Many graphic designers who have a degree or extensive training have little idea of the requirements of the printing process. Often afraid to admit it, every time they send a job to print they experience a period of nail-biting anxiety because they don't know how it's going to turn out. This book gives designers the confidence to do everything necessary to ensure trouble-free, high-quality printing - to calibrate images (colour and black and white); adjust trapping levels in all the major software applications, and mix colours that won't print as something that is a complete surprise. It explains scanning and resolution, and discusses good and bad image formats, describing techniques to make images look good in print - even if they have been downloaded from the internet. There is advice on how to get accurate quotes from a printer, and a checklist to use when sending a job to print.

Mark Gatter has been a freelance designer for 12 years, prior to which he worked for 11 years in commercial printing. His clients include IBM, Lotus and LYW Archive Boston. He teaches software courses in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress and CorelDraw as well as custom courses covering all aspects of digital repro and prepress.