Bumps in the road of publication design

Posted by Heather Cox

Over the years, we have found that, especially with clients new to the process, the following tips can save you from additional design charges. I’m sharing these budget-friendly strategies to help you keep your project on track.

Try to submit close-to-final text as well as your charts and graphs, when you request a design estimate.
Provide plenty of resolution when sending imagery (1mb minimum).
Provide the “vector” versions of your logo, typically the .ai or .eps file.
Be sure that your text is finalized when sending it for layout.
Make sure your publication designer understands how many layers of review necessary so they can budget for every round.
Designate only one key contact on your team, to avoid misunderstandings.
Provide final data for all tables and charts, as well as excel examples.
Try to stay on schedule, especially if you have a hard deadlines.
Manage revision cycles carefully, for instance
- Make sure your edits are neat and easy-to-understand (use standard proofreading marks, view here »).
- Never provide revisions as “tracked changes” in the original Word document.
- Avoid providing changes as PDF annotations, unless they are very few and very simple.
- Retype and email long passages instead of hand-writing major revisions.
- Avoid providing edits as long lists in email.

The most efficient, least expensive method to submit edits is to use standard copywriting marks, clearly marked on the latest set of page proofs, and scanned and emailed (or dropboxed) in a PDF.