Preparing MAC files

1) Never put slashes ("/" or "\") in file names, including fonts and linked files. The slashes cause I/O problems across many software, especially with the newer OS X and later. Slashes should be reserved for the Operating System commands only. If there's already a slash in your file name (ie. files from older Mac OS versions), rename it to a dash "-", underscore "_" or just a space.

2) Compress all files into one file using utilities like StuffIt or MacZip. Without compression, Mac files will be corrupted when sent by email or by many file uploading services on the web since their "fork files", which contain info about the file characteristics are missing or omitted by email programs.

3) If possible, convert all fonts into outlines or curves as this would solve a lot of common problems during printing.

4) It's a bad practice to save a "bitmap" as an "EPS" file although this option is technically available in some design software. Saving a bitmap to EPS doesn't make anything easier or better, especially for "alreadily-bad bitmaps" (ie. low-resolution, distorted, over-saturation of colors etc.), but waste of time at the client's end & more confusion during processing of the files at the printer end.

5) Do not attempt to perform "imposition" (ie. arrange your pages as 2-up, 4-up, 10-up or booklet...) - the printer will decide & make the imposition as they need, because the imposition will be different & highly customized depending on the availability of paper stocks & sizes at the printer. Just layout your pages as 1-up, at the final page size in the consecutive order that you want and the printer would do the rest.

6) When making PDF, specify the PDF driver to compress the images using "ZIP" - which would preserve the quality of the bitmaps, and NOT "JPEG" - which would often degrade the image quality. Also, specify the driver NOT to "downsampling" the images to lower resolutions.

7) Allow sufficient bleeds in designs that require images, graphics or text to be printed up to or over the edge(s) of the page(s). A common & good bleed amount is 0.25" (or 4mm). The minimum for bleeding should be 0.125". For those who are new to "bleed" or don't know what "bleed" is all about, a PDF file with full explanation can be downloaded here.