Proofing

proof n. copy of something printed, such as the pages of a book, for checking before final production.

proofread v. to read and correct (printers proofs).

Whether you are looking at a fax of your job or a laser proof of your job the fact remains that you and only you can tell us if it's right.

It is vitally important to remember that it is your job. You alone are responsible for checking that everything is as it should be before you give us the go ahead to print.

This all sounds blindingly obvious but we are all guilty of ASSUMING that everything will be o.k. only to find, when the job is delivered, that something is wrong. By then of course, its too late!

Whilst we do our very best, we are only human and do, occasionally, make mistakes. We may get a number wrong, a name or a postcode. We may set out everything exactly as told to by you including spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

When you sign off on the final proof you are stating that the job is correct even if it still has mistakes in it. It does not matter who made them! If you say it's OK we cannot accept any responsibility for errors subsequently found, whether or not they appeared in the original brief.

So you see, proofs and the checking of them are very important! Make sure you check all phone and fax numbers.
Is the address correct? Is it the font/colour/picture you wanted and are they in the right place? Are you happy with the spelling and punctuation?

Even better! Get a third party to go over everything just to double check that you haven't missed the obvious. We can all see glaring typo's in printed matter we see around us. I have a customer who designed a handbill himself, checked it and spelt his own name wrong! Another client with publicity material for a stage production with the wrong dates! The moral - check it, then check it again! You know it makes sense!