more questions for experienced prepress and designers

[ellierae]

Thanks for everybody's help so far. I am still working on this project for my internship, researching to understand industry best practices across the board.
If you can answer even one of these question, please reply!

For Graphic Design Production Artists:
• What Application programs do you use?
• What operating system do you use and what version are you on?
• Do Macs perform better than PCs for graphic design and production?
Please list some of the pros and cons of each operating system.
• What are some of the efficiencies you've discovered in the programs you use that has saved you time?
• Do you use Master Pages?
How? Why?
• Do you use snippets?
How? Why?
• Do you use style sheets?
How? Why?

For people in the Prepress industry:
• Do you accept hi res pdfs for a final output from your customers?
If so, why?
If not, why?
• What Prepress programs do you use to prepare the artwork you receive?
• What is the percentage of files that have mistakes?
• What is your definition of a "World Class File"?

Thanks so much!!

[thom0975]

I'm going to answer these all personally (as to what's on MY terminal, not clients')

• What Application programs do you use?
Adobe PS/IL. InDesign since v. 2.0- Quark prior to that- PageMaker prior to that- FrameMaker prior to THAT! (LOL- damn I'm old.)


• What operating system do you use and what version are you on?
Both Windows and OSX. Specifically, I'm on Windows 7 and OSX Leopard.

• Do Macs perform better than PCs for graphic design and production?
Honestly- no. If you spend as much on a PC as a MAC, you'll get equal performance. Unless you use Quark...


• What are some of the efficiencies you've discovered in the programs you use that has saved you time?
Just in the past year and a half, I've made it a point of recording action-sets or macros for everything I do repeatedly. What a world of difference this has made in my overall productivity!


• Do you use Master Pages?
How? Why?
Of course! I can't imagine not using them, unless I was doing a uniquely shaped/sized one-off one-page document. I have blank documents set up for all publications I work for, with all pages (sans content) on Master Pages- and just flow them into the folios as I need. If I need a brochure: I open a blank brochure document- it master pages set up from all past jobs (that were worth keeping)- so I can rinse and repeat as needed. You get the idea.

• Do you use snippets?
How? Why?
Not in print work, no.

• Do you use style sheets?
How? Why?
Honestly- only with long (more than a 2 page spread) documents. Though I should use 'em more often- I SHOULD style everything- but I admit- I get lazy on the short docs.