Jobs generated from computer files must contain all the printing production requirements that the final composited traditional plate film contained. Printers with electronic prepress capabilities offer file manipulation services that cover things like trapping, low resolution image replacement, and more. They generally prefer handling these critical production details in-house to assure proper preparation for their particular press and finishing lines. The importance of proofs from digital files and plate film has increased because of today's speed of production and the opportunities to rapidly incur expensive remake costs at the plate stage. Proofs should reflect exactly what is represented on the file or plate film.
Matched color uses a designated ink color.
Four-color process printing reproduces color photographs or illustrations by using only four colors of ink. The size of these dots determines the appearance of the final printed colors. The newest page makeup, illustration, and photo editing software also support these systems. Electronic prepress providers, who have the equipment to create scans in high resolution, are able to supply their customers with low-resolution versions of image files that use far less storage and memory in page makeup files. Creating color files requires knowledge of the printing requirements for color including trapping and color balance.