PDF Application Settings

AWWA    Design and Development     commercial, design, pdf, printing, publishing, settings, workflow

The Ghent PDF Workgroup is the organization for determinations of professional prepress standards for the best practices of publishing workflows. Creation of pdf files has become standard practice. Why would someone be interested in this? Simple: if you design something and want it to print as you intended, you need to prepare the file properly for the printer. Most publishers will ask you for pdf files and not native files (ones created by a specific application). Do not expect the printer to fix your mistakes. Your client will be charged for their time in order to facilitate printing.

If you don’t know what PDF/X-1a is I would suggest you do some reading before you release a job to a commercial printer.

Download suggested application settings here. They are categorized by type of type of printing. Magazine ads, newspaper ads, sheetfed printing, screen printing, spot color printing, etc. You can also select your application to find the correct suggestions for your intended usage.

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