Congrats to our newest Ashigaru

Yes, yes you are. You're being very good. At any rate, you moving up the ranks has to do with other people giving you rep, so it's not your doing.

I missed this when it was posted. It is dynamic business and there is always something to challenge us. I like that. Oy, the graphic artists that think they can never do any wrong are a plague. Their lack of knowledge where the ink hits the paper can be a disaster. The internatioanl SWOP guidelines and the rules of what works on Postsript imagesetters and platemakers are not rocket science. Just a few hours of study and practice and it should be learned.
These days the way graphic artists are being taught is ass backwards. They should first learn the rules of what works for web design, video and printing as far as the limits of what the final output can handle. Then let them get creative with CS2 or Quark and see how it works. It would make us pre-press grunts have a much smoother workflow.
If I had a nickel for every 72 dpi GIF file that people send me to print I could retire. The same people send me this crap month after month.

Glad to have another pre-press brother in the house. It sounds like you really have a solid backround and being in your early thirties the sky is the limit. We did not go fully on our own until I was almost 28 and I had no formal graphic art training. My wife and I feel very lucky to have survived and have success in this biz.