Before you hit print you must prepare your files in order to have them print exactly the way you intended. Someday we might actually be able to hit the print button and what we see on screen will be exactly what the printer produces. Technology is not quite there yet. The best programs to use are Adobe InDesign, Quark and Adobe Pagemaker. Avoid using Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher and Powerpoint programs at all costs to save you and the printer from frustatons and additional costs. Today the best way graphic designers prepare files for printing is to export your files to portable document files (pdf), a by product of Adobe Acrobat, which has built-in prepress instructions for the printer and makes the production of your job much easier.

Books
Production for Designers
Alan Pipes
ISBN 0-13-041389-5

The Mac is Not a Typewriter
Second Edition
Robin Williams
ISBN 0-201-78263-4

Supplies
Notebook
xacto knife
USB drive