Service Bureaus:
Friend or Foe? You Decide.

By Mary Shafer

It's a nightmare that we've all faced at one time or another: A particularly good advertising space opportunity to promote your new fall line has presented itself, thereby unleashing a killer deadline on you to deliver a four-color, 8-page ad series as pre-separated films to Publisher's Weekly. The promise of a perfectly timed, large-exposure hit is enough to make you toil through your weekend on the perfect, inspired layout and production work. The photo shoots and developing went smoothly. The design is done, photos are scanned, retouched and dropped in place and production is finished. Now it's Monday and all you have to do is take it to your service bureau and run it to film.

But when you get back from dropping it off, you begin receiving a long string of phone calls from your customer service rep telling you that they can't go directly to film. Your document isn't reading well from the Syquest cartridge you delivered it on . . . seems the file's corrupted. And the files they have been able to download indicate some missing graphic support files. Oh, and where did you EVER get that strange font, Coupe de Ville Extra Condensed? They don't have it on file and need you to send the screen and PostScript support files right away.

Not a pretty scenario. What IS it with these idiots? Can't they just run the job and get off your back? After all, you've agreed to pay 200% rush charges for next-job status. They're being well-compensated for whatever minor glitches they might be asked to fix!

As publishers, you want to turn your artwork into films as soon as possible once everything is approved. Fact is, in this electronic pre-press world, very often your ability to do this hinges on your ability to work well with your service bureau for such things as film and RC output. Your service bureau is exactly that - a SERVICE bureau. They exist to help you get from digital information to the printed page. But it can often seem like they are anything but your allies in the fight against deadlines and costly wasted film.

Most times, service bureaus are staffed by more-than-competent people who care very deeply about giving you the best work possible. They know that if they fail to do so, you'll go elsewhere, and badmouth them to boot. Anyone in this industry knows that bad word-of-mouth advertising can be a death knell for even the biggest firm, so they want to keep you happy.

But the relationship goes both ways, and they can only work with what you provide them. Remember the oft-repeated maxim of the early computer age - Garbage In, Garbage Out? Well, it still holds true and nowhere does it apply more aptly than to electronic file output. So have a heart and remember that service bureaus are people, too. They really WANT to help you, no matter how much it seems that they are determined to undermine your career. As much as the production/service bureau relationship can be a rocky one, the good news is that this situation can very often be remedied by a few simple steps that you as a service bureau client can take…and you can do it beginning with your very next job.

Appropriate Media
First of all, be sure that the bureau you've chosen to output your job can handle whatever form of portable media you choose to provide them with. Floppy disks in both 3.5" and 5.25" formats, Syquest cartridges, flopticals, multi-session CD-ROMs - all are legitimate forms to use. But not every house supports every one of them, depending on what the majority of their clients require. The 5.25" floppies are going the way of the 33 rpm record album, and as Dayna drives are slowly being worn out or broken, they are not being replaced; it's just not a wise investment over the long haul. So it would be wise for you, as a client who has a vested interest in being able to output your files, to also begin phasing out your own use of that antiquated system. 3.5" drives of all kinds are relatively inexpensive - in the $200-$500 range - and will serve to keep you out of the Pleistocene era.

One big media glitch occurs when you are using 88 MB or 1.4 Gig Syquest carts, and the service bureau's drive can only read the old 44 MB types. Call ahead to make sure you're providing something they can actually use. And beware of those who indicate no intention to upgrade to the bigger drives; that kind of attitude usually presages an overall drop-off in service and quality, as anyone seriously engaged in service bureau work understands the need for a firm commitment to staying technologically current.

Another Syquest issue is that removable tape cartridges of this kind have a disconcertingly frequent tendency to corrupt for no apparent reason other than that they just don't seem to be built for the kind of physical abuse they are subjected to in everyday use. Yes, you can (and should) be careful not to drop or throw the cartridge, to keep it in its case when not being used, to keep it out of dusty areas; but my advice is that files being transported via Syquest or similar cartridge should AT ALL TIMES be backed up on a reliable hard drive somewhere. Longterm storage seems to be the best use for these carts, since that usually entails the media just sitting for long periods without being disturbed.

Optical disks were all the rage during my stint as a service bureau operator, but have since lost favor to the new Zip Drives, essentially little removable hard disks capable of storing up to 100 MB of information. Significantly less space than optical disks, but also significantly cheaper and, as of yet, reliable. Bernoullis and DAT carts are usually readable at most bureaus - if not one, then the other - as those are common forms of backup media for their own systems and files.

Be A Real Supporter
Probably the most frequent mistake made by clients wishing to have films or other output of files from page layout programs is failing to provide all the necessary support files required to complete the document. What do I mean by this? Basically, there are two forms of support files: fonts and graphics.

Let's discuss fonts first. This is a tricky one: it's easy to forget to provide all the fonts used in a document, since you've probably got them all online and just figure everyone else will, too. Not necessarily. A service house can't possibly keep all the fonts online that every customer uses. You know how expensive it is to upgrade even your little hard drive. Even with memory getting cheaper every day, buying the huge amounts necessary for archiving purposes is an investment that constantly haunts even the most progressive houses. So, make it a little easier for them and provide support fonts (both screen and printer faces) with your files.

And remember, too, that there are now many fonts out there that share names but not necessarily digital attributes (such as font numbering structures). Your Helvetica or Goudy font may not be exactly the same as theirs, so you ask them to substitute their online fonts for the ones you originally used at your own risk. Tracking and kerning are the two most commonly affected attributes that can change with font substitution, and in a space- or position-critical layout, the reflow caused by this kind of shift can be disastrous.

I mentioned providing both screen (bitmap) and printer (outline or AFM) fonts. You might be saying to yourself, "Hey, I use True Type fonts, so I don't need to worry about that!" You might be right. But let me tell you a not-real-well-kept service bureau secret: True Type fonts, while performing wonderfully in a Windows environment, wreak frequent (but not absolute) havoc when employed on the Mac platform. I don't know all the technical reasons why. What I do know is that pre-press operators cringe everytime a Mac job comes in with True Type fonts in it. Usually, the problem comes with clashes in PostScript language instructions between the front end (MAC terminal) and the output device (Agfa, Lino or other imagesetter), which has the end result of preventing the document from RIP-ping at a pace anything greater than that of an advancing glacier. So, if at all possible, when sending MAC files to a service bureau, avoid using True Type fonts when Type 1 or 3 is available.

Other files that are frequently forgotten are graphics. You know, Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop or other paint and image-editing files in EPS, TIFF, PICT or other formats. I'll divide my discussion of graphic support files into three categories here: those used in page layouts created by the two most popular programs, Quark XPress and Adobe/Aldus PageMaker and then all the less common apps such as Ventura Publisher, Publish It! and others. Each of these has its own particular way of setting up file architecture and consequently support files react differently with each.

In Quark XPress documents, files imported into picture boxes have "linkages" to their original documents. Just because you've linked them and they show up in your page layout doesn't mean they'll print out correctly unless you also provide the actual graphic documents along with the layout file for final output. If you don't, I guarantee you the graphics on the final output will bitmap and your films will be worthless. It also helps the bureau operator to know which version of the program you used to create the graphics. Doesn't seem important, but each electronic output device has its own idiosyncrasies that cause problems. For instance, the house I worked at had a color thermal printer that wouldn't image graphics from Illustrator 5.0 files. They had to be saved down to version 3.2, re-linked and then sent for them to image properly .

With Quark, there's really no excuse not to provide all the graphic support files necessary if you use the handy-dandy "Collect For Output" feature under the File menu. This process, when selected, saves your document, makes a copy of it and all the graphic files contained therein, and places them all into a separate folder of your own creation, which you'll give to the service bureau. It even creates a cool list of all the files that you can print out for the bureau's use to check against before sending the file to the RIP (Raster Image Processor). They'll be grateful if you do. Be careful, though: "Collect For Output" does not collect font files. You're still on your own for that one.

If you're really in a hurry, just go through your files before you send them to the bureau and use the Font Usage and Picture Usage menus under "Utilities" in the Menu bar to make sure all picture linkages are correct and to write down a list of all the fonts used. This will help you locate any missing graphics or to locate ones that aren't showing up. The best way to double-check yourself is to leave enough time to go through everything once, then use a checklist to go through everything one more time before sending it off for output.

PageMaker is another story. Graphic files, once placed in the document, embed themselves into the file. This is both good and bad for you and the service bureau. Good in that you don't need to remember to provide the support files, but bad insofar as once the files embed, the document has a tendency to "balloon" to often unmanageable size. This size not only makes it difficult to transport the files (if you aren't equipped with Syquest drives or other larger-space media) but also slows down the RIP process once in the queue. I can recall times when an entire day's work sat still behind a single PageMaker document as it crawled through the RIP at a slug's pace, only to corrupt for one reason or another in the middle of the night (and the second or third shift) and have to be re-sent. For this reason, PageMaker was not a favorite app in our workplace.

There are two ways to mitigate the "mushroomed file" effect of PageMaker. One is to do a "Save As" after you've got everything just the way you want it. This has the effect of discarding superfluous information that was necessary during the actual building of the document. You can also go into the File menu and choose "Save Smaller" (as opposed to "Save Faster"), which takes a bit longer on your end, but even further reduces final file size to make it easier to transport and to RIP. Again, your thoughtfulness will be appreciated by everyone at the service bureau.

As for the other page layout programs, there are so many different file structures that I would advise simply to know your program and double-check your work. The best way to do this is by packing up all the files (including fonts) that you intend to send to the bureau and then close up all the fonts in your font-management utility (such as Suitcase or Font Juggler) and open only those in the folder you're sending out. Then, open your document from inside that folder, and send to your laser printer for a proof. What you see should be what the service bureau will get, too.

In the sidebar, I've provided a copy of the Request for Output form that I downloaded from America Online (thanks and credit to ******) and then customized to my own needs. It's a Quark document that I save on my hard drive as a template, then move the checkmarks (Zapf Dingbats in text boxes with a "none" background and no runaround attributes) around to appropriate boxes as needed for each job. What's cool about this is that you can have bunches of extra checkmarks just hanging out on your pasteboard for later use that won't image because they're off the page.

One very good reason for taking this last step is that if a disagreement does arise between you and the service bureau concerning your instructions or their clarity, you'll have it all in black and white to back up your argument, possibly saving huge charges for bad film. It will take you one time to go through having to pay for something that wasn't your fault to learn how valuable this piece of paper can be. For teh short time it takes to do it, it's a good investment; think of it as insurance.

Miscellaneous Concerns
This seems so basic as to be almost laughable, but make sure you name your files in some sensical way. It just makes it that much easier to find them in case there is a problem. For instance, if you have a photo of a guitar in your layout, call it "Guitar," not "eeeeeeeee" or something like that. (Yes, this is an example of an actual job I encountered in my stint as a pre-press operator.) And, for Pete's sake, provide some hard copy of the files you want output, even if it's just a black and white, low-res laser. As a pre-press operator, it's so hard to guess whether what you're seeing on-screen is what the client wanted. Many bureaus are getting fed up with clients who neglect (or even refuse) to provide hardcopy, then refuse to pay for output that wasn't what they expected. In fact, some are either refusing the jobs or requiring clients without hard copy proofs to sign off on the order, assuring that they'll pay for whatever they get. So make the proof. Otherwise, it's not fair to the bureau, and you still don't get what you want.

If you don't get anything else from this article, remember this: BE SPECIFIC! If you want negs, tell them you want negs. Resolution: do you really NEED 2540 or will 1270 do? Sometimes, if you're flexible on this, you can get work earlier without rush charges because the imagesetter that runs 1270 is idle and can output your job right away, whereas the high-res processor is very busy and jobs will have to be bumped to make room for yours in the queue. How about emulsion - up or down? Don't know? Either call your printer to find out or provide the printer's phone number with the job and let the bureau call. They don't mind, honest! They really want to know how to do it right the first time, because they've got lots of other work they need to get done besides yours. Trim size: do you really NEED 11x17, or can you be frugal with margin space and fit it on an 8.5x11? (Turning it to a landscape orientation often does the trick)The cost differential alone should be reason enough to ask only for what you really need.

I shouldn't even have to tell you NEVER to send your only copy of a file to the service house. As much as they try, they are human and do occasionally misplace things. Or, through no fault of theirs, a system crash or unanticipated power outage can irretrivably damage your file. So, keep a copy in your studio or office, in a safe place, before you send anything out. A good rule is never to send anything out without backup that you can't afford to lose.

There are many other tips I could give to help make your relationship with your service bureau a smoother one, but these are a good starting place. If you can begin to view your film house as a partner instead of a jousting opponent, I believe you'll find they welcome the refreshing attitude. And don't be surprised if you become one of their favorite (and favored) clients.

(Published 1995, Information Entrepreneur, national distribution)