Hi all,

Have a very nice client who liked his downloadable brochure so much that he has asked me to make a version he can send to the print shop.

I DONT DO PRINT. OMG. However, I used to do print, so perhaps with a lot of hand holding I can cope.

I understand print terms, I think, but don't quite get how things work in Xara, even though I have read the Xara help.

The brochure is 16 pages double sized A4 with a cover (colour photo, front and back), and internal colour for infographics. There may be other photos. The client likes photos. I haven't done print since PDFs came in (yes, that long). Are print shops pretty gung-ho, now, or will I have to do all the traditional things? IE can I just send colour pages over, or will I have to think about things like spot or tints etc?

I understand about bleeds. It looks like Xara's is 3mm?

My main question is do you guys use the double page spread setting, or do you make your own custom pages and draw in guides, for some reason. And if you do use the double page spread, can you explain the Xara help graphic to me please. The help file says the outer margin relates to the area OUTSIDE of your page, but in every help graphic I've seen of this process (and when you open the dialog box itself), the number for the outer margin appears to be smaller than the number for the page itself. Shouldn't it be larger?

What am I missing?

Also, from the olden days I am used to text's flowing in Quark Express. Should I bother in Xara - certainly any more than over the 2 page spreads? Do you find it helpful, or does it slow you down?

Recommended settings, advice, sympathy, flowers, sedatives all welcome.

All help, and quick help really really welcome. I don't have time to experiment.

So many thanks.

Ali