[atlantaprog] Re: CD Booklet / Layout

>The manufacturer usually requires files in Quark,
>but since it's a cardboard sleeve, they need the file in Illustrator!  So do
>check to make sure what the manufacturer needs before deciding on a graphic
>designer!

Good point! Everything I've discussed has been in reference to 
full-color-on-paper printing, such as your typical CD booklets. 
Printing directly on packaging, like cardboard sleeves, is typical 
done with specialized printing machines that use proprietary formats, 
and in those cases, they typically like files created in Illustrator 
because Illustrator typically creates a clean raw eps file - eps 
means "encapsulated postscript" and postscript is the electronic 
"lingua franca" of virtually all forms of printing!

Illustrator, though, is an "illustration" program though, not a page 
layout program, and a designer's options will be hobbled if they try 
to use Illustrator for the typesetting and other page layout aspects 
of the job. One possible solution is to use PDF files. Your designer 
can create the file in whatever program they want, as long as they 
can create a PDF from their file. Then they can open the PDF IN 
Illustrator and re-save it as an Illustrator file. This technique can 
work for most situations.

FIND OUT EXACTLY what your manufacturer wants before you get too far 
along with the design.

We haven't even addressed printing on the disc itself... which 
frequently raises yet another set of concerns!

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