1) From Idea to Ink
Some of the topics in this chapter are: Your message and your audience; Are you sending the same message as your competitors; do you stand out or do you stick out?; A needle in a haystack (will your printed piece get lost in a paper pyramid?); Quantity and budget, a delicate balance.

2) Choosing Players
Some of the topics in this chapter are: The coordinators, printing brokers & ad agencies; The creators, graphic designers; The craftsmen, printers & finishers; The expediters, photocopy shops; The technicians, reprographic services; The assemblers, binderies & mail houses.

3) Type & Design
Some of the topics in this chapter are: Are you my type? (a primer on type); Getting to know you (identifying type by its characteristics); Are we getting closer or are we drifting apart? (tracking and kerning); Aligning together; Romancing the tone; A tryst with technology.

4) Visual Magic
Some of the topics in this chapter are: Illusions in ink; The case of the disappearing red; A scaling trick; The hand is quicker than the lpi (an explanation of screen frequency); Scanning slights of hand; Duotones & mock duotones; The alchemy of color.

5) Dressing Paper
Selecting from the paper and color palette; Tools for color selection; Characteristics of paper; Basis weights of paper; Finishes and functions; Recycled papers; Paper grain; Envelopes; Color processes and their expense levels; Proofing methods.

6) Putting It All Together
Step-by-step instructions for filling out a quote form.

7) Office of the Future
Explore some creative ways for using new technology.

Extensive glossary  

Alleviating Prepress Anxiety
How to Manage Your Print Projects
For Savings, Schedule and Quality
by Ann Goodheart

Are you just starting to coordinate printing for your company? If so, you can save thousands of dollars by reading this book. Alleviating Prepress Anxiety teaches you the basics of working with designers and printers. It's all explained in a friendly writing style that helps you to identify your concept and audience, select appropriate vendors, implement your own type and design, and write effective print specifications. By the end of the book, you should feel more confident as you manage your projects for savings, schedule and quality!
ISBN: 0-9659222-8-6, softcover, 166 pp., pub. date 4/15/2000

Written by a 25-year veteran of the printing and publishing industries, Alleviating Prepress Anxiety teaches the basics of coordinating printing using an entertaining, thematic approach. The first two chapters help readers to define their concepts for printed projects, to choose vendors wisely, and to develop cost-effective production teams. The theme of romance ties typography and design together in Chapter 3. Magic is the theme of Chapter 4, a primer on graphic arts photography. Selecting papers and colors is outlined in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 explains how to prepare concise, effective printing specifications for use in obtaining printing quotes. New technologies and a list of resources for learning more about graphics and printing are summarized in Chapter 7.

Throughout the book, short case histories of actual printing problems and solutions, called War Stories, help the reader to avoid some of the inherent pitfalls of the production process.

A Sampling of Reference Tables throughout the book:

Table 2-1: Major Issues to Consider When Choosing Printers

Table 2-3: Printer Evaluation Checklist

Table 3-6: A Selection of Serif and Sans Serif Typefaces

Table 3-13: One Romance, Four Ways
(the same page with 4 different design treatments)

Table 4-2: Selecting Screen Frequency

Table 4-4: Choosing the Correct DPI Setting for Scanning

Table 4-5: A Duotone and its Imposter

Table 4-6: Color Separations and Process Color Printing

Table 5-9: Color Processes and Their Expense Levels