Professional printing using designer pro 10

[tod]

Hello

I create website and printed documents using Designer Pro.
For website, you can check my others posts (at the moment I work on another website restaurant).

For printed documents
Here is a sample :


My workflow, is :
create several proposals using designer, modify them with Designer when client ask for.

When 99% of the design is accepted by the client, I start from scratch using Indesign/illustrator/photoshop (my main activities is teaching all of these softwares).

You may think : why do you do the work twice ?

Well Designer is a fantastic tool (I prefer Designer to any other software), but I use to have some problem with printed documents a few year ago, and since didn't try again (but i'm thinking about making a try on a small series). Another issue is color variation.

When you print 200 000 printed document, you must be sure of the result.

Is there some of you using Designer for commercial printing regularly ?
Do you have any triks and tips to avoid printed problem ?

regards

[Cloud]

I have had a print company for the past 14years (designer way before that) and we have never received a file from a designer using xara software. That does not mean that it is not good software for design, I have not used designer personally so cannot comment on that point but as a print professional I would say that as long as you can output a PDF file to comply with whatever your print firm requests (and I don't see why you wouldn't be able to in xara) then you will be fine. We request pdf files output as pdf/x-1a2001 from designers.

[gwpriester]

tod - I worked in advertising and graphic design my adult life. I have been using Xara products for more than 15 years. I have created brochures, ads, books, you name it, in Xara, currently Designer Pro X10. I sure Mike M. will have his opinions. If you produce a PDF/X file your results will be very good. I have not been disappointed.

A few years ago I was preparing a full page color ad for a magazine. The magazine's requirements called for material to be created in QuarkXPress on a Mac. I wrote to them and said I am sending you a PDF/X file created in Windows and not in Quark. Let me know if you have any problems. They did not. And the ad looked great in the magazine.

[Cloud]

I remember around 2001 I had to supply files to a commercial printer (to print 50,000 A4 fast food menus) and they refused to accept files output in coreldraw (they would only accept postscript files then - EPS) and they would refuse to accept PDF files full stop. But once they saw the possibilities of PDF they were fine. The is the great thing about PDF files, and we only accept PDF files, we don't care which software they are output from, as long as the standard is the correct one.

[Gamerprinter]

I run a digital print shop/graphic design studio. In-house, I print short run prints of a variety of letter size/tabloid size documents, and large format inkjet prints for one-off posters, banners, signs. Inhouse, I only use Xara Designer Pro, and have since XaraX1 - so at least 10+ years for inhouse work, Xara is the only tool I use.

For print work that is going to be done by a large printing house and require a PDF with specific requirements. For most of such work, I use Xara for design and export only, and no other software used. I've heard and read where OneBookShelf (Ingram Printing) prefer documents to be created using in InDesign. That may be true, however, I have never touched InDesign and have no intention of ever purchasing it, nor ever using it. There were issues now and again regarding space between page edge and printed content, however, once format was corrected, every PDF document I've ever designed and created in XDP has been accepted and used for professional print runs. I've never needed to use InDesign. For image enhancement type work I do use Adobe Photoshop, rather than relying on the bitmap tools in Xara. Still I hardly ever need to use Photoshop, getting the color and detail right the first time in Xara and no need to tweak afterward.

For a recent cartography illustration commission I did for Brady Games/Activision Software, though all the design work was done in Xara Designer Pro and exported as PDF/x1a at 300 dpi. Apparently one of the page layout designers at Brady Games, which is completely Mac based design house, couldn't open one of my PDF maps. So I used Acrobat Pro 2014 to open the Xara created PDF and saved it again - which solved the opening problem at Brady Games. I'm guessing its a Mac thing, since I only use PCs in my shop.

[Albacore]

It can be tricky! You have got to remember that that the colour mode in all versions of Xar is RGB to CMYK. If the wrong colours are used then your output will look washed out a bit ---> Windows (top Menu) --> Show Printer Colours ---> Simulate Printing Colours. That will give an approx of the colour shift but it is only a guide we basically do it from experience and using Acro Pro along with either using a custom basic palette which has been printed or we use Pantone books. Also many of the tools that are available are RGB based, bevels, complex transparencies. Looking at your other restaurants websites it looks like you are using many bitmaps and you will need to rely own the quality of the RIP software used by your printers.

You will think I am painting a very poor outcome here even in PS you can have problems with out of gamut JPEG's. Now I have worked in Scotlands national newspapers using Xara as well in the NHS for years and the PDF's produced have never been refused by the printer but I knew all the printers that I have used. If you have any problems don't hesitate and come back and ask what you like.

[tod]

Thanks for these answers.
I'll try a "Xara only" pipeline in 2015, on a small project, then, I'll then let you kown if any problem occurs or not.

Regards