Part 1 of 3: Understanding Job Jackets
Page 2

Job Descriptions

This information is typically used for tracking as a job moves through production, including Job Number, Revision Number, Instructions, Notes, and Keywords.

Project-Level Resources

Project-level resources apply to all layouts in a project. A job jacket can contain Character Style Sheets, Colors, Dashes & Stripes, H&Js, Lists, and Paragraph Style Sheets. These assets can be imported into a job jacket from either the default application set or from an existing project.

Remember, style sheets call for specific fonts. If you include style sheets in a job jacket, any font used in those style sheets must be available on the computer that uses the job jacket.

Layout-Level Resources

Layout-level resources apply only to a specific layout, such as page size or the actual output method that will be used.

Layout Specifications

This information is typically defined by the art director (possibly in coordination with the printer's production manager or CSR). Layout specifications include:

• Page Count. This field defines the specific number of pages that should be in the final layout; you can enter any number between 1 and 2000.
• Page Height and Page Width. These fields define the page trim size of the layout; you can enter any value within the limits of a QuarkXPress layout (0.112" to 48"). 
• Margins. These four fields define margins for each side of the layout page.
• Crossovers. This menu defines whether crossovers (elements that cross from one page to another in a spread) are allowed or disallowed in the layout.
• Spreads. This menu defines whether spreads are allowed, and if they should be reader's spreads or printer's spreads.
• Binding Type. QuarkXPress job jackets support Channel Binding, Coil Binding, Hard Cover, Soft Cover, Plastic Coil, Ring Binding, and Saddle-Stitching. If a layout will not be bound, you can also choose None.
• Binding Side. You can define any edge (Top, Bottom, Left, or Right) as the binding edge, or you can choose None.
• Binding Length. You can set this to Short or Long, or choose None if the layout will not be bound.
• Page Orientation. This menu defines whether the layout should be Portrait or Landscape. If you have defined a specific Page Height and Page Width in the layout specification, the Page Orientation menu automatically reflects the orientation of those dimensions.
• Bleed. These fields define the bleed allowance for each side of the layout.
• Color Standard. This menu defines the specific color standard (if any) that should be used in the layout. You can choose CMYK, Hexachrome, or Monochrome, or choose Any to allow different color standards in the layout.
• Spot Colors. You can use this menu to prohibit spot colors in a job (None), or specify which spot colors are allowed. Any spot color that exists in the job jacket will be available in this list.
• Total Inks. This field defines the number of inks that can be used in a job. If a job should be only CMYK, for example, you would enter "4". If a job is being printed as CMYK plus two spot colors, you would enter "6" here.

Note: If you define the total number of inks, using a smaller number
in the final job will return an error. For example, say you are designing in
CMYK and specify four total inks in the job jacket; your layout, however,
does not use cyan at all, so technically the job only uses three inks.
When you evaluate the layout, it will return an error.

Later in this chapter we'll show you how to preflight a layout based on settings in a job jacket. The important thing to know at this point is that you don't have to fill in all of these fields; however, anything left blank (or set to "Any") will not be used in the final evaluation process. The more information you can provide about what a job should be, the more chance you have of preventing errors from getting into the prepress process.

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©2007 Against the Clock. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.