Howdy!

Welcome to my blog.

Since there's no telling just who you might be, I'll begin by telling you about about myself, and why I felt compelled to start a' bloggin'...

My name is Bob Ray Starker, and I've worked in the printing business since 1985. Back in the days before desktop publishing I started out doing paste-up with galley type and a waxer, stripping negatives, cutting ruby lith, burning metal plates, and a whole slew of related skills that have since gone the way of the dodo. Since the mid '90s I've worked on Macs and PCs in PageMaker, Quark, InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Word and even (shudder) Microsoft Publisher, all in a never-ending struggle to render everyday citizens' documents printable.

What most folks don't know about printing would fill a library, and frankly, that's OK. There's no real need for normal, well-adjusted people to know anything about Pantone books, color trapping, font substitutions or image densities. I know this stuff because I get paid to. There are much more pleasant things with which to fill your head, and you should do that.

But...

From time to time, many who've had no training in the graphic arts will be called upon by an employer, a relative or plain old necessity to design a business card, newsletter or brochure. It will be daunting. The software will taunt you. You will, more than likely, freak out. That's why I'm writing this blog. If your project hits a wall, please feel free to contact me. I will answer your questions (hopefully within 24 hours or less), give you all the tips and tricks at my disposal, and help you deliver a finished document to the local print shop that will print as flawlessly as their equipment allows. Best of all, the prepress guy (my job) won't curse you behind your back.

So, let me have it... what do you need to know to finish your project? Send your queries, quips and questions to: bobraystarker@yahoo.com

Let's do this thing!

P.S. While I anticipate this being a forum for newcomers with a lot of how-to questions, graphic designers should feel free to browse these missives and hurl a question my way. Honestly, I spend as much time fixing Adobe files submitted by professional designers as I do tweaking Word docs submitted by amateurs. Remember: THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS, ONLY STUPID MISTAKES THAT COST TIME AND MONEY. Stupid mistakes also make the prepress guy (me) angry and bitter. If that happens, I might forget to check your crops, bleeds and gripper space. If you don't know what any of that means, we should talk. ;-)