Section 94. Preflighting and Packaging Documents

#94. Preflighting and Packaging Documents

When it's time to send a finished InDesign document to a print service provider, there's still quite a bit of file management work that needs to be done: You need to gather all of the font and graphic files used in the document, as well as a copy of the InDesign file. into a single folder for easy transport. Fortunately, InDesign can do this file management work for you.

In addition to collecting font and graphic files, the Package command (File menu) scans a document for potential printing problemsa process called preflight, a term that's borrowed from the aviation industryand warns you if it finds anything amiss. (You can also preflight a document without collecting font and graphic files by choosing File > Preflight.)

To preflight and package a document:

1.	Choose File > Package. You'll be prompted to save the document if you've made changes since you last saved it.
2.	If the preflight check does not find any potential problems. the Printing Instructions dialog box is displayed. If problems are found, an alert is displayed. If you click View Info in the alert, the Preflight dialog box is displayed (Figure 94a) and the problems are summarized in the Summary panel. The other panels display details. If you click Continue, the Printing Instructions dialog box is displayed. Figure 94a. The Preflight dialog box display. information about potential printing problems. In this example, the Summary panel indicates that four fonts are missing. one graphic has been modified. and one graphic is missing.
3.	The information you enter into the various fields of the Printing Instructions dialog box is saved as a text file that's included in the package. After you've entered the information you want to include, click Continue.
4.	In the Create Package Folder dialog box (Figure 94b), enter a name for the folder into which files will be copied and specify its location. Figure 94b. The Package command creates a folder into which the files you specify in the Create Package Folder dialog box are copied. Send the package folder to your print service provider for final output.
5.	Use the check boxes at the bottom of the dialog box to specify the files you want to include. You'll probably want to check Copy Fonts (Except CJK) and Copy Linked Graphics. and you should check Update Graphic Links in Package so that the InDesign file that's copied into the package folder is linked to the graphic files that are copied to the package folder and not the originals. (Linked graphics are placed within a folder called Links within the Package folder; fonts are placed within a folder called Fonts.)

Preflighting and Packaging Books

To preflight or package a book. choose File > Open to open the book file. Then choose Preflight Book or Package > Book for Print from the Book palette menu.