Adobe Flash Preflight

Adobe Flash Preflight, similar to checking a PDF, is optimally done BEFORE you export to a more closed file type, such as a SWF or FLA interactive format. It is best, as this post titled, "Export to Flash after FlightCheck Preflight" states, to first check the native file. Often that will be Adobe Illustrator, InDesign or Photoshop. But also could be QuarkXPress, who just added some interesting interactive exporting options themselves... QuarkXPress to Blio eReader.

Adobe_flash_preflight

There are many things that can go wrong with an improperly prepared native file before going to Adobe Flash. Just like in preflighting before printing or exporting to a PDF, it is important to check before going to interactive formats. Here is a small preflight checklist for Flash:

* Use RGB color spacing - not CMYK
* Check file sizes and disk space - large slides or movies may cause a failure
* Transparent Objects should not overlap moving objects (buttons, hyperlinks, etc.) as this may
  result in failure of interactivity
* Flattened transparency is desired
* Video formats encoded in the FLV or H.264 format only.
* 3D graphics may export strangely to SWF or FLA; those 3D objects used within InDesign not at all
* OpenType and TrueType fonts only no Postscript fonts will be able to exported
* Fonts converted to Outline (Safest exporting bet)
* Minimum size used of your fonts not less than 6 point (readability)
* Large number of vector images used in Illustrator may cause performance issues

And much more really. Using tools like Markzware FlightCheck v6.75 to check before exporting to Flash, PDF or straight to print is just plain smart. So my question is this;

What do you check for before exporting to Flash or some other interactive format?

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NEW--> Desktop Publishing Search - 
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FlightCheck Professional v6.75 - stand-alone preflighting just stood taller:
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Adobe CS5 Preflighting - from Illustrator to InDesign and Photoshop to Acrobat PDF's - FlightCheck v6.75

Markzware Announces Upgrade for FlightCheck With Adobe CS5 Support

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA ANA, California, June 17, 2010 — Markzware (http://markzware.com), the leading developer and inventor of preflighting today announced an upgrade for FlightCheck, its popular preflighting solution. FlightCheck Professional v6.75 for Macintosh adds Adobe CS5 support for InDesign Creative Suite 5. This powerful upgrade gives printers, graphic designers and publishers the ability to preflight efficiently for printing quality control, avoiding costly production errors.

Read this news on Markzware here...
Boxshot_flightcheck_pro_small

Markzware’s FlightCheck is your total prepress application used to manage printing quality control for print jobs. This preflighting solution provides both a native file and Adobe PDF preflight check and is backed by a United States Patent. FlightCheck is the essential preflight tool for Print Shops, Creative Designers, Prepress Departments, Customer Service Reps and Graphics Professionals in the digital print, publishing and print industries. FlightCheck helps you scan and prepare PDF and other document types for commercial printing quality control, which can avoid printing problems and avoid re-printing jobs, saving you valuable time and money.

Dave Jankowski, executive art director for Brewer Associates said, “I would recommend FlightCheck Pro to those that have a good understanding of print and even those who are beginning their careers in print advertising. I think it’s vital to provide your printer with correct file formats that will help them expedite your job. I hear too many times from printers about the files they will correct and not inform designers the extra steps taken to complete the job just so they can meet a deadline.  Using FlightCheck Pro can make you smarter and your printer happy.”

Flightcheck_professional_v6_5_
FlightCheck "Approved"
Packaged & Zipped
Print Archive...

FlightCheck with Adobe CS5 support can preflight digital files thoroughly, performs a detailed preflight check scan, and warns you about potential printing problems. This preflighting solution provides a complete print job analysis in a preflight report that highlights potential printing problems, listing print errors item by item, including missing fonts, incorrect colors, incorrect image resolution and much more. FlightCheck can then collect all print elements required for the job, such as images and fonts, to insure that your print job results are as expected.

David Steinberg, technical support and systems specialist at Intrigue Design said, “It builds confidence and integrity to know that the files we are sending  to our vendor and clients were checked in FlightCheck before going out the door. It’s the standard in the industry for a reason.”

One of the key capabilities of Markzware FlightCheck Professional is its power to preflight a wide variety of file formats and image types. A partial list includes – Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe FreeHand, QuarkXPress, Microsoft Office, EPS, TIFF and many more.

“Every desktop publishing application that boasts about having built-in ‘flight-checking’ capabilities compares itself to Markzware’s FlightCheck; the program that sets the standard.  So far, nothing even comes close,” said Michael Shaw, MaUsE President, Editor, MaUSE DoubleClick.

Pricing and Availability

The software upgrade for FlightCheck Professional 6.75 for Macintosh with CS5 support is available immediately. You can upgrade from FlightCheck v5.0 through v6.1x to the upgrade for FlightCheck Professional for $/€99.00. You can purchase and download it from http://markzware.com/store. The full version is available for $/€399.00. Registered users of FlightCheck Professional v6.5 may update to v6.75 without charge; see http://markzware.com/support/updaters/ for details.  For a free FlightCheck Demo click here.

About Markzware

Markzware, a privately-held company based in Santa Ana, California, is the leading developer of printing quality control, data conversion, and workflow solution products for the international graphic arts, printing and digital multimedia industries.

2010 Markzware. All rights reserved. Covered by U.S. Patent #5,963,641.

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De-archive, Index, and Improve ROI on your Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher DTP content!

PageZephyr ROI: Search, De-archive, Index, and Improve ROI on your Adobe InDesign (.indd), QuarkXPress (.qxp or .qxd) and Microsoft Publisher (.pub) content 

Help, my content is stuck in my DTP document and cannot get out!

Jeff Kew Fireboy Creative Inc
"My initial reaction to PageZephyr was one of excitement" - Jeff Kew Fireboy Creative Inc.

"My initial reaction to

PageZephyr was one of excitement," according to Jeff Kew, Fireboy Creative Inc., in Vancouver, BC. Canada, where he establishes workflow and prepress of files. Kew is also the founder and chapter representative of the Vancouver InDesign Group.

When Markzware sat down with Kew, we wanted to know his initial first impressions of PageZephyr, which provides the full power to search InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher files. It can also index files of those file types, as well as extract content to text file formats, during and after prepress, allowing you to reuse content and improve ROI (return on investment).

At first, when Kew gave it a try, he didn't realize he was working with a v1.0 application. Kew explained after his initial reaction of excitement, "However, my needs from PageZephyr were more than the programmers had considered in their initial release.  I was indexing over 10,000 files across terabytes of drives. I quickly discovered what an amazing support team Markzware has.  I was able to speak with the actual developers and they worked with me to resolve the issues.  They even sent me updates directly to use.  Within weeks of my input, PageZephyr v2.0 was released and it is a very functional product.

Dearchive or retrieve copy

Kew, whose work is mostly in the print ad based arena, is asked to dearchive (which is the process of reinstating archived files) or retrieve jobs that are based on the headline used or retrieve copy to reuse content in other documents. "PageZephyr has been a huge help in improving efficiencies in dearchiving and job searches. It's paid off for itself many times over since I started working with it."

An unforeseen ROI

So, where does the ROI come into play in Kew's use of PageZephyr? Kew shares this, "An unforeseen ROI has been that the "suits" can also search text and retrieve copy, etc., from other jobs for use in their proposals even though they don't have InDesign on their computers.  Again, another opportunity to improve efficiencies." Kew continues to explain, "when using PageZephyr on my laptop with only a few hundred files, it was super quick and efficient.  When connected to my network systems and searching through thousands of files, it is equally quick. However, to be warned, the initial setup of your PageZephyr can take awhile -- so I suggest you let it index files at the end of the day.  This is no different from Spotlight, too."

PageZephyr picks up where Spotlight leaves off as it can search InDesign CS-CS5, QuarkXPress 4-8 and Microsoft Publisher files on Mac storage volumes, index files, and search text in the indexed files. This enables you to reuse content, as well as save time and money when you need to search text and dearchive and index files, which can improve ROI. So, remember to use PageZephyr to search InDesign, Quark and Microsoft Publisher files, and improve ROI today.

What are your thoughts

Do you have a need to search text in legacy documents within these prepress dtp files?  Do you wish to see other files added, and if so, which ones?

Do you want to have the capability to extract content to text file formats in which Spotlight is unable to search, but without the need to have the original applications just to extract content?

We would love to hear your comments, questions, and feedback. See original post:

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The print, publishing and layout artists Quality Triangle...

Print -- Publishing -- Graphic Design

Quality Control Costs

Here was a great post over on markzware.com: http://www.bit.ly/99wSeN which reads --

Close to fifteen years on the same question arises, time and time again, with regards to quality control in the design to print process:

Where is the best place to preflight the art-work or print layout?

Quality_triangle_preflight_sav

Stop a preflight problem in an element at the design stage, it may only set you back $10€; that same problem on the press will cost you potentially $thousands€. This chart answers that age-old question pretty clearly and shows how simple preflight controls can greatly improve your ROI. Preflighting is not a process just ‘done by someone else’ in the manufacturing of your designs you want to take flight in the form or a printed piece. It should be done throughout in the workflow, time and time again. Just ask Toyota and their recent huge recall of Prius automobilies due to faulty brake software.

Naturally each workflow varies, often greatly, but as a rule of thumb, you should preflight with tools like FlightCheck Professional v6.5 just before you are about to:

A) Send off to another party to work further on the layout or design
B) Before using received  artwork from other sources
C) Whenever something is unsure or elements “act-up” in the layout
D) (before) Output or Export to PDF or Print
E) Postflight the resulting/received print PDF file

There are those that like an active, live preflight during the manufacturing process itself of the graphic design for color brochures, business cards, etc, but most will admit to that not working well in the overall creative process.

FlightCheck professional v6.5 is the preflight tool of choice for thousands of graphic designers, layout artist, prepress operators and print professionals alike. (See FlightCheck customer testimonials here.) FlightCheck allows you to preflight in A thru E highlighted above to get perfect print quality the first time. It’s that simple. FlightCheck handles 50+ file formats, allowing you to both preflight (InDesign, Illustrator, QuarkXPress, etc) and postflight (PDF, EPS, Postscript, etc)  your workflow to a standard that even Deming would approve:

“Quality is everyone’s responsibility”

W. Edwards Deming


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"Bad files make bad PDFs. That's why programs such as FlightCheck are so invaluable." - David Creamer

There is a great discussion going on in the Group of Prepress, Print & Color Management Professionals over on Linkedin, started by Cindy (Bailey) Wingo, where in short she asked:

"What are the industry standards for producing clean, RIPpable files?" ... "What is the industry standard for excellence in pre-flighting files?"

Source: Group of Prepress, Print & Color Management Professionals

Great replies, but it is the last post, which I will start with; which is the summary as far as quality-minded design and publishing users are concerned with, in the overall workflow process to printed output:

"Preflighting should happen even before the PDF is even created. Bad files make bad PDFs. That's why programs such as FlightCheck are so invaluable."

David Creamer from I.D.E.A.S on preflightingSource: David Creamer via the Group of Prepress, Print & Color Management Professionals

This was in response to the usual postflighting options mentioned for later stage PDF's and the likes. This is fine and true, as a step right before the RIP, but not the entire truth; actually far from it. You need to Preflight FIRST before even making a PDF print-file. What was encouraging was the facts brought forth by industry expert (I.D.E.A.S Training) and certified Adobe and Quark trainer, David Creamer and our own Mary Gay (Pettit) Marchese, for this is the way to make a publishing and print workflow truly flow.

David started by sharing some great PDF's on how to properly prepare desktop publishing layouts for print. Here was one great educational piece for graphic designers and publishers you can download here...

Mary Gay quickly pointed out to those pushing only the postflight option, which is of course needed after the PDF is made, that they could be in for major workflow problems with this:

"FlightCheck or even preflight generally speaking is all about catching problems before sending that native file to the printer with fonts and images (still used today) or outputting to PDF or otherwise directly printing that file."
Mary Gay Marchese on Markzwares FlightCheck Professional v6.5

And then of course Mr. Creamer's point, which we highlighted above but is more than worth to repeat again, "Preflighting should happen even before the PDF is even created. Bad files make bad PDFs. That's why programs such as FlightCheck are so invaluable."

Preflighting is both an art and a science. Check and check often and your quality control will pay off in excellent, top-notch output; whether it is to PDF, or as a packaged native job with all fonts and images to the printer, make sure you preflight.

(FlightCheck Professional v6.5 in addition to preflighting, can even collect or package all used fonts and images, even compressing them up, for easy delivery to the next group in the design-prepress-print-workflow.)

For more info on incredible uses of FlightCheck Professional v6.5, please see:

FlightCheck Professional v6.5 new features and functions

FACT: Did you know that FlightCheck can both preflight native or source files like Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and QuarkXPress as well as postflight processed files, such as EPS and PDFs? It can, all via one stand-alone application.

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iPod is an iFail? I doubt it and the Apple iPhone is why...

There was an interesting Apple iPad survey yesterday by one of the main Dutch news broadcaster (RTL4) asking:

Can you hardly wait to get the 'revolutionary' iPad?

Survey will you purchase iPad RTLNieuws netherlands

21% said yes, while 78% said no, they can wait and RTL4 was also wondering in their broadcast what was so special about this new Apple tablet device; as was CNN, Wired Magazine and many Twitter Tweeters. One could argue that this survey is a positive for the iPad is still in pre-launch mode, yet then again, many will see this as a sign that the iPad is an iFail waiting to happen. (Apple stock ticker AAPL shows it down 4%+ last night)

Now this sounds familiar. Remember before the Apple iPhone came out (for instance, "Why the Apple phone will fail, and fail badly" from pre iPhone launch 2006)? Same sort of surveys and opinions it seems. As a matter of a fact, there was a time there just before the launch of the iPhone that many saw it being a complete and utter failure! To be honest, I was one of them. Wow was I wrong! (Just do this Google search, "iPhone will fail", which I searched on dates from 2005 till end 2006 and it is kind of amazing!),

Well, we all know the history so far on the iPhone- a huge success. And although I am a loyal Mac user at work and home for computing and music, I do not own an iPhone and am not going to be the first to jump on the iPad, iWait; iThink, but that is just the conservative side of me.

Do not write off this media reader just yet. iPad and the Printing Industry? Yes, the erosion of print to digital continues, but is that bondo or sheet metal I see coming to the rescue... As a matter of a fact, there are many opportunities for printers and the iPad, but that is for a later post... Have a great weekend!

 

VIEW SOURCE POST HERE:

http://www.markzware.com/blogs/ipad-is-an-ifail-remember-the-iphone-before-it-was-released/2010/01/29/

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myBrainShark - add sound and interaction to your business presentations plus share online

As software developers of Adobe InDesign Plug-ins, Quark XTensions and stand-alone applications for graphic designers, publishers and prepress operators, we are always giving demonstrations on what products we offer and how our software works. Thus, this new business and professional networking site, myBrainshark, (Thanks Celeste!) adds a twist by helping you add life to your PowerPoint presentations and other documents. Here is our first upload, a Flash version of our new PageZephyr search engine video:

Markzware MyBrainShark movie search_engine InDesign

http://my.brainshark.com/PageZephyr-Index-View-Search-Extract-Adobe-InDesign-Content-13045036

One bummer was; it appears the embed code HTML does not sit well with WordPress. I had to manually mock up that this video was embedded. For the rest, really neat how you can add voice to your Microsoft Power Point presentations and other documents. Feel free to share your myBrainShark content links in the comment section below (Trying embedding there, often it works in the comments section for some reason!)...

Desktop Publishing Turns 25 - a DTP historical timeline

DTP software ripens at 25!
anno 1985...

History of Desktop Publishing or DTP software
Aldus, Adobe, Macromedia and Quark - 25 years in the making...
--- Timeline of DTP ---

pagemaker_v1.0_1985_Aldus

  • 1985 - Aldus Corp releases PageMaker for the Macintosh in July 1985, and relied on Adobe's PostScript page description language.
  • 1986 - This year sees PageMaker PC come out; Mac is by then de-facto standard in Desktop Publishing.
  • 1987 - QuarkXPress jumps into the page-layout scene in 1987!
  • 1987 - In 1987 Adobe Illustrator is brought on the scene.
  • 1990 - This year sees Adobe's Photoshop spring to life (Wow, 20 year anniversary for .psd!).
  • 1990(?) - FreeHand is created by Altsys and licensed to Aldus and brought to illustrators around the globe!
  • 1990's - The 90's see Quark becoming the most used application in DTP, helped by their partners program for XTension developers, like Markzware, one of the longest standing still operating today.
  • 1993 – PDF 1.0 and Acrobat 1.0 comes from Adobe.(see)
  • 1994 - September 1994 sees Aldus merging with Adobe and PageMaker get's new wings, but largely stays caged.
  • 1995 - '95 sees Patrick Marchese and Ronald Crandall launching FlightCheck at Seybold S.F.
  • 1996 - In 1996 QuarkXPress v 3.3 released, with stable handling of Adobe's Postscript fonts as well as with Apple's TrueType fonts, makes Quark the undisputed king of desktop publishing of that era.
  • Quark had 90% market share in the 1990s, but was highly criticized for not innovating enough (Believe it or not, the users wanted MORE Upgrades!).
  • 1997 - November 24, 1997, Markzware files for and is granted US Patent # 5,963,641 for Preflighting.
  • 1999 - "K2" is released by Adobe as InDesign v1.0 in 1999!
  • 2001 - In April of 2001, PDF/X-1 and PDF/X-1a become ISO standards internationally.
  • 2002 -  We see a Quark conflict with Apple and the release of Adobe InDesign 2.0, working smoothly.
  • 2005 - December 3, 2005 Adobe gobbles up competitor Macromedia, solidifying the new standard in graphic arts software.
  • 2005 - Version 3.0 of InDesign included in Creative Suite (CS) by Adobe with Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe PDF Acrobat.
  • 2007 - In 2007 we see InDesign CS3 and Creative Suite 3 come to market. Many say, including myself from the number of CS3 files we get in, that CS3 is still the most widely used software in DTP today.
  • 2008 - QuarkXPress v8.0 comes out in 2008, but the masses are rapidly switching to InDesign.
  • 2008 - CS4 and Adobe InDesign CS4 released into a rough economy.
  • 2010 - ???
    Sources: [FreeHand] [Aldus] [QuarkXPress] [Macromedia] [Adobe] [PDF] [PDF/X] [FlightCheck] [preflight] - Note: If you have any corrections or additions, please comment below and let us know!

    DTPSoftware

So, is Quark the Aldus of today?  DTP 25 years in the making; no surprise thus that the Macintosh Computer is 26 years old, now is it...

macintosh 128k first apple

Johannes Gutenberg would be amazed how easy a layout is to make these days, but perhaps disgusted on how many printing-problems can arise from "using software" as well! Thanks Willy for the comment which promoted this post!




To see the full post, please view:

Test_t-shirt_markzware

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A Call to all Urban Designers who use InDesign, Illustrator - survey time...

Urban designers are a niche within graphic design that I personally find quite interesting. If you read some of what they do on a job description, you'll see that many not only get to layout and design with InDesign, Quark, Illustrator and CAD programs (point 7), but also often have a hands-on duty with planners, community leaders and local governments. Basically each position varies, but in a nut-shell they help plan our towns, cities and landscapes!

Keppiedesign


Urban Designers, the rest of this post is just for you! Recently we helped an urban designer with a bad or corrupt Adobe InDesign file. Through that contact, we decided to look deeper into what we as a provider of software productivity tools could mean for you, the user of graphical representation software...

URBAN DESIGNERS GRAPHIC DESIGN SURVEY
A few Quick Questions...

We have a few simple questions to ask of you in this easy to complete online survey. Your feedback would be much appreciated to help us better understand how we can serve urban designers and architect firms:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/231245/urban-designers-survey

Have a great day and we look forward to your feedback,

Markzware

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GOOGLE to get BINGED off iPhone by Apple?

Apple Said to be Talking With Microsoft to Replace Google search on iPhone... (Bloomberg) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTsv9n41LCBM&pos=1

Bing has not looked bad as a search engine, this is very true. Wow, between Android, China and now this, it has not really been Google's month. (Stock symbol: GOOG) - Conspiracy corner: Little know fact: Bill Gates made a huge investment in Apple, before Jobs came back on the scene in the late 90's (1997).... That's right, Microsoft is (was?) a happy investor in Apple and literally may have saved the company at the conjuncture as well! See: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html

Well, if you need desktop search for your Desktop Publishing file formats such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress, just let us know: http://pagezephyr.com