Programs that Should Die

First and foremost PUBLISHER if you want to be take seriously as a designer fork out the money for CS3 it is worth it. If you still want to use Publisher keep in mind that when you send a file to the printer they have to do a lot of work with these files and you will be charged accordingly. Also, this program is supposed to be for non-designers but has more annoying quarks than you can shake a fist at. CS3 mainly Indesign, for layout, will make your life so much easier, save you a ton of time and allow you to have complete control of your designs.

Another program that send chills down the back of printers is Power Point files. Power Point does not hold formatting very well from mac to mac, mac to pc, or pc to pc. These are a pain in the arse to work with and come with a price tag. So if you have a Power Point presentation that you need to have printed and you want it to be formated the same way that you are going to display it, please save it as a pdf and check it against what you are presenting. Then send it to the printer.

Microsoft word is bad but not as bad as the 2 mentioned above. If you work with a printer frequently they are most likely able to give you software that will convert your file to a pdf and automatically upload it to their website for easy output.