Test Your Desktop Publishing Knowledge by John Knapp, Binary Graphics, Inc. Seattle © 1997 Binary Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. As Carrie Graves at Team Design in Seattle said "It's totally important that [printers] know what they're talking about. They carry information back to the production operators at the shop and if one word is misunderstood that can make a major change in the things that get done. We have no time for mistakes." It's rewarding for me to meet printers that understand desktop and electronic prepress but it's a rare individual that really knows their stuff. I think that's too bad so I wrote this article to help. Salespeople, customer service people and anyone involved with desktop should, in my opinion, be able to answer these basic questions: Why not create page layouts with Microsoft Word? What is the difference between an EPS file and a TIFF file? What is the difference between a PostScript file and an EPS file? What is the difference between Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop? What is the difference between Adobe Illustrator and Quark XPress? What is a pixel? What is the proper resolution for a high-res line-art scan? What is the proper resolution for a high-res photographic scan? Why is it better to re-size photos using Photoshop than Quark XPress? Why is it better to crop photos using Photoshop than Quark XPress? How do you create bleeds in Adobe PageMaker? What is the best way to create a hard edged drop shadow for headline type? What is the best way to create a soft edged drop shadow for headline type? What are the capabilities and limitations of Quark XPress trapping? What are the capabilities and limitations of Adobe TrapWise trapping? Why is the Picture Usage command in Quark XPress so important? Why is the Links command in Adobe PageMaker so important? Why is the Collect for Output command in Quark XPress so important? What information is contained in the Quark XPress Collect for Output Report? Why is hardcopy necessary when sending a digital mechanical for output? What is wrong with laser hardcopy that didn't come from a PostScript laser? What files should be on the disk when the job comes in to the plant? What is PostScript? What is a RIP? What is the difference between capstan and drum imagesetters? How did you do? Let me know if you have any questions. Home Article index On-line glossary Getting help