You must note the following points before starting on any print.

Whatever be the printing project in your mind, in order to colour it to life, you must keep it within a range you can afford.

Before setting out, you must ask: what is the nature of the project?
The next step is to answer it yourself – and fix the requirements accordingly.

Size, copy and colour – the size of the printed materials, the number of copies you want to make and the amount of colour you can afford to use – all these will help determine your budget and the time required to produce it.

Time is the most important aspect you must not forget!
Think on how much time you will have to spend and how much time will it take to get the prints. If you want it soon, you might have to invest a little more.

The type of page you want to use will affect your cost, so you must think on the number of the materials you want to print upon. Also, you must visualize what the colours you plan to use will look on the page you want them to be printed upon. A dark blue colour on a red page will turn the colour into black! The quality of the paper also matters a lot. A page full of colours will need to be printed such a page – so that the colours are not visible from the other side.

Binding and finishing involve many steps. These steps will look not only at the cost factor, but at other things as well. Binding and finishing will take into account the page set-up and so, you must choose a binding which does not interfere with viewing the writing.

Please discuss this with your prepress service provider and printer.

Another aspect which people often overlook – and which play a pivotal role – is the font style and size. The look of the presentation depends on this. The font size should not be too big or too small; the style should not be very stylish – a stylish font may appeal to the eyes, but only to look at. The moment it comes to reading – it all comes crashing down. So, keep the style normal – the headings can be decorative, but not the content.

What should be the Font?

Change type to a graphic (vector objects) in EPS files if necessary. Providers' Font substitution or PostScript errors are common problems for prepress service, caused by type in imported EPS graphics. Avoid "nested' EPS files.

You must ensure that you have the rightful permission for doing the project. Make sure to check your copyrights. You should have copyrights on your text, graphics, photographs, stock photographs, drawings, computer art, and other content sources. OR...you should be able to show that you have legally secured permission from copyright holders to reproduce their content for the purpose of the printed job.

Do not forget to specify the number of copies you need to get printed. Are there some pages you want to print on a different type of page? Make sure to tell that – better still, WRITE IT DOWN CLEARLY ON A NOTE – AND ATTACH THE NOTE AT A PLACE WHERE A PERSON WILL NOTICE IT AT ONCE!

Make sure the delivery address is correct!
This includes not just your shipping address, but also your contact number – so they can contact you at once if they face problems.
Better still – call them from time to time to check on their progress – but make sure you do not do that TOO OFTEN, or you might offend them!