File submissions made easy with this simplified checklist of the most commonly made mistakes:
STEP ONE: CHECK YOUR DOCUMENT
*Before any exporting is done check for these things*
-Do all images on the edge of the page go to the red bleed line?
-If you have a background color, does it fully extend to the red bleed line?
-Is everything spelt correctly? Have someone different proofread the copy. Often the author of the copy will overlook simple mistakes because they know how it is supposed to read.
-Do any of your images look funny? They may not be proportionately fitting to your frame. If this is the case… <Right Click> and choose the fitting option <fill frame proportionately>
-Do you have any errors? Check the bottom of the InDesign workspace. You will either see a green dot that says “No Errors” or a red dot indicating how many errors you have. Double click that area if you have errors and it will explain what the problem is. Errors may be in linking or overset text.
-Do you see any random boxes on your spread? You may have accidentally created an empty frame. Using your selection tool select the empty frame and just click the backspace or delete button on your keyboard.
STEP TWO: SET UP YOUR PDF EXPORT
*No mistakes? You are ready to set up your PDF export*
-Go to File >Export >Choose file format Adobe PDF (Print)
-Save in the following format: XXXX_002-003_MonthDay
BREAK DOWN:
-XXXX is your job number. If you are unsure of this number it will be listed in the slug of your templates
-002-003 is the range of pages you are exporting. This could be 002-003 or 122-193. Make sure this area matches the page numbers you are exporting. If you are exporting your cover this will say cover, not a page range. If you are exporting your endsheets, this will say endsheet-back or endsheet-front, not a page range.
-MonthDay is the date you exported your documents or the day you are submitting for proofs. For example: If you are submitting XXXX_002-003, XXXX_004-005 and XXXX_006-007 but you exported them on different days, the days should all be the exact same day, today’s date (the day you are submitting) So they might all read 1234_002-003_Dec18, 1234_004-005_Dec18, 1234_006-007_Dec 18
STEP THREE: TIME TO PACKAGE YOUR FILES
Packaging is a very important step. It will ensure that all images and fonts used in your design will be included with your saved documents. You will only need to package your document if you are submitting a cover, dust jacket, GradBox or MovieBook. Otherwise you will be ready to submit after STEP TWO.
To Package your InDesign file go to:
File >Package
From here you will save your packaged file in the same naming format listed in STEP TWO. Once everything is packaged into your folder you can right click the folder and compress it to a .ZIP file and you are ready to submit!
