Backroom production operations have popped up across the globe but could outsourcing your magazine to another continent save you time, money and maintain quality reproduction? Here, Dean Cook looks at service levels by outsourcing magazine production abroad.

Independent publishers intend to save money where they can, and this may include outsourcing magazine design services to backroom production companies in another continent. But, while this could save money, would it be a false economy?

While typically saving a few pounds/dollars/euros on each page may seem attractive, looking at the broader picture, it could uncover unfavourable inefficiencies. These often include:

• low-level attention to layout and typography;
• poor file management;
• a non-fulfilment to properly check every single image and advert before placement;
• an increased level of unnecessary communication adding to stress;
• competence to deal with requests effectively;
• extended response times;
• operating in different time-zones;
• a lesser degree to prioritisation;
• longer lead times as production time is shared among other clients' titles;
• a lower standard of diligence to correct amendments;
• you may not have direct contact with the production artist;
• and a high risk of non-compliant artwork supplied for commercial printing.

We often hear from our prepress contacts that they receive non-compliant PDF files from inept magazine designers, thus initiating hard-pressed prepress teams to deal with increased workloads to correct typical problems. This is one of the main reasons I wrote this article; opening the door to what you can't see later in the process, such as time lost making contact with the production artist once they're back at their desk several hours later because they are in a different time zone. Any production cost savings made at the beginning could dissipate by the end.

More often than not, the publisher would usually be unaware of the importance of artwork meeting compliant standards for commercial printing. While it's not in the publisher's remit, they rely on the trust that the provider, representing the visual element of the publisher to its readers, can meet commercial print standards.

Another note is that this industry is not regulated nor professionally recognised accreditation to qualify the production artists' abilities. Therefore, you only have the word of the production artist's/provider's experience.

Leading by experience

Preferring to lead by example, our focus is on efficient scheduling, delivering flawless production, and keeping pricing at competitive levels for the service and experience we offer. Besides:

• we pay close attention to layout and typography;
• fully manage and track files;
• we check every single image and advert before placement and respond with a solution to correct if we spot anything that isn't correct;
• provide a quality level of information and communication;
• we deal with requests effectively;
• respond within realistic time frames;
• ensuring time-zones work to a client's advantage;
• being able to prioritise;
• work to dedicated production schedules for all clients;
• work with a robust system when correcting amendments;
• you have direct personal contact with our experienced production artists;
• and, having hands-on prepress experience, we can send technically error-free artwork for commercial printing, therefore, requiring no intervention from any prepress team as we deal with technical issues on the fly.

We aim to upload print compliant pages to any printer's prepress system in the world, technically approve and queue the publication for plating within just a few hours of client sign-off. 

If you already have a price or wish to explore a more efficient approach, let's see what we can do — who knows, we may beat the price you already have. Feel free to drop us a line via our contact page to learn more.New Paragraph