Paramus, N.J. — The Designer’s Guide to Prepress, a new book from the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), is an indispensable resource for graphic designers who are preparing digital files for printing. The 210-page paperback book, with black & white and color illustrations, is the latest addition to the proprietary industry-exclusive books, studies, and reports available in the NAPL Printer’s Preferred Library at www.napl.org/bookstore.
 
Today’s graphic designer must be knowledgeable about creating files that will run successfully on the newest printing equipment, and graphic designers who work within the technical requirements of specific printing and finishing processes will be better able to help their clients avoid costly delays in all stages of production.
 
Author Erika Kendra, an experienced independent graphic designer, instructor, and speaker, and the author of numerous Against the Clock design program books, understands both the graphic design and printing sides of the design/print collaboration. In Designer’s Guide to Prepress, she explains the advantages, requirements, and limitations of each printing and postpress process, and shows how knowing about these characteristics can help designers create files that will work smoothly.

“A design, no matter how beautiful, is useless if it can’t be efficiently reproduced,” says Kendra. “To be successful, you need to understand how the output process affects, or even dictates, various aspects of your designs. The more you can learn about how to accommodate the output process, the more you will be able to produce designs that are compelling, printable, and profitable for everyone involved.”

“We are pleased to make this valuable new book available to graphic designers and printing company design departments,” says NAPL Senior Vice President of Marketing Cindy Woods. “Its real-world approach and easy-to-understand explanation of technical concepts will help designers create files that move right through printing and finishing, and help eliminate many of the problems printers face when files are incorrectly prepared—a win/win for designers and printers, and for the clients of both.”

Section 1 of Designer’s Guide to Prepress covers five major printing processes—lithography, flexography, gravure, screen, and digital—as well as design considerations related to ink, substrates, finishing, folding, cutting, and binding. Section 2 shows how to apply the elements of design to best advantage in each printing process, including the use of color, raster images, vector graphics, type, page layout, imposition, output, and PDF workflow.

The NAPL Designer’s Guide to Prepress is now being offered for a limited time at the special introductory price of $29.95 ($24.95 for NAPL members). To order, call (800) 642-6275 or go to www.napl.org/bookstore.