There are many variables to consider in the area of proofing and, unfortunately, much of it gets forgotten in the busy world of printing. Let's look at the options and the areas of concern.

"What kinds of clever packaging exist today (part 3 of 3)?"

In this third and final look at unique packaging ideas, the power of packaging is exemplified. The examples below perform double duty by containing the item for sale, as well as going the extra mile to catch the consumer off guard. All of the products mentioned (from speakers to sneakers) are everyday items that have been brought to life and are uniquely positioned on store shelves because of their packaging. Let's take a look at the downright quirky and "unexpected" examples below.

Using automation to save money and increase capacity is quickly becoming the norm in the graphic arts industry. Automatic preflight and optimization software for customer supplied PDFs reduces the amount of hands-on work in the prepress department.

So here we are more than halfway through the year and over 5 million iPads have been sold. Consumers are rapidly snatching up all the available iPad and iPhone 4 devices as fast as Apple can make them. As a publishing professional you're asking yourself "what does this mean to me? What impact does this have on the publishing industry and how do we as publishers get involved?"

A previous article talked about PDFs received from an online source and how parts of the production process could be automated. Some items that are not so easy to automatically fix can have automation assist to reduce the manual work. Adjusting bleed and page size in a PDF is one example.

I was hoping that by the time this article is published many of you would already have an iPad. Unfortunately, as I write this Apple has made it known that it will not be shipping the iPad internationally until late May. I spoke with a client while she was standing in the New York City Apple store and she told me that there was a 45-minute wait to buy an iPad. As I write this, the iPad has been available in the U.S. for two weeks.

Is it okay if I send my fonts to our translators in Montréal? Or is there a way for them to access the fonts on my machines remotely?

A few years ago, I wrote an article on licensing software. When it comes to licensed software, people are often under the misconception that they have bought their software. In fact, what they have done when they purchased a software title is simply licensed the use of that software.