MS Word and Print

Software like Microsoft Word is often seen as a necessary evil in the world of  commercial print industry. MS Word may do great things in the office, but in printing its limitations far outweigh the benefits.

As a small and locally based printer, we make it our business to guide our customers through the printing process. We focus on helping you learn what you need to get print projects looking great. A lot of the time this means taking existing files and editing them into print-ready files. We do this in industry standard programs like InDesign and Illustrator.

We have a great pre-press team that always takes to this process with gusto.

But there is unfortunately one thing that can quickly and easily bring out groans of tired frustration. That is announcing that a customer has provided files in MS Word or MS Publisher format.

Why is this? What’s wrong with these programs? The simple answer is output. While MS Word and MS Publisher can do great things on your home or office printer, they fail to meet the needs of a digital or offset press. This means our pre-press team will have a lot more work on their hands.

Sure, this will lead to some frustration, but more importantly it means a longer turn-around time and greater expense for the customer. So the simple response to using MS Word for print is, just don’t do it.

Top 4 Reasons not to use MS Word for Printing

1. Color – In commercial printing we use a color space called CMYK. These are the inks (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) that we use to print something. MS Word uses another color space called RGB. This space is designed for your screen.
   In order to prepare an RGB-color MS Word file for printing, we will have to convert the file. That means changes. What you saw on your screen will not be what you get in print. In additon, blacks, especially in type, can convert in strange ways that lead to rings of color around a letter.
2. Fonts – When you print something, the data in a file moves from machine to machine. From your desktop to a pre-press workstation, to a RIP server, and finally to a press. The font information in a professional design program like InDesign is made to stay consistent and repeatable  across all these settings. MS Word however lacks this capability.  Fonts in MS Word lack many settings essential for printing (such as ligatures, and extended character sets).
3. Formatting Issues – InDesign and similar programs offer the ability to anchor text or graphics, and adjust things like kerning, tracking, and ligatures. MS Word does not. It’s difficult in MS Word to control blocks of text or wrap around graphics.
4. PDF Creation – As we’ve mentioned before on this blog, a PDF file is often the best to use for printing. The reasons are many, and explained in detail here. But one problem we’ve come across more than once in MS Word is creating a good and print-ready PDF file. All too often we’ve seen issues 1 to 3 on this list pop-up in a PDF file made from MS Word. The result? Headaches and time wasted.

So,that’s all great you think, but what can I do about my files? I have MS Word on my computer, and I’m not shelling out hundreds of dollars for a design program I don’t know how to use.

Understood. Luckily there are many options. There are several low-cost (or even free) programs available that can help you get your files print-ready. Programs like Scribus and Serif PagePlus can get your files into printing shape rather easily. And you can also buy InDesign on a monthly basis through Adobe. The learning curve for these vary, but if you are going to be printing more and more in the future, than you may want to invest the time.

In truth though our team is more than happy to help get your files print-ready. we can guide you through the process, but it is important that you understand that it is a process. It will take time, and incur greater pre-press charges. Preparing MS Word files for printing is unfortunately not just about pushing a few buttons.

So, do we sound like born in the wool MS Word haters? That isn’t true at all. We use it and other MS Office programs all the time. We just don’t don’t use them for anything involving printing. It is all about using the right tool for the job.

cutpasteandprint Printing, graphic design, binding, and promotional product specialists in Huntingdon Valley, PA. We proudly serve the Bucks and Montgomery County areas with superior quality, great customer service, and a commitment to getting you and your the best possible printed materials. Our services include: Digital Printing, Offset Printing, Graphic Design, Promotional Items, Bindery, and Copying.