: Should I give the editable/master file to the print shop people? I want to print simple business cards and I have my design ready in PDF format which I made with Adobe InDesign, but one printing
I want to print simple business cards and I have my design ready in PDF format which I made with Adobe InDesign, but one printing service is asking me for the original file, along with all the fonts and images I used for my design.
I called a different print service to ask if it was necessary for me to give them them editable files, and they said all that they needed was my PDF file with good print quality.
I understand that if I give them my master file, they can claim ownership of it and use it as their own. Should I give them my editable file? Do they really need it to for print? Why are they asking for it?
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If you can't trust your print shop, find another.
(This, from a prepress guy in a print shop.)
Sometimes prepress needs your editable "source" file or "live" file to adjust/repair things for output. It is common for prepress to ask for those files. PDFs are often good enough, but sometimes not, and more difficult to work with than source files.
It is standard ethics to protect the property of clients, to abide by privacy and discretion, to treat files as you would want them to be treated of they were your own. Like I said, if you don't trust your print provider, there's plenty more of them fish in the sea.
I've worked in the PrePress department of several print shops. More often than not, hi-res pdfs with printer's marks were all we needed, but there were times that we asked for the native files so that if there were any last minute changes needed, we could make them without having to go back to the designer. These changes were typically simple ones, i.e. if black needed to be rich black, or if a spot color needed to be changed to CMYK. Or, if the client requested a minor text change last-minute, we could do it and not significantly slow down the workflow. Any design/text changes more than the minimum would be sent back to the designer, however.
(Many Prepress departments now have software that can make almost any change needed right in the PDF file.)
That said, if you do provide the native files to the printer, I'd think there is very little chance you'd have to worry about them stealing your work. They have a reputation to uphold as a business; You will also still retain a copy of the native files as well, so any possible claim they might try to make later could easily be disputed. I just don't see that happening, although nothing's impossible. But overall, I'd say that's not something to be concerned with.
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