, he wanted me to use them for his print ads. He was never able to quite grasp the idea but he eventually did find the originals after several emails and phone calls. People can be so dense and stubborn when they think they're right. Just try to be polite and explain that they will be turned away if they keep submitting the same crap.
---------------------------------------
     
designbc
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Aug 6, 2003, 08:21 AM
 
Originally posted by arclight:
The problem seems to stem from poeple who have no business doing ad layouts for their companies. They don't understand specs because they're not designers.
Right. They try to save money doing the ads themselves instead of hiring a designer. Then there is no way they'll pay us to "fix" what they think is perfectly right, because IT LOOKS OK on their monitor no matter what our "stupid specs" are. If it prints OK in their deskjets, the it HAS TO print perfect in the magazine.
There is no spoon
     
killer_735  (op)
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Aug 6, 2003, 10:13 AM
 
Hmm...I'd like to post the spec sheet, but I'm concerned about being hassles by the powers that be around here...
here's a summary..

Send in these file formats...Quark, PDF...etc.

Send all images at 300 DPI CMYK

Include Mac PS fonts with everything

Send us a hard copy of how you want the thing to look.

Do not use truetype fonts.

Package native files with fonts/images before burning them to a cd

Make things the size that they should be in the final publication.

Etc.

Everything's pretty straightforward...I feel like adding things to the spec sheet would be useless, as these people don't even know what we mean half the time when we ask them to make their ad bleed 1/8" on all sides. "Whatchoo mean, bleed? Y'all one'a them religous cult magazeenes? I made this here thing on good ole microsoft word an ahm not usin no gul dern satanist programs. Ah don't think ahm goona advertise with y'all buncha satanists anymore. That nice southern baptist magazine I write for printed mah ad with images right offa mah website an I don't see why y'all cant do likewise."

Sorry..that went on longer than planned. And if southern baptist humor offends you, well what are you doing on the den of sin and wickedness that is the internet?

What I'd reeeeallly like to know, especially from those of you who've done this for a bit, is do you think there's hope? Will a new generation of reasonably tech-savvy people show up? I have a feeling that this is something Gutenberg dealt with when he was making his bibles, and we'll probably still be dealing with until we all carry around flexible LCD screens and printing presses cease to exist.
"Leave it. Leave it, it's fine. It's fine. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" -Morbo
     
   
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