May 20, 2004 -- Making it easier and profitable for quick and small commercial printers to accept customer-created files easily and profitably is the focus of Digital Directions: A Digital Workflow Guide for Customer- created Files by John Giles, a printing industry consultant. Digital Directions provides a printer with a blueprint of what should happen to a customer-created file as it moves through a printing organization and into production. Written for printers who work with non-professional digital file creators, Digital Directions describes the standards a printing company should use when accepting files and how to communicate those standards to the customers. Digital Directions explains what software applications printers should support and why; the importance of the production manager in the work flow; what graphic formats work; special programs that help customers preflight files before sending them to the printer; and what tools the desktop publishing staff need to avoid customer-created problems. Giles outlines the procedures printers should use that will assure the files are correct when received from the customer. He summarizes the roles of the customer, the sales staff, the production manager and desktop publishing staff in the workflow as the file moves through the organization. The book also offers suggestions on pricing customer-created files to keep companies from losing money when fixing file problems. Digital Directions gives printers a set of guidelines that will help identify problems before they reach production and allow the printer to charge the proper fees for correcting files. “Digital Directions provides a printer with procedures for accepting customer-created files than are easily understandable,” said Giles. “Once the staff understands and implements the standards, it will be easier to train the customers to follow the procedures.” For the sales staff, Giles focuses on the key information they must understand to communicate with the customer. Giles outlines the core information that a sales person must know to increase their comfort level when dealing with customers about digital files. Giles also explains the important role the production manager has in the digital workflow. The production manager serves as the key filter between sales and the desktop publishing staff to make sure the DTP staff has the information they need to output the file properly and that the work can be completed profitably for the price charged. Digital Directions clarifies the systems and procedures the desktop publishing department should use to meet the needs of the customer and the profits needs of the company. It also outlines the staff training requirements that the DTP staff will implement for the organization. The book builds on the information Giles published in his book the Digital Original. This manual teaches printers how to teach their customers to create Postscript files, the basis of a PDF workflow. Digital Directions goes further and explains how to merge Postscript training with a complete digital workflow. Digital Directions cost $40 plus shipping. For more information, visit Giles’ web site at www.johngiles.com or call 304.586.3548. Giles is the owner of The Giles Group, a consulting company specializing in desktop publishing in the quick and small commercial printing industry. Based in Winfield, West Virginia, Giles provides consulting on desktop publishing productivity, issues for quick and small commercial printers. He conducts onsite digital reviews for companies to assure they are meeting the ever- evolving industry standards for accepting customer-created digital files and have procedures and training in place to make file transfer easy. He is also a contributing editor for Quick Printing magazine and a columnist for OnDemandJournal.com and has published articles in other industry trade publications.