Prepress is the term used in the printing and publishing industries for the processes and procedures that occur between the procurement of a written manuscript and original artwork, and the manufacture of a printing plate, image carrier, or (traditionally) forme, ready for mounting on a printing press.
#21850
The Ineffable Mystery of Paper Grades 
It was so much easier when we just had papyrus.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Paper
#21881
Adobe® PostScript 3 printing systems offer a variety of new features for better, faster, Web-savvy printing. Here's an overview of what they are and how they're likely to affect you.
Nordling, Tamis and Wendy Katz. Adobe Magazine (1997). Articles>Document Design>Prepress>Color
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Large Format Printing Resources
A collection of dozens of links to online resources for large-format printing, including signatures.
#22534
Letterpress in the Digital Age
Stern and Faye combine fine letterpress printing and an eclectic sense of fun to produce traditional printing that could only be done today.
Berry, John D. Creative Pro. Design>Typography>Prepress>Printing
#21929
In the spirit of Adobe Magazine's Cheap Tricks Contest, a grab-bag of ways to save money, save time, and cheat fate.
Kvern, Olav Martin. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Prepress
#25890
Mastering Image Exposure Corrections in Photoshop
It's very important to always do your exposure corrections in Photoshop first, before any other corrections or effects. If you don’t, you’ll find that correcting exposure is extremely hard (if not impossible) to do.
Milburn, Ken. Graphics.com (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress>Color
#22554
A daily on-line resource for digital document management.
On Demand Journal (2004). Journals>Publishing>Prepress>Printing
#21908
Picking the right strength characteristics when you're buying paper can determine whether your job holds up on press, in the mail, or in your customers' hands.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1997). Articles>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#22509
A collection of dozens of links to online resources in page layout and desktop publishing.
#26510
The Pantone Matching System: Always Show Your True Colours
It can be very frustrating to see the logo you worked hard to create look deep blue on the client's letterhead, blue-greenish on his business card, and light blue on his very expensive envelopes. A way to prevent this is by using a standardized color matching system, such as the Pantone Matching System.
Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Color
#21937
Paper Fits (and What to Do About Them)
Save money by designing to fit standard printing-paper sizes.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#22512
Paper Tips: Printing on Uncoated Stock
Uncoated paper has a soft finish and tactile quality not possible with most coated papers. But uncoated stock also interacts differently with ink than it coated cousins. Follow these tips to ensure the best results.
Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
#24681
PDF Means Change for Many Print Shops 
There is a battle brewing in the back rooms print shops around the country, and after Graph Expo the pressure is on and tempers are flaring. What is causing the problem? PDF. Owners and production managers are going back to their shops to talk about the amazing things they have seen equipment do using PDF files. What they are hearing back from prepress staffs is that PDF files won't work for their shop. Owners are confused and not sure who to believe.
Giles, John. On Demand Journal (2004). Articles>Publishing>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#23132
PDF Printing, Preflighting, and Prepress
PDF is becoming the de facto standard for not only viewing documents onscreen but also for printing them on paper. Acrobat 6 Professional includes better printing and prepress tools than ever before. PDF pundit Ted Padova shows you how they work.
Padova, Ted. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#25151
Some pearls of file output wisdom collected over the years from friends who ride imagesetters everyday.
Johal, Jasper. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Document Design>Prepress
#22550
Personalized Color Communications
Four firms discuss the benefits of color variable data printing, such as creating marketing campaigns and experiencing up to a 40 percent rate of return.
Miley, Michael. PennWell (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Color
#26010
Photoshop Tutorial: How to Preserve Spot Colours in Photoshop
How many times have you wondered why, no matter how much you save spot colours in other applications, you cannot preserve a spot color in Photoshop? There is a way of course, and this is what this article will cover. This tutorial has been made using Photoshop CS for Mac, but it should be OK also for previous versions of Photoshop up to version 6, and of course also for whoever has the Windows version of Photoshop. This is not the only method to use spot colors in Photoshop, but it is a simple one which you could find useful.
Bruno, Elisabetta. About.com (2005). Resources>Document Design>Prepress
#21966
Designing something that will be mailed? Save time and money by asking the right questions before you start.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1995). Design>Document Design>Prepress
#22570
Polyester Plates Earn a Second Look
Yes, the 'poor man's CTP' still suffers from some early shortcomings, but four-color work on four-up equipment is becoming a short-run mainstay.
Toth, Debora. Graphic Arts Monthly (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Printing
#29667
Practical Applications of Print Design to Promote Visual Understanding
Print design is a task facing many technical communicators. Practical understanding of the principles of design is necessary for quality print design products, but even this may not be adequate for producing print documents that users can quickly understand. Pairing the principles of print design with knowledge of visual communication theory will aid technical communicators as they develop print materials that are not only well designed, but easy for audiences to understand. This paper will explain both the principles of print design and basic applications of visual communication theory to provide a knowledge base on which successful print documents can be built.
Codone, Susan K. STC Proceedings (2005). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Printing
#22583
Between 23 and 30 percent of all files submitted for print are in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), a figure that's likely to grow.
Miley, Michael. PennWell (2003). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#25805
Prepress Tutorial: Preparing PDFs Made from Microsoft Word for Offset Printing
You just received this wonderful PDF from one of your clients. It was made from Word. On top of that, the client who gave you that PDF wants you to make some changes to the text. How do you make those changes using the PDF itself and what do you have to do to make that PDF press ready?
Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Resources>Document Design>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#25884
Printer Versus Press: How and Where to Print Your Projects
How, you ask yourself, would someone who is unfamiliar with printing navigate their way through the mine field of contemporary offset printing?
Green, Chuck. Ideabook.com (2005). Articles>Publishing>Prepress>Printing
#22538
PDF is becoming the de facto standard for not only viewing documents onscreen but also for printing them on paper. Acrobat 6 Professional includes better printing and prepress tools than ever before. PDF pundit Ted Padova shows you how they work.
Padova, Ted. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Adobe Acrobat
#25154
Printing Primer for Graphic Designers
Originally published in 1989, this printing primer for digital artists has been updated and annotated for today's digital desktop publisher.
Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress
