Microsoft Publisher Expert Needed

[Teamless]

Our company is working on our new brochure, and are looking for a MS Publisher Expert to quote the job.
I understand some people "think" they can do what is necessary, but we need someone who can REALLY do the job, and understand the task and properly do the job.

PM me for more information, if you are interested in this opportunity.

My company is in Pasadena area, but of course, most of the work could be done at your premises.

Thank you

Rick

[The Annoyed Man]

Why does it have to be done in MS Publisher? Most designers are going to do such a job in InDesign or QuarkXpress.

[Teamless]

TAM, our prior brochure was done in Quark, but the issues with that are:
1 - and most importantly, we are changing our way of printing brochures, from a mass printing every few years of several thousand, to more of an 'on-demand' printing, so we can change some of the data within the brochure more often. So once we have a brochure made in MS Publisher, then internally we can make any minor data changes

2 - When our brochure was in done in Quark, it took our IT Professional Contractor to make any changes, which can be quite expensive, so we are looking at ways to save some $ through this 'on-demand' process

3 - if there is some other program that can done internally, once an initial version is done, we are willing to look at that, but we need to be sure that we can take that format, and submit it to 'on-demand' printers for easy printing, and they won't have to redesign the brochure prior to printing.

4 - probably more, but as I am not an IT professional or a designer, I am not familiar with any other pros/cons with those programs you mentioned.

[WildBill]

I am assuming that you don't want to hire a full time MS Publisher expert, but just for this one job. MS Publisher, Quark and InDesign will all do the job, but no matter what software is used you will still need to buy the software and find a person that knows how to use it. Also, if you outsource the original design, you should still get a copy of the computer files so you could modify them at a later time. Personally, I wouldn't used Publisher. IMO, the main advantage is it's cheaper price. It's a good program, but I think most professionals use Quark and InDesign.

Also, I don't think you want or need an "IT professional" for the job. You need a good designer with design skills as well as knowing how to use the software. IMO most brocedures and graphics done in-house are amateurish because they don't have the tools or skills for the job.

[The Annoyed Man]

I am assuming that you don't want to hire a full time MS Publisher expert, but just for this one job. MS Publisher, Quark and InDesign will all do the job, but no matter what software is used you will still need to buy the software and find a person that knows how to use it. Also, if you outsource the original design, you should still get a copy of the computer files so you could modify them at a later time. Personally, I wouldn't used Publisher. IMO, the main advantage is it's cheaper price. It's a good program, but I think most professionals use Quark and InDesign.

Also, I don't think you want or need an "IT professional" for the job. You need a good designer with design skills as well as knowing how to use the software. IMO most brocedures and graphics done in-house are amateurish because they don't have the tools or skills for the job.

This.

I used to use Quark when it was the only game in town, but InDesign was a game-changer when it first came out, and I've used it ever since. I'm about to upgrade from CS5.

[Teamless]

We have Quark, but only our in-house (contract actually) IT guy knows how to use it.
He is not a professional with it, but has done a good job in the past for prior brochures - but as he is Hourly and he is not a pro, it takes much longer and costs much more, than it should.

So it is our conundrum.
If we want to go to on-demand printing, we do not want to have to use a program that is not commonly used, or emailable to the printers. I know Quark is commonly used, but in my limited experience, we need to use more high quality printers, and print many more brochures that we realistically want to have at one time in-stock.
Our prior print-job of our brochures, were in April 2008, and we printed about 5000.

We still have about 500 or so, and it is now 4 years + later, and it would have been good to be able to do another printing about mid-2010 with new product additions.

So in your experience, can the on-demand printers (I can't name any off-hand, but I am thinking good quality, without having to print several thousand at a time) receive Quark files via email and just upload the print job and boom, its ready without any on-site setup?

My worry about on-site setup, is in our prior couple print jobs, we did the Quark, the printer had to then transfer the data manually onto some printer (I wasn't there, but this is how it was explained to me) and after 4 or 5 proofs later, they FINALLY had it the way we had it originally, after we found many typo's of spelling and data transposotiions.

My worry about email sending is file size, many servers have limits on file sizes.

We have Quark
Adobe CS
MS Publisher
And probably a few others that we have bought over the years.


So Bill and TAM, with all of your knowledge, do you think you are up for the job of the initial run through, and after such, we can do any updates later in-house?

[WildBill]

So Bill and TAM, with all of your knowledge, do you think you are up for the job of the initial run through, and after such, we can do any updates later in-house?

I appreciate your consideration, but TAM is your man. I don't have current versions of any of the software, but more importantly, I am an amateur. My limited amount of "design" work has been personal projects and some small stuff that I volunteered to do at work. Learning the software part is the easiest part. The design is what takes the skill and talent.

If you have seen some of TAM's work, he is a true artist.

[The Annoyed Man]

Adobe CS (CreativeSuite) should include PhotoShop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat, and either DreamWeaver or GoLive depending on the version (GoLive is no longer supported).

InDesign can open and edit Quark files if the version is right, but it saves them as InDesign files. Depending on which version of Adobe CS you have (CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, or the latest CS6) and which version of Quark you have, you may or may not be able to open a Quark file. I am currently on CS5 and about to upgrade to CS6, but if you want to email me a copy of one of your Quark files, I'll be happy to open see if I can open it. Based on that, I can tell give you a quote on doing the layout for this job. PM me if you want to proceed.

[Teamless]

TAM,
I will see if I can pry a copy of the Quark brochure from our IT guy, and if so, ill PM you and get it sent to you.

Thanks

[urnoodle]

Hey TAM do you know if Adobe has individual language packs for Creative Suite CS5? In my uncle's business he uses all kinds of Adobe software. He has a macbook he doesn't use and is giving it to me. It has a lot of Adobe software on it including Adobe Creative Studio Master Collection CS5, however the language is french Canadian. I contacted Adobe but they wouldn't give me any information without providing them with the license numbers that I don't have. He's on location for the next 3 months so he's impossible to get ahold of. He has an assistant that is suppose to send the laptop to me. If I can't get the english language pack then it won't due me much good and I can save her the time and money of shipping it to me.

Teamless I apologize for hijacking your thread.

[Teamless]

Teamless I apologize for hijacking your thread

No worries :)
Good luck getting your answer

[WildBill]

Hey TAM do you know if Adobe has individual language packs for Creative Suite CS5? In my uncle's business he uses all kinds of Adobe software. He has a macbook he doesn't use and is giving it to me. It has a lot of Adobe software on it including Adobe Creative Studio Master Collection CS5, however the language is french Canadian. I contacted Adobe but they wouldn't give me any information without providing them with the license numbers that I don't have. He's on location for the next 3 months so he's impossible to get ahold of. He has an assistant that is suppose to send the laptop to me. If I can't get the english language pack then it won't due me much good and I can save her the time and money of shipping it to me.

Teamless I apologize for hijacking your thread.

If he has the original install discs you should be able to re-install and choose English as the default language.

[PUCKER]

We publish 5 regional b-t-b magazines...when we get an MS Publisher file, well, we pretty much have to delete it...we just ask the sender to make a PDF file of it. We have been using Quark since "the beginning" (or at least it seems that way) and it has served us well. We have considered transitioning to InDesign but really haven't seen the need to, at least yet.

As far as making changes to a Quark document, it's easy/breezy.

[The Annoyed Man]

Hey TAM do you know if Adobe has individual language packs for Creative Suite CS5? In my uncle's business he uses all kinds of Adobe software. He has a macbook he doesn't use and is giving it to me. It has a lot of Adobe software on it including Adobe Creative Studio Master Collection CS5, however the language is french Canadian. I contacted Adobe but they wouldn't give me any information without providing them with the license numbers that I don't have. He's on location for the next 3 months so he's impossible to get ahold of. He has an assistant that is suppose to send the laptop to me. If I can't get the english language pack then it won't due me much good and I can save her the time and money of shipping it to me.

Teamless I apologize for hijacking your thread.

If he has the original install discs you should be able to re-install and choose English as the default language.

This....

We publish 5 regional b-t-b magazines...when we get an MS Publisher file, well, we pretty much have to delete it...we just ask the sender to make a PDF file of it. We have been using Quark since "the beginning" (or at least it seems that way) and it has served us well. We have considered transitioning to InDesign but really haven't seen the need to, at least yet.

As far as making changes to a Quark document, it's easy/breezy.

And this.....

This is why I asked to see a file. When you open a PDF in Illustrator that's been output from Quark or InDesign, you have a nice elegantly simple document, easy to edit, with only enough objects on the page to support the desired layout. When you open a PDF in Illustrator that was output from MS Publisher, it has junk all over the page.....empty boxes, lines, text insertions with no text, etc., etc., etc.

PUCKER's experience is the same as mine. When I worked for both a multiple newspaper publisher and a small format commercial printer, we just recreated the file in Quark, and then later in InDesign, because the MS Publisher file is junk.

And it isn't just that the file is junk from an object layout perspective. It is also that the files are not designed with print production in mind. Imagine the following parallel...... when my son was a child, he wanted to know why the Army didn't use Transformers and Gundam Warriors, and how come the tanks don't have cool rockets all over them and fly, etc., etc., etc. I tried many times to explain in terms he could understand and without hurting his feelings why his ideas would not be practical. When an amateur (and often even when a professional designer who has no production experience) creates a file, even if it looks nice, it may be completely unsuitable for print reproduction. Did the designer consider whether the file would be printed on an on-demand digital press like a big Xerox iGen, or on a plate and ink press like a 6 color Heidelberg? Are the colors in RBG or CYMK? Are the embedded images hi-res or low-res? Are the images RGB or CYMK? Are the fonts Truetype or Adobe Postscript? Were the fonts used to design the document exported along with the document when sent to the print shop? Etc., etc., etc. MS Publisher is totally unsuited to meeting these demands. So when the customer send an MS Publisher file to the printer, the printer has to recreate the file in a format suitable for reproduction, and the cost of that recreation gets factored into the print pricing.

And designers are often just as guilty of poor production sense as their customers. The last shop I worked for was a small format engraving/offset printing shop. We specialized in engraved stationery (letterhead, business cards, and envelopes) for law firms and other professional firms. I can tell you how many times a customer came to me with an idea for a presentation folder that a designer had designed for them that was ENORMOUSLY expensive to produce. The designer has added embossings, debossing, foiling, 2 color engraving, and a color of offset printing, and the customer only wants 500 pieces. Well that means a separate debossing die and pass through a press for each debossed area, a separate embossing die and pass through a press for each embossed area, 2 engraving dies and two passes through an engraving press, a pass through a foiling stamp, a pass through a die-cutting press, folding, gluing, and before any of this can be done, a pass through an offset press to lay down a spot of background color........and all for a short press run.

Anyway, converting your PDF or Quark file to an InDesign file should be fairly easy.

[WildBill]

I think that MS Publisher was designed to be software for the "desktop publisher" to design and print better looking announcements, brochures, news letters, etc from an inkjet or laser printer at school, work, church, etc. I don't think it was even intended for profession work where the files are sent to a service bureau for printing.