Tip 1

It is now possible to export an InDesign CS5 file as a Flash authoring File (FLA). However, if you choose Flash CS 5′s new “Flash TLF Text” font format in the export settings, you may be disappointed with the results.

Although TLF gives you great new font-formatting abilities in Flash, exporting from InDesign with that setting seems to produce poor letter-spacing, particularly with small text.

Instead, select “Text: Flash Classic Text” when you export from InDesign to Flash. You can always convert the text to TLF inside of Flash.

Tip 2

Another common print-to-Flash workflow is to import an Illustrator (AI) file directly into Flash. In both CS 4 and 5, this works pretty well, except that, once again, small text may be distorted by erratic letter-spacing.

To fix this, Select All in your Illustrator file and scale everything up about 200-300% (you may also need to resize the art board). Then import that scaled up AI file into Flash. Hey presto! No more bad letter-spacing.

For a work project, I had to purchase Apple’s Keynote, which is cheap if you buy it via the new App Store in the Apple Menu. The App Store comes up in a browser-like window, with a big icon of the app you are browsing in the upper left.

The surprising bit for me was, the instant I clicked the purchase button, the icon in the browser jumped out of the App Store window and floated down my screen to the Dock, where it was superimposed with a download progress bar.

“Useless eye candy!” I hear the command-line menschen sneer. Maybe. But also totally awesome! And even sensible, as anybody can appreciate if they’ve tried to explain to their mother-in-law how to download and install an app.

Challenge: The client, Protection 1, is the second largest electronic security company in the nation. They needed a breadth and depth of media expertise along with a complete brand makeover.

Solution: ZGraphics created a new brand identity for Protection 1 in record time, starting at the tail end of July in time for launch at one of the security industry’s biggest trade shows in mid-October. On the media side, we partnered with Spark to deliver—at warp speed—a media plan featuring digital, performance marketing (such as Yellow Pages) and traditional media. Vickie Szombathy, our media consultant, is a veteran of the media industry, with 25 years of experience creating successful brand-building communication plans featuring fully integrated media solutions, traditional and digital.

The fact is, it is because of the abundance of choices that no two web browsing experiences will ever be exactly the same. I will repeat that…no two web browsers will EVER render a given website exactly the same. Short of a full browser monopoly, no amount of hacking, cracking, pushing or subverting you can do will ever change that. And from the perspective of a developer trying to achieve a uniform experience across the board, this can cause some major bouts of hair-pulling. So what’s a guy (or girl) to do? Well, you do have a couple options:

1. Graceful Degradation

No, this doesn’t mean politely poking fun at someone. Rather, it means building a website to suit the very latest browsers and then adding minor adjustments to give less capable devices an acceptable experience. It basically means the lucky ones with the cool browsers get to see all the fun stuff and the not so lucky peeps with the old browsers still get the gist of it.

The benefit of this method is knowing that most of your audience members will have a similar experience. Not all of them will be able to view the CSS3 drop-shadowed text, but at least you’ll sleep comfortably knowing that your bases are covered.

The main drawback, of course, is that developing in this manner is incredibly time consuming and impossible to account for all browser iterations. You will not be able to cover everyone, no matter how hard you try. The best you can do is gauge your target audience and aim to please them. But there is no pleasing everyone.

2. Love for the best and forget the rest

This method involves using the latest web standards and technologies and effectively neglecting legacy browsers. A number of well-established companies like Facebook follow this practice in order to supply a better experience to those with better browsers. However, it is certainly a tough choice as you sacrifice quantity of users for quality of experience.

On the bright side, development time is considerably decreased as cross-browser testing is limited to only the latest browsers. No more toiling over how IE6 will deal with complex floats and positioning. And from a developer’s perspective, this comes as a welcome reprieve from dealing with browsers we wish would die a slow and painful death.

Other Issues to Consider

Development efforts aside, it is often explaining the concept of cross-browser discrepancies to non-technical personnel that proves most challenging. The question of why one cannot create a universal web experience is asked of me almost daily. From the outsider perspective, it seems like a given that a website would look the same anywhere you view it. But alas, such is not the case.

Since explaining browser differentiation is highly technical and wholly unsatisfying, I typically go straight to a demonstration. A wonderful tool I use for visualizing browser issues is Adobe’s BrowserLab solution. It’s a fantastic tool for previewing browser renderings and even allows an onion-skin look (transparency overlay) of one browser on top of another. Right now you can take advantage of 12 free months if you sign up before April 30th, 2011. Not a bad deal for what you get.

CHALLENGE: American Academy of Pediatrics is the leading publisher in the field of pediatrics. AAP looked to ZGraphics for the name, look and feel for a new web site where healthcare professionals can browse and purchase full-text, online versions of AAP titles. The challenge was to create a cohesive package from name and logo development, to icon and web design and then working with programmers in India to make our vision a reality.

SOLUTION: After researching and reviewing ecommerce sites in the publishing sector, ZGraphics provided a list of names to be considered for this new online book store. Once a name was selected we developed logo concepts that were to convey an AAP branded, accurate representation of the service. Upon approval of the logo, we developed a set of 14 icons that represented the topics and features found on the AAP eBooks web site. The final phase in product development was the overall design of the web site. The site needed to stay consistent to the AAP brand, clearly display products and be user friendly. The approved web site design was shared with a group in India that we worked with to implement the backend functionality. We helped promote AAP eBooks through banner ads and direct mail.

RESULTS: Research conducted by the AAP indicated that the eBooks platform, as a whole, has broad appeal to pediatricians, with 72% of respondents saying they were extremely or very interested in using the service after reading a description. Along with the visually appealing design ZGraphics provided, we can conclude that AAP eBooks will be another successful product for the AAP.

CHALLENGE: In late 2008, ZGraphics had made a promising start on a major design revision for the web site of Deerfield-based CF Industries, the second largest nitrogen fertilizer producer in the world and the third largest phosphate fertilizer producer. Then the wheels came off the global economy! CF’s marketing director asked us to put the site on the back burner while the company focused on essentials.

Fast forward to March 2010. CF was poised to announce its acquisition of Terra Industries, which will make CF the premier nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer manufacturer in North America. ZGraphics is asked if we can “finish up” the website, incorporate new material relating to the acquisition, and provide a revised design template for the company’s investor relations web site—in about 7 working days!

SOLUTION: Starting March 24, 2010, ZGraphics’ web team kicked into high gear, working with CF Industries’ corporate managers, investor relations firm (Thomson Reuters) and public relations firm (Brunswick) to wrap up the existing lose ends of the mothballed website, fold-in new merger-related content, upload a design template for the IR sub-site and be ready to roll on April 5, 2010.

RESULTS: As requested, the new site design uploaded to the server the morning of April 4, timed to coincide with CF Industries announcement of the Terra Industries acquisition. Provided with a more sophisticated and navigable site, CF Industries moves into a global leadership position in its industry.

PROJECT: Starting with a phone call from our Kodak contact in Rochester, NY we were asked to develop the overall theme and marketing plan for their upcoming Graphic Users’ Association conference. Our goal was to secure at least 180 participants to Kodak’s GUA 2010 conference in Vancouver, BC. Our recommendation was a cross-media campaign that targeted both past attendees and new prospects.

CHALLENGE: With the current state of the economy and businesses cutting budgets for traveling and attending conferences, Kodak was concerned that they would see a decline in attendance. In addition, the conference was held in Vancouver, BC; acquiring a passport and traveling out of the country also created some concerns. A challenge on the execution side was the ever-changing schedule. The five days of conference schedules, agenda and session descriptions were being updated on a daily basis—staying organized and confirming that changes were made on all effected pieces proved to be a challenging task.

SOLUTION: The campaign began with the development of the overall theme “U Never Stop Growing” (utilizing grade school photographs of board members) and a secondary tagline “GUA: 2010’s Smartest Investment”—through these themes we communicated the benefits of and knowledge gained by attending the conference. The cross-media campaign included: 15th Anniversary logo, web site, web banners, a variable printed direct mail campaign, an html email campaign, personalized URL, invitations, conference brochures, conference signage and more.

GUA 2010 html Email

RESULTS: From theme development to the execution of print, web, email and on site materials, ZGraphics implemented a powerful and cohesive cross-media campaign that created awareness of the Conference. 235 people attended  the conference, the goal was to secure 180 registrants.

“It was a great success thanks to the efforts of ZGraphics excellent execution of the marketing plan!”

— Michele R. Laird-Williams, Association Manager & Executive Director, Kodak Graphic User’s Association

Writing and Bond basis weights are determined by measuring 500 sheets of 17 x 22 paper. The terms writing and bond were originally applied to cotton-content paper used for printing stationery, bonds and legal documents. Today, writing, digital and cut-size papers are often identified with the bond scale and may, or may not, contain cotton.

Text weights are determined by measuring 500 sheets of 25 x 38 paper. Text and book are popular weights of paper used as text pages in a book or booklet. The paper isn’t made differently than “writing” papers—it is simply measured on a different scale. i.e. 70 lb. text paper is the same as 28 lb. writing paper.

Cover weights are determined by measuring 500 sheets of 20 x 26 paper. They are heavier papers used for the covers of books and booklets as well as stand alone pieces such as pocket folders and business cards.

Double-Thick Cover and Cover Bristol are marketing terms used to easily identify pasted sheets of paper. The weights are determined by measuring 500 sheets of 20 x 26 paper. Double-Thick Covers and Cover Bristols are made by pasting, or laminating, two papers together to form a very thick, smooth, and stiff sheet.

Poundage, or grammage, refer to the weight of the paper, and points refers to its actual thickness. Commercial printers will use poundage/grammage as their main method of referencing paper, but specialty vendors – like sign companies – will use points. This being the case there is no absolute conversion from pounds or grams per square meter (g/m² or gsm) to points as paper density may vary slightly. The following table shows approximate conversion values for all varieties of paper weights.

The best method for choosing the exact paper for your project is to contact your vendor and get samples. If it’s a brochure or booklet, request a sample dummy mocked up in the exact size and specifications of your print project so you can see/touch what your finished piece will be. (And if it’s mailing, don’t forget to weigh this sample to determine postage!)

Have any questions? Give us a call.

Chart used with permission from Micro Format, Inc./SecureGuard Paper, Wheeling, Illinois 60090.

And that’s when a spellcheck program and a good friend or co-worker come in handy. You need another set of eyes to read over what you’re working on in addition to the computer’s internal dictionary. You can’t let a project you’ve toiled over for weeks or months be discredited because you have a misspelling in a headline.

Here’s the best practice to follow:

1. Have the client write out their copy/text for their project. Have they read it over to make sure all the facts and figures are correct? They should spellcheck.

2. Send it off to your designer who will place it in the layout, change fonts, add images, etc. The designer will have another set of eyes to art direct and a proofreader to read it over to make sure no text got lost, bumped or missed.

3. The project will go back and forth to finalize everything and then it’s time for preflight.

4. Preflighting is the process of confirming that the digital files required for printing are all present, valid, correctly formatted, and of the desired type. That takes care of the images. But the last step of preflight is always spellcheck and another quick read-through.

Taking these extra steps will save you should you have to fix a proof or – heaven forbid – reprint.

Some common overlooked mistakes that get missed until the preflight stage:

• Words in big headlines, because at first glance it seems ok.
• Names, products, special words that are used multiple times in a piece – it may be okay on one page, but not another. It’s easy to mistype a word you have to type over and over.
• Double words – you may have ended a line with “to” but then later saw that the next line was supposed to start with “to” and now it’s twice.
• Wrong usage of a similar word. This is where you need to know the difference between “their”, “there” and “they’re” and “to”, “too” and “two”.
• Style guidlines. Some people prefer to have “healthcare” as one-word. Others do not. Should “Company” always be initial caps? Do they prefer em or en dashes, with spaces or without. It’s very easy to overlook these personal or company preferences and a huge win when you catch and fix them.

What spelling mistakes have you found? Do you have any success stories on how you saved the day? Share them here!