COMMUNICATE
Lest we forget, in our flurry to get that "rush! rush! must have it by tomorrow!" design and layout off to the printers and into our clients' hot little hands, publishing (yes, even those mini works of art our clients refer to as business cards) is a medium of communication.
Be as detailed as possible when submitting your quote requests, job specs and artwork to your printer or repro house. Information you may think is redundant or superfluous could possibly be the communication that saves your job a film reprint or two (and your client a lot of money).
Ask all of the questions that occur to you. This is definitely a situation when there are no stupid questions. You're not going to offend your bureau by asking them if they print your film with the registration on and crop marks showing. If they can't answer your questions and won't try to find those answers for you, it's probably a good time to take your business elsewhere.©2000 leigh baker-foley for the MacWorld Expo 2000 panel, "Play Nice With Your Service Bureau". Part of the notlimited nyc portfolio. Contact notlimited: info@notlimitednyc.com. Photos ©1999 FPG International "Historical Selects".