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I got all the signs for a new golf course that is starting up and will be doing alot of drawing of the course to make up the informational signs and the green signs. The owner asked me if I could do him a brochure also since he would be using the drawings I'm making in the brochure. I told him I thought I could but would get back to him on it. I have a printer do the actual printing but am wondering if anyone knows of a good reference book I could purchase that would help me to learn on color separation (If I need to know that) and what software does anyone use when they make a brochure for a client. I know I have seen posts on here before recommending sign shops to offer the whole package to business so I was hoping someone could head me in the right direction to get started. I have made my own business cards and simple brochures (one color) for my own business and I used Print Shop Deluxe for that but I don't think that program is advanced enough for commerical work. Thank you. Jeannette Korpela
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I mostly use Corel draw/paint to prepare the work for printing matters. Adobe ilustrator is an other choice. I hate receiving quarkxpress files, but some people use it. Havent seen much of freehands, but then again files that are easily converted to EPS and/or PDF are workable at the printshop. If working in full color use a CMYK palette. Don't forget that the colors you see "on screen" are RGB and are diffent from the one that your printer will output.
Something to ask your client is, how many copies do they want output, and would a single page brochure do? (and what their budget is)
Reason being, it may be worth their while to simply have your full color print out color photocopied.
Print separations are not only extra work, but very costly initially to set up. This route is best for higher quantities. If they want 50-100 copies, color photocopies is a great way to go.
I personally don't do anything special when I set up brochures. I do it all in CorelDraw, then output on my Epson 800. The quality is phenomenal, and a print shop that I went to couldn't believe a little printer's output could look so good. Just remember, high end paper and quality settings are the two keys in good output from a small printer.
------------------ Graphic Impact located in BC Canada gisigns@sprint.ca
Posts: 5630 | From: Yarrow, BC Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Quark XPress is my preferred software for page layout and composition of printed material. Although most of my illustration work is done in Freehand, I use Quark to design brochures, flyers, etc. I'd say nearly all printers use it, and will be able to work with your file.
The only down side is that there's a pretty steep learning curve for Quark, and it takes a while to become proficient at it.
If you are designing a tri-fold brochure, however, you probably could get away with designing it in Corel, as long as your printer can output CMYK direct from it (I'm not sure - I use a Mac and am not familiar with Corel). You just may not have the tightest of type control as you might in Quark, but perhaps, you don't need it for something straightforward -
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Hi Janette. I'm not familiar with the limitations of Print Shop Deluxe or the complexity of the brochure proposed. But here's what I DO know - even if the program could handle the layout, it must be able to output the files in a format your printer can read. Start with a call to the printer(s) you want to use and see what formats they accept. If you decide to purchase an full featured layout program I would put my money into CorelDRAW (version 6-9) for its high power/low cost. Then, locate a print house who will accept the native Corel (.cdr) format. One wholesale printer I have had good luck with is Rapidocolor.
http://www.rapidocolor.com 705 East Union Street West Chester, PA 19382 Phone: (610) 344-0500 Fax: (610) 344-0506 1-800-872-7436
They have a helpful pre-press section on their site which covers some of the font, format and color issues that are going to be pretty universal with whatever printer you choose. Good luck.
Printer-friendly view of this topic