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Volume 6, Issue 1 ULI
Creates Fireworks with fileWORKS®
ULI Creates Fireworks with fileWORKS® Faced with a request from a customer who wanted to supply complete digital pages, but didn’t have the resources to preflight digital ads herself, United Litho did what it does best: applied its in-house expertise to eliminate the customer’s headaches. The result is fileWORKS®, a brand-new service offering designed to “unload all that nitty-gritty, teeth-gnashing stuff onto ULI,” as Technical Support Representative Andrew Moore puts it. Akin to a service bureau for digital ads, ULI’s fileWORKS® will preflight each ad, create a PDF, test the PDF by RIPing it and outputting and reconciling an HP proof, and store it on a CD to be returned to the customer—all for a flat fee assessed on a per-ad basis. JoAnne Bland, the prepress leader who played a key role in developing fileWORKS®, explains, “We have a number of clients who, despite having a qualified production staff, do not want to take on the responsibility of accepting digital ads. They are anxious to provide us with complete digital pages, but don’t want to have to invest in conversion software and everything else needed to be able to process these ads on their own. “fileWORKS® allows clients to control digital ads without the headaches that typically go along with them,” Bland says. “There are no cross-platform issues, no missing fonts, no reflow problems and no responsibility for managing files from outside sources. Plus, since any problems will be identified early in the process, the client has the relief of knowing there will be no surprises later.” Preflight Manager Margie Morefield adds, “This process makes things easy for our clients, who can place one PDF file for each ad and create complete pages that they know will work. In fact, this service will make a true PDF workflow much more accessible for many of our clients.” Of course, there will be some organization needed on the publisher’s side to take full advantage of this new service. With an anticipated turnaround time of two to three days, depending on the number of ads supplied, customers will need to supply ads to ULI far enough in advance that they will have time to receive and place the new PDFs live in their files before their completed materials date. Unlike conventional “advance work,” however, these ads are not part of the regular production schedule. Because each ad will move through the process as a separate job, ads may be submitted— whether on disk or via FTP site or email (fileWORKS@unitedlitho.com)—at any time. Sales and Marketing VP Wayne Peterson says, “We wanted to leverage the expertise we’ve got that clients often don’t have. With fileWORKS®, customers can place their ads live, eliminate ‘retrieve and place’ costs associated with pick-up ads and be able to manage their own ad libraries.” TechTips: Scoping Out Mac's OS X Those of you who attend our seminars know about the golden rule of computers: If it works, don’t fix it. So what in the world possessed me to install and move to the newest version of the Macintosh operating system, OS X “Jaguar”? Well, mostly the fact that the newest software being released supports it, and I figured those of you in the magazine publishing world might wonder what benefits it offers. Additionally, Apple has announced that most of its new computers will boot only into Jaguar, although it will continue to ship OS 9 Power Mac G4s, geared toward graphic design professionals, until June 2003. (This is a pull-back from its original announcement, made this past September, that OS X would be the primary operating system on all new machines shipped after January 1.) In any case, I’m now prepared to give you a report from the front lines. Without a doubt, Jaguar is a beautiful operating system. Text is rendered well, boot times are short and so far I haven’t had a single Jaguar-related crash. Some often-used commands (like “preferences”) have changed locations and there is a small learning curve. Software that runs natively has a great look and feel; navigation among folders is aided by buttons for quick shortcuts to home and favorite directories. As I get more and more familiar with it, OS X continues to grow on me. Older software, including programs such as QuarkXPress 4.0 and 5.0, PageMaker 7.0 and Acrobat Distiller 5, do not run completely in Jaguar; instead, the computer loads the resources of system 9 (called “classic”) before running. This is obviously not a perfect scenario, as you can imagine the complications that might come up from running two operating systems at the same time. Quark 5 works as usual, although the screen tends to not refresh completely and you will occasionally see temporary artifacts on your screen while you scroll around. Since most recent Adobe software is already OS X-native, there is tremendous pressure on Quark to come up with an update. The current rumor is that Quark 6 will arrive sometime in the first half of this year. I encountered my first real problem while gearing up to do production work. Knowing that the number one prepress problem is fonts, I went on a quest to do some good old-fashioned font management, removing duplicates and loading only clean, PostScript versions on the system. Imagine my shock and horror when I discovered that fonts can be installed in no fewer than five different folders on your hard drive, one such location being “untouchable”—where the fonts may not be moved, removed or modified. In addition, after attempting to adjust some fonts, I ended up crashing some of the older “classic” applications. It really, really made me want all of my applications to run in native OS X. The truth is that we’ll have to learn to live with about 25 fonts that can never be uninstalled. Clearly, then, font management for OS X is mandatory. Of the font management systems I tried, Extensis’ Suitcase seems to work the best, giving you control over each of the five locations of fonts while looking for duplicate installations. Suitcase will also let you override the system fonts; for example, you can force the system to use a specific version of Helvetica rather than the mandatory “system” version. Suitcase identifies which fonts are TrueType and PostScript, and whether they are loaded for OS 9 and/or OS X. There’s a new font file format in OS X called “.dfont.” However, until our RIPing software is updated, we’ll have to request that these types of fonts not be used. The good news on fonts, though, is that Jaguar supports the loading and use of PC TrueType fonts without the need for conversion. And now for my first OS X “Jaguar” Tip: To turn off the “dock” of icons at the bottom of the screen and get more real estate on your screen, use the undocumented keyboard shortcut of Command-Option-D. Key it again to turn it back on. I’ll
keep working in OS X and report my findings in this column, as well as
in the “New Software Features” seminar scheduled for March 20. Good Things to Know Here’s one of those utilities no one should be without. If you occasionally use Quark’s tinting features to colorize a black and white TIFF, and are interested in going into a PDF workflow, you’ll need the free Creo Color TIFF XT 1.3 to get things to work properly. Both Mac and PC versions are available at Creo's web site. A Blue Ribbon Performance at the PIVA Awards Topping its previous best, ULI will take home 23 “Best of Print 2002” awards when the Printing Industries of Virginia (PIVA) awards banquet is held next month. The 2002 competition netted nine First Place awards, given for the most outstanding printed piece in each category, and another 14 Awards of Excellence, given in recognition of excellence in each category. As a regional affiliate of the Printing Industries of America, PIVA holds an annual Best in Print competition for printers in various fields. All entries are judged by a panel of distinguished members of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF)—recognized as some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the printing industry. In each category, judges look for excellence in litho preparation, printing and binding. The printer’s skill, the difficulty of the job, registration quality and technical excellence are all considered in determining the winning entries. The 2002 winners include All About Beer: Awards of Excellence—July 2002, November 2002 Clay Times: First Place—May/June 2002 Earnshaw’s: First Place—August 2002; Awards of Excellence—January 2002, February 2002 élan: First Place—December 2001/January 2002, March 2002, November 2002 Floor Focus: First Place—December 2001; Award of Excellence—August/September 2002 Mortgage Banking: Awards of Excellence—March 2002, July 2002 Museum News: Award of Excellence—November/December 2002 Professional Surveyor: First Place—July 2002; Award of Excellence—June 2002 Urban Land: Awards of Excellence—January 2002, February 2002, March 2002, May 2002, August 2002 Wine & Spirits: First Place—August 2002, Annual Buying Guide - Winter 2002 We salute our customers, whose publication excellence is reflected in this competition, and appreciate the extraordinary efforts of our press and bindery crews, digital prepress department, account managers, planners and sales staff. Paul Cornetta: Selling Something He Believes In Ask anyone at United Litho about new Account Executive Paul Cornetta, and the first thing they’ll point to is the plant’s on-time performance record. Citing an average on-time delivery rate of 98 percent in 2001 and 2002, with a remarkable 100 percent hit-rate for “must” dates, Operations Vice President Chris Azbill says, “Paul has done a phenomenal job as the plant scheduler in the past two years. So much of the improved on-time delivery performance is due to Paul … it’s humbling to have someone work for you when you know you could not do his job.” The next thing they’ll mention is his detailed understanding of the production process—the product not only of his degree in print management from the Rochester Institute of Technology, but of his 15+ years at ULI, where his experience includes production planning, customer service, mailing, shipping and finishing, as well as scheduling. Wayne Peterson, vice president of sales and marketing, says that that understanding will be invaluable in Cornetta’s new role as account executive. “He knows how to make things happen and—having been in customer service—he completely understands the needs of the client. That’s a resource that will be incredibly important to his clients.” Azbill concurs, saying, “Paul’s background will be a very powerful asset. He has a solid technical base, and understands what works—as well as the pitfalls. He’ll be able to advise his clients on what works, what doesn’t and what will add cost to a job.” Finally, they’ll describe his dedication—to the company itself, the people he works with and the clients he supports. JoAnne Bland, former head of prepress and new plant scheduler, says Cornetta has a “high energy level and challenges the production staff to be creative in accepting projects.” And Charlie Goode, who has worked closely with Cornetta for more than a decade, cites his extraordinary commitment to and passion for his work, noting that Cornetta goes out of his way to create win-win situations. “Paul will do whatever it takes to go the extra mile,” Goode says. “Some people take care of the people who take care of them, but Paul takes care of everyone.” So what does Cornetta himself say? “I grew up at United Litho, and I trust the players—they’ve helped develop who I am. I trust what we do, and I’m confident in the team behind me. We print as well as any other printer, we service our clients extremely well and we deliver on time. … Being in sales has been a life-long goal, and I’m anxious to get started! It’s easy to sell something you believe in.” An Extraordinary Service Experience: Professional Surveyor In 1998, lured by promises of cost savings and technological advances, Professional Surveyor Magazine left United Litho after 15+ years to try its luck with a larger printer. But the potential in those promises was never realized, as costs increased and print quality ceased to be a given. Indeed, says Associate Publisher Allen Cheves, the “quality roller coaster” they found themselves on left him biting his nails each month when he shipped the magazine off to the printer. Less than three years later, the monthly magazine returned to ULI, satisfied that the Ashburn-based plant would provide top-quality printing, rapid adoption of new technology and competitive and reasonable pricing. “United Litho has followed through with all of its promises,” Cheves says. “I’m thrilled to be able to hand over my magazine and not be concerned about the quality of the printing. I know that United Litho will take care of me.” Although Cheves has a small production staff and presently produces only one title, his magazine—which targets high-level professionals in the fields of surveying, mapping, engineering and related geomatics—must compete for advertisers with publishers whose stables include 60 to 70 magazines. Clearly, this makes printing that is consistently first-rate not just appreciated but essential. With ULI’s performance in the annual PIVA Awards—where Professional Surveyor took both a First Place award and an Award of Excellence this past year—Cheves can assure his advertisers with confidence that they’ll be happy with their ads’ appearance in his magazine. “In a world where people are busy and usually call only when there are problems, I consistently get calls from advertisers letting me know how superb their ads look!” ULI Account Manager Jenny Meckley, who works closely with Cheves, has seen some of those kudos firsthand, in the form of forwarded emails from happy advertisers. “We’ve gotten a few of those,” Meckley says, “along with a lot of nice notes from Allen himself. The folks at Professional Surveyor are the nicest people to deal with!” When it comes to technological issues, Cheves credits ULI Technical Support Representative Andrew Moore. “Andy has been a wonderful resource,” Cheves says. “Within a short time, we’ve enhanced our workflow and are now ready to start a new PDF workflow. I have no concerns about ULI being technically advanced.” “Of course,” Cheves says, “relationships and customer service were givens. I want to do business with someone who needs, values and respects my business. I want someone to care about me and my magazine ... and I get that feeling with United Litho. At the larger printer, I felt like just another fish in the pond. I was just another magazine, and they didn’t have any desire to keep me. In contrast, United Litho cares about me. There’s a comfort that I enjoy. I’ll continue to bring work to United Litho, and I recommend ULI to anyone who asks!”
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