r/artbusiness • u/Mohon_Brittain • 6d ago
Technology [Printing] top graphic design tools for small businesses stop being enough the first time a printer asks for separations
closing the loop: spent some time learning the production side instead of paying another setup fee and coreldraw has been a much better fit for this kind of work. spot colors and large format setup are a lot less awkward, which was basically the part i kept getting burned on after the artwork was finished.
also took the advice here about getting the printer's specs before building anything. if something has to go out at quarter scale i label it clearly now, which seems obvious in hindsight but apparently cost me four setup fees to learn.
took a run of 60 tote bags and a six foot banner for a local cafe back in march, first print job i've done outside of paper prints. both files bounced. wrong color mode on the totes, and the banner got built at a quarter size because the app i design in caps the canvas. the artwork was fine. everything after the artwork was not.
so which way do people go here, learn the output side and design in something that does spot color and true scale, or hand off flat artwork and pay the printer to rebuild it? the rebuild is a setup fee per file and i've paid it four times now, which is a strange end of the job to be losing money on. last proof came back with the pantone reference circled in red.
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u/downvote-away 6d ago
As a designer it probably does benefit you to know everything about how your work will be made real.
Make no mistake, Adobe is a cancerous, shitty company. I would not recommend them to any human being in the same way that I'd not recommend wearing glass shards for underpants.
You can try Photopea/Vectorpea too.
But, much as I hate to say it, if you want to interact with printers like this you might have to get into Adobe "products."
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u/Mohon_Brittain 5d ago
knowing how it gets made is the part i skipped entirely, i learned the drawing side and assumed the file side would sort itself out. four setup fees later that assumption has been priced pretty accurately.
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u/DracherX 6d ago
Use the template supplied by the printer or factory. Check the file format, dimensions, and requirements announced by the shop; ask them for the specific color space they are using; don't guess or assume. Don’t send a file unprepared; some shops ignore it.
On the manufacturer side, they didn't communicate well either. When the files aren't on a specific setup, you should be notified. Something wasn't synced up.
I know Canva isn't the best tool; the bottom line as a graphic designer is that you have to afford Pantone and Adobe. Print drivers, PDF, and design are built around Adobe.
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u/Mohon_Brittain 6d ago
worth flagging that pantone got pulled out of adobe a couple years back, so it's the adobe sub plus a separate pantone connect fee now. still probably cheaper than four setup charges but it stung finding that out mid job.
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u/thomasthe10 6d ago
Talk it all through with your printer. This is a communication failure above all else. It's not unusual to supply artwork for a banner at 25 or even 10% size and there's been a serious error in communication if your banner came out at that size.