Real Super Final Artwork: The FA tips

You have done the graphic design job, you got the approval both internally and from the client itself, time to do the Final Artwork.

A Final Artwork or commonly referred as FAs is the last set of ready-to-print files that will be send over the printer. Here are some tips you can use while fabricating your FA file.

1. Have a separate folder for your FA within the project folder. For example, inside the folder JOB, will have a folder labeled as FA. Here you will place your FA file.
2. Since you have a separate file for FA and the original one, you can backtrack to the previous original file if a major revision is needed.
3. Convert your text with fancy fonts to curves. Converting text with commonly used fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Times New Romance and Verdana) to curves is optional.
4. Make sure the real size of your FA is as the same as you quoted with the supplier. If the file is a scale down version of the design, just make it the actual size.
5. If you are still not sure on what the supplier needs, inside the FA folder, create a folder for vector, JPEG and TIFF. Place the FA vector file to the folder vector. Save a high-resolution JPEG and TIFF of the file and place them in respective folders. This way, the supplier can choose on which file to print.
6. Include the fonts in the FA folder as a separate folder if only needed.
7. Add .125 inches on each side of the file for bleeding.When a page or a cover design extends to and off the edge of the paper it is called a “bleed”. In print design, the artwork or block of color must extend off the edge of the page. The artwork or block of color is then printed on larger-size paper. Then the printed page is trimmed to the desired size. (http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/bleedingedges.html)
8. Make sure the images has appropriate resolutions. It may look good in the screen but doesn’t mean it looked good in the actual print. Check your images on Photoshop and view it in actual size, if the image has a pixelated look, do a quick remedy on it immediately.
9. Inside the FA folder, have a separate folder for linked images. This way, if the printer knows where to find the images of the file.
10. Always give a sample printout to the supplier.
11. When you received the proof (a printed file from the supplier to have you checked and approved for the first print run) and in need a revision, like I mentioned in number 2, you can go back to the original file. Save it and create the updated FA file on the FA folder.
12. If the supplier want the files be send through email. Zip the FA file (you can use this free zip management tool called 7-Zip http://www.7-zip.org/ ) and send it through the email. If the file is too big for the email, you can use this site (http://www.yousendit.com ) to send big files.
13. After burning the FA folder in a DVD or CD, labeled it immediately with the file name and the current date or version. The printer sometimes mistakenly reused the old files for the secondary proofing. At least this way, the printer knows that he has the updated file due to the updated  date or version.

Basically that’s it and I hope it helped you in some way even though most of them were already taught to you back in your design school. Unfortunately, I learned most of them after college. Thanks!