Confusing or incomplete job communications
Be Organized...Make your job folder easy to understand. Place fonts in a separate folder, keep support files together. Well, you get the idea. Just keep in mind that someone else has to understand what you're doing. Label files for specific jobs and remove extra or unnecessary files. Unrelated files take up time and disk space. Copy only those files needed for the completion of the job at hand. If files for more than one job are to be sent together, be sure they are in separate folders, clearly labeled, to distinguish the different jobs. An easy way to organize your completed files is to read about PACKAGING or SAVING FOR SERVICE PROVIDER in your specific application. Did you run Spell Check?...

Never turn over a disk to your printer before learning their requirements. You should be well versed in such things as the computer platform your printer uses, the software used (and which version), and acceptable media (250 meg zip/CD-Roms, for example).

Always label your removable storage media with your name and contact information. Sending a service bureau an unlabeled zip disk or CD is the best way to lose it forever.

No hard copy
Accurate hard copy proofs are vital to ensure the integrity of the final product.
Your printer cannot be sure that your files are processed accurately without furnished up-to-date hard copy proofs. Hard copy should be output at 100% if at all possible; if not, the final output size should be marked on the proof.

If your document contains FPOs (For Position Only) that are to be replaced by your printer they should be marked clearly on your hard copy proof. Hard copy is also a good place to mark any special work you need performed on your file.

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The bottom line is...the less time your printing company takes, the less revisions and changes your service bureau makes, means less money you could be charged for in the end.