about print work and advertising?

hey FKers. i dont know if this is the place to be but i dont know where else to post it. i want to sort of lean away from web design and begin print work and advertising type media. i just wanted to ask around and see if anyone here knew anything about this type of field. any help would be appreciated, books, websites, anything of the like is much welcome. thanks in advance guys.
pEEcE

i've started to do the same thing no-tec. web stuff has to much programming that goes along with it. print is all about creativity. anyways, i dont really have much to offer you. i've got a few friends in the printing biz and all they tell me is 300+dpi and cmyk. other than that just be creative.

I'm in the print biz. Most of what I learned was from doing. A book on QuarkXPress will help you learn some of the print terminoligy (ie: bleed, trim, linescreen, seperations) file formats (ie: when to use a tiff and when to use an eps) tracking and kerning.

There are tons of books out there and occasionally I'll see a good website (none that I can think of at the moment.) One magazine that I really enjoy is DynamicGraphics, there site is http://www.dgusa.com

You should definately check out Communication Arts magazine. It's pricy but it gives a great look at design, illustration, advertising...pretty much anything the the category of visual communication.

As far as book, you might like MTIV by Hillman Curtis. He is actually a Flash designer but really focuses on the design and creative aspects of his projects. Graphic Design Solutions by Robin Landa also has a lot of good info on the subject.

Hope I helped you out a bit! :D

Moving from web to print isn't going to be easy but here's some tips that I think might help:

1. If you can afford it, get yourself a Mac. (No I don't think Mac's are superior to PC's, I think both are equally inadequate.) The fact is most printers and proffessional Graphic Designers are Mac based. So designing on a Mac will most likely lead to fewer compatability issues.

2. Stick with industry standard programs, like Quark, Pagemaker, Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop, maybe Indesign, and maybe Corel Draw. (note: don't take this as Gospel, I'm just going with what's available at the shop I work at. Other shops might or might not use the programs I listed. It's best to check with the place you plan to use.)

3. Some people swear by adobe acrobat. PDF's are meant to be a default neat and tidy format from which to print from. However, if they aren't created right, they can lead to problems.

4. Invest in a decent color inkjet or laser printer. Use it to create color proofs and test your seperations. Be prepared to be flexible on color though; unless you go with spot colors chances are there will be a shift in color. However, this shift should be minor.

5. Always, always, always include all fonts and pictures that you use in you layouts on the disk you give your printer. It's smart to test it by only activating the fonts on your disk and printing the file directly from that disk.

6. Font managers are really helpful. I use ATM delux.

7. Inks are semi transparent, colored paper will change the color of the image.

8. Learn as much as you can about the printing and if necessary binding processes. This can help you save money and headaches. (See below for a good book)

9. Make sure and proof everything before going to press. Nothing is worse than printing 10,000 flyers only to find you spelled a clients name wrong.

10. 1,2, or even 3 spot colors can save a lot of money over 4 color process printing.

That's all I can think of at the moment. One book I highly recomend for learning about the printing world is Pocket Pal by International Paper it's only like 12.50 but it's packed with great information.

I also recomend visiting :
www.wil-harris.com
There's some good stuff about typography in there, also check out Esperfonto for help with picking fonts, if you need it.

I hope some of this was helpful to you. Anyway I was considering making some tutorials for my company's website, dealing specifically with issues involving printing, design, and preflighting. Is there anything you can think of that might be helpful to prospective designers and/or clients. Thanks,
Matt

thanks alot you guys, especially matticiousg. i appreciate the media references and what not. is that atm delux program available on PC? it doesnt seem to be.

anyway, thanks again guys. im gonna go check out some of those books.
pEEcE


-update-

i found this font manager
http://www.neuber.com/typograph/