Ever since Photoshop became a verb, a tacit expectation rose that (regardless of your background, training, interests, job title or schedule) you should have a working knowledge of most all current graphics software. Still using Corel Draw? Good heavens, you’re a relic! Not sure if you own Adobe Acrobat or Adobe InDesign? What, were you born in a barn?

Now Hiring: We’re looking for a few good clients who don’t Photoshop and are proud of it! The ideal candidates don’t have a mind cluttered by the minutia of application menus, operating systems and process color separation. Instead, they can clearly articulate project goals and objectives in a comprehensive yet concise manner. They haven’t spent the last two weeks trying to strangle an electronic document into submission, and hence there’s plenty of time for someone else to produce the project in question from scratch if necessary.

If you’re great at creating electronic documents and images, our prepress department is most thankful for that. Still, all too often I feel the pain of my customer who is under tremendous pressure to produce work that is far outside of his/her skill set on a schedule that an expert graphic artist would be hard pressed to match.

If I’m wandering here, perhaps I should get to the point: spend your valuable time doing the brainwork. Have a clear marketing plan in place. Succinctly define your objectives in writing and then rent the best graphic design specialist you can afford for a few hours. It just might be the best investment you’ve made all year!

Over a decade ago typographer and graphic designer Kathleen Tinkel wrote:

Armed with our Macs, we presumed to compete with our creative partners (typographers, illustrators, airbrush artists, retouchers and more), helping to put some trades out of business. But the computer isn’t as capable as a talented artist or skilled artisan, so we traded quality for glitzy tricks and techniques, and turned ourselves into high-tech production artists in the process… Our clients…believed the ads that said they could dispense with expensive designers, and instead began to buy their own Macs and WYSIWYG software… Is graphic design dead?

Personally, I’m prone to agree with Monty Python and wheel out the discipline of graphic design on a cart. This opinion is based on countless experiences over the last decade, as well as the dearth of thoughtful, well designed print in all but a small minority of examples currently in circulation.

One such experience was the recent phone inquiry from a new customer excited at the prospect of fancy color business cards now within her $50 budget. When advised that she’d need to supply a ready to print PDF or application file, there was a moment’s hesitation. “It’s just a logo, a line and a little bit of text. Isn’t there any way I can get around paying someone to set that up?”

All too typical.

After some thought, it occurred to me that today many a person would easily shell out $75 to get his/her car washed and waxed but never even consider a similar amount paid to a graphic designer to create a vibrant design which could and should last for years to come. Design is dead, because today all too few marketers see its inherent value.

Yes, creating your own home-brew design on a PC or Mac can be an immersive experience. Hours fly by, and we become increasingly attached to our creation with each passing minute. Regardless of its merit.

Herein lies your opportunity: Invest in good design. With so many routine layouts in circulation these days, your own professionally designed presentation will likely jump off the page and grab your customers’ attention.

And, also you’ll have time to use your computer for something that’s fun.

The program has a great feature that collects your document, all needed fonts and linked graphics for print. Using it saves time, and gives you the best results when handing off the files to our graphics department. Here’s the rundown:

In PageMaker, there is a plug-in under Utilities named Save for Service Provider. Using the Save for Service Provider plug-in, the user can copy the publication, all linked image files, fonts, and other files required to print the document. Save for Service Provider also helps resolve broken links by prompting the user to locate the folders containing linked files. Similarly, this plug-in can also check the status of links and fonts in a PostScript file generated by PageMaker 6.5.

Optionally, a concise report of the information we need to print from a PageMaker or PostScript file can also be created. The report includes details about fonts, linked graphics, a summary of the print settings, as well as information about who to contact regarding the publication.

To save files and generate a report using Save for Service Provider:

Choose Utilities > Plug-ins > Save for Service Provider. The Summary dialog box opens. The plug-in works on the active publication if the Check Pub is clicked.

Click Fonts, Links, Printing, or Colors to see a detailed report on that aspect of the publication or PostScript file. Print the status information by clicking Print at any time.

If the Links dialog box shows one or more linked files needing attention, click Relink or
Relink All, and navigate to the correct image files.
To save the publication, click Package, and set options as follows:

From the Report Type pop-up menu, choose Formatted (for a PageMaker publication) or Text only (for an ASCII text-only file).

Select Auto Open Package Report if, after saving the publication and associated files, the user wants to display the summary report in a new window on your desktop.

Select Update Links to bring out-of-date links up-to-date in the original publication before making a package.

For Include, select Copy Fonts to avoid missing fonts at print time, and then select the kind of fonts—All, Type 1 (PostScript), or TrueType.

Click Notes to enter contact information, such as the user’s name and phone number, any comments on printing the publication, and then click OK.

Before you finish, use your normal process to create a PDF version of your Pagemaker document, and include that with the files your send.

Specify a location in which to save all necessary files. Put all of the files in a single folder. Then compress that folder, into a single archive file. In Windows, you can do that by right clicking the folder and selecting “send to..compressed folder.” There’s a similar function on the Macintosh by usiing the control key, while you click on the folder. This will bring up a menu from which you can select compress.

Send your compressed folder as a file attachment, or preferably use the send files feature on our website. That’s it!

Using a menu bar item, or keyboard shortcut, you simply select the content you need and paste it wherever you want. Simple and elegant.

It’s called Jumpcut. Download it from the author’s Sourceforge page.

Better yet, these EPS items (also called paths/shapes) can now be freely and directly placed and edited in Adobe InDesign. Here’s how, according to David Watterson, art director of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.

Simply copy the item(s) from the source application and paste into you InDesign document via the clipboard. To copy paths from Illustrator 10 and up, be sure that AICB is checked and the “Preserve Paths” button is selected in Illustrator’s file handling and clipboard preferences.

And speaking of Adobe InDesign, be sure to sign up for our latest Copies&Ink event, sponsored by the nice folks at Adobe Systems.

In the wake of $4.59 gasoline, I can’t think of a better time to think green than right now. Maybe even better than thinking green, each of us has the power to take positive steps in the direction of renewable resources, cleaner air and a healthier life.

It’s 5 miles from my front door to my office; and 5 (mostly uphill) miles home. I do that in about 30 minutes on my old Trek bike. It can replace my workout time at the gym. And it allows my wife the use of my car, which gets far better mileage than hers. The ride clears my mind, and my clothes are fitting better too!

You’d be surprised how much territory you can cover on a bicycle, in a short amount of time. There’s a wealth of resources (in print and online) and there are great local bike shops to support your endeavor. You’ll discover a community of nice folks, in just about every walk of life. Consider cycling, and give that car or truck a day or two a week off! Work close to home. Or live close to work. You’ll gain a bundle of cash, valuable time, and peace of mind in the deal.

BTW, I’ve heard bicycle equivalent mileage figures in excess of 1000 mpg. This writer explains why vegetarians get almost twice the mileage