Watkins Printing
110 West 1200 South
Logan, Utah 84321

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Software

PostScript®

From Adobe Systems Incorporated: "The PostScript® language is a simple interpretive programming language with powerful graphics capabilities. Its primary application is to describe the appearance of text, graphical shapes, and sampled images on printed or displayed pages, according to the Adobe imaging model. A program in this language can communicate a description of a document from a composition system to a printing system or control the appearance of text and graphics on a display. The description is high-level and device-independent."
Briefly, PostScript® (PS) is the standard that printed documents from electronic mediums use. Full support of PS in layout applications, graphic applications, fonts, and printing devices is very helpful in creating professional, high-quality printed projects.
There are other methodologies, including Scitex® and proprietary systems, which are also efficient. However, PostScript® is more common both in professional service bureaus and commercial printers that support a wide range of customer documents.

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Software Scope

Software scope is important when beginning a project. What software will perform the best for your intended publication, and what supporting software should you use to create graphic elements, but still ensure compatibility with your printer?
There are many titles, vendors, and computer platforms from which to choose. (See our supported software list.) Likewise, the price range of hardware and software is equally massive. Many programs have overlapping functions in that different vendors and/or titles often accomplish the same thing using different methods. Mostly this is a matter of preference. However, there are certain categories of software and limited abilities within each category that should be addressed.
The three main categories of desktop publishing and printing software are as follows:

Layout and design

Graphic editing / illustration

Text editing / word processing

Although some software titles will do two or more of these functions, it is widely accepted that combinations of software with strong points in each is the best method to produce the most compatible documents.
For example, Adobe® PageMaker® is most adapted for layout and design although it allows you to compose text adequately. You may want, however, to compose text in a strong editor with spelling and grammar checking first, such as Corel® WordPerfect™ or Microsoft® Word. Similarly, although you can perform layout and design functions in Macromedia® Freehand™, a strong graphic editing application, it may be easier to utilize QuarkXPress™.
The following table shows the primary categories and the applications best fitting the category:

Layout & Design Graphic Editing / Illustration Text Editing / Word Processing

Adobe® InDesign™

QuarkXPress™

Adobe® PageMaker®

Adobe® Illustrator® (Vector)

Adobe® Photoshop® (Raster)

Macromedia® Freehand™ (Vector)

Corel® Draw (Vector)

Corel® Photo-Paint (Raster)

Microsoft® Word

Corel® WordPerfect™

Note that Adobe® InDesign™ edits vector illustrations natively, which can assist greatly in tweaking logos and graphic elements.
There are some other applications which are designed for other purposes that, with conversion, can be used for limited commercial printing:

Microsoft® Publisher - We've found best results in printing to composite printers such as color copiers and ink jet printers. Full separation capability still has not been realized in Publisher for PostScript® environments. We recommend only using Publisher for composite, one-color printing, or for small-run composite color.

Microsoft® PowerPoint™ - Designed for making presentations to audiences viewing projector slideshows or overhead transparencies. Also for handouts from laser or composite color printers. Not recommended for commercial printing.

Microsoft® Excel - Designed for database and spreadsheet functions. Not recommended for commercial printing.

Corel® Wordperfect Presentations™ - Designed for making presentations and slideshows for projectors, etc. Not recommended for commercial printing.

Adobe® PDF™ (Portable Document Format) is a file format rather than a software application. Adobe® Acrobat® is designed to open and print PDF™ files, but does not have any sort of design function. PDF™ is a relatively new format that has significantly helped standardize documents and provide a way to share content between online web systems and print publishing systems. Frequently it is used to 'normalize' or convert a document created in an application to that of PostScript® compatibility.

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Recommendations

Adobe® InDesign™
Adobe® PDF™ & Adobe® Acrobat®
QuarkXPress™
Adobe® PageMaker®
Adobe® Photoshop®
Adobe® Illustrator®
Macromedia® Freehand™

Key: (Layout software) (Raster image software) (Vector image software)

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Preflighting and Saving Your Documents

The quickest way to ensure all components to a particular print job are ready to go is to "Preflight" the publication. Several layout applications including PageMaker® and InDesign™ have built-in preflight capability. MarkzWare makes preflight software called FlightCheck which is highly recommended. It will check for all types of problems associated with jobs and gather files and fonts for ease in sending to a printer.
Secondary to performing a thorough preflight, having necessary files for your document is critical. Images and fonts are the key components to any publication, and it is very often that they are not included with a job request.

InDesign™ - Under the file menu is an option calledPackage which is similar to PageMaker® except it also will copy font files.

QuarkXPress™ - Under the file menu is an option calledCollect for output. It performs the same task as above, copying all the images used in the document to a single location.

PageMaker® - When saving your publication in PageMaker® for the last time to provide to a printer, first make sure all of your images are linked and updated. Then selectAll linked files when doing a Save as. This will copy the images you've used, whether they are on a network drive or CD-ROM, to the final destination, which is usually a removable disk such as a Zip disk.

You will need to keep track of the fonts you use in your publication and send them along with the images since most software, excluding InDesign™, does not copy fonts for you.

TrueType Fonts - TrueType fonts consist typically of just one file for each typeface. Sometimes typefaces are offered in italic, bold, thin, heavy, etc. versions, and this will usually result in more than one file. However, for a particular style of TrueType font, one file will provide both the screen and printer font information. On a Windows machine, this is a .ttf file. On a Macintosh, it is represented by the icon with multiple "A's."

PostScript® - PostScript® fonts consist of two files. One is a screen or basic font, and the other is a printer or metrics font. Both files are required for the font to print! On a Windows computer, they are .pfm (metrics) and .pfb (basics) files. On a Macintosh, they are represented by fonts with a single "A" in their icon (within a suitcase or standalone) and accompanied by the printer version (never in a suitcase), usually with a much-abbreviated filename.

Fonts © Copyright Notice: Fonts are property of the authors and designers and are NOT to be distributed freely! Although Watkins Printing has a large library of fonts, we require customers to supply their fonts in the event that they have used unique fonts we do not have. We archive jobs to CD and DAT media, and do not use archived fonts for the design of new jobs.
If you need assistance locating and copying your fonts, please see our Font Saving Guide.

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