Week 01 | Course Orientation / Intro to Print

Monday :: 09.28.2026

Welcome	Course Introduction and Welcome
Lecture	File Management, Naming & Archiving
Exercise	Print Specification Research
Resources	Class Notes: File Management, Naming & Archiving Exercise: 01 Print Specification Research

Wednesday :: 09.30.2026 | 4/225

Lecture	Introduction to Printing Machines: Types of printing, use, features & limitations. Defining Preflight and Responsibilities: The Designer, the Customer Service Representative, & the Prepress Operator.
Lab	Job Production Role Play
Project	Introduction to Get Out The Vote Campaign Project
Video	Printing & Finishing (London College of Communication)
Resources	Class Notes: Printing Techniques & Processes Class Notes: Defining Preflight & Responsibilities Lab: Job Production Role Play Project: Get Out The Vote Campaign

Week 02 | Page Geometry / Imposition

Monday :: 10.05.2026

Lecture	Page Geometry: Introduction, vocabulary, layout areas, important decimal values, and brochure folds.
Demo	Practice with Page Geometry & Precision Guides
Group Exercise	Creating Templates for Common Brochure Folds

Wednesday :: 10.07.2026

Due	Creating Templates for Common Brochure Folds Exercise Print Specification Research Exercise (01 & 02)
Lecture	Imposition: Converting reader's spreads to printer's spreads, and setting up multiple-up pages for digital printing.
Lab Exercise	Creating Printer Spreads with PDF
Exercise	Layout Resizing for Multiple Publications

Week 03 | Vector Artwork

Monday :: 10.12.2026

Due	Layout Resizing for Multiple Publications Exercise
Lecture	Troubleshooting Vector Art: Transparency, points, working with type, auto-trace & formats.
Lab Exercise	Illustrator Raster Effects Stress Test
Video	The Adobe Illustrator Story

Wednesday :: 10.14.2026

Due	Initial Version of Get Out The Vote Campaign Project Print Specification Research Exercise (03 & 04)
Critique	Get Out The Vote Campaign Project (Room 4/225)
Lecture	Preparing Vector Logos for Print Production
Lab Exercise	Preparing Vector Artwork

Week 04 | Raster artwork / Document Preflight

Monday :: 10.19.2026

Lecture	Troubleshooting Raster Art: Transparency, effective resolution, color space, up-sampling artwork, rich blacks, & file formats.
Demo	Creating Mock-ups in Photoshop
Lab Exercise	Preparing Raster Artwork

Wednesday :: 10.21.2026

Due	Final Version of Get Out The Vote Campaign Project
Project	Introduction to Calendar Design & Production Project
Lab Exercise	Document Preflight

Week 05 | Exam / field Trip

Monday :: 10.26.2026 | No Class — VC225 Field Trip

Field Trip

Field Trip to the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) & PNCA

Wednesday :: 10.28.2026

Exam	Over all course class demonstrations, projects, labs, and exercise assignments.
Project	Introduction to Brand Guide Project

Week 06 | Color

Monday :: 11.02.2026

Lecture	Color for Offset Printing Understanding color separations, overprinting, & knockouts.
Lab Exercise	CMYK Color Matching

Wednesday :: 11.04.2026

Due	Introduction & Personality Component of Brand Guide Project
Project	Logo Component of Brand Guide Project
Lecture	Introduction to Color Management and LAB
Demo	Working with ICC Profiles & Color Calibration of Monitors
Lab Exercise	Working with Color Space Profile Conversion

Week 07 | Color Correction

Monday :: 11.09.2026

Due	Calendar Design & Production Project
Presentation	Winter Term Advising & 4-year Transfer Options
Critique	Calendar Design & Production Project
Demo	Preparing a Logo Package
Lecture	Introduction to Color Correction Working with Curves in Photoshop
Exercise	Basic Color Correction with Curves

Wednesday :: 11.11.2026 | No Class — Veterans Day

Week 08 | Adobe PDF

Monday :: 11.16.2026

Due	Logo Component of Brand Guide Project Basic Color Correction with Curves Exercise
Project	Typography Component of Brand Guide Project
Preflight	Preflight of Calendar Design & Production Project
Lecture	Numeric RGB Color Correction
Demo	Color Correction with ACR Filter in Photoshop
Exercise	Color Correction by the Numbers

Wednesday :: 11.18.2026

Field Trip	To Select Impressions (North Salem)
Print Production	Calendar Design & Production at Select Impressions

Week 09 | Adobe PDF

Monday :: 11.23.2026

Due	Typography Component of Brand Guide Project Color Correction by the Numbers Exercise
Lecture	An in-depth look at PDFs: History, versions, current use, features, & applications. Introduction to the PDF/X Specification
Demo	Creating PDFs: Types, Methods, Presets & Options. Creating Fillable PDF Forms in InDesign Using Adobe Acrobat Pro: Proofing, preflight and document properties.
Project	Color & Production Component of Brand Guide Project

Wednesday :: 11.25.2026

Lab	Open lab time to work on Brand Guide Project

Week 10 | Preflight & Packaging

Monday :: 11.30.2026

Lecture	Working with the Preflight Panel & Packaging in InDesign Creating Preflight Profiles in InDesign
Lab Exercise	Document Preflight Revisited
Lab	Open lab time to work on Brand Guide Project

Wednesday :: 12.02.2026

Due	Draft Version of Brand Guide Booklet
Critique	Draft Version of Brand Guide Booklet
Exam	Over all course class demonstrations, projects, labs, and homework assignments.

Week 11 | Finals Week

Wednesday :: 12.09.2026

Due	Color & Production Component of Brand Guide Project (by 2:00 PM)