Why is my file reflowing?
Applications such as Microsoft Word are word processing programs, intended for use in the office environment. However, once the project is sent for print production, these programs become the weak cousins to professionally accepted page layout and prepress applications such as InDesign and QuarkXPress. Many necessary functions required for plate production are not available.
For instance, Microsoft Word, depending on the version, may not allow for the image to be turned to negative, they may not allow for printers’ marks and they do not allow for separation of colours, which is essential for preparing the file for print.
The biggest problem, however, is caused within the area of font handling. Prepress work is often done with the PostScript language and PostScript fonts. Most office printers are non-PostScript. Because of this, the word processing document is created using whatever type fonts are available to it. These fonts may not even be available in a PostScript version and if they are, the character widths will be different. This causes reflow of text when the file is opened on a different computer in the Prepress environment. This also can affect charts and other imbedded graphics.
Also, when files are taken from the environment in which they were created and transported for imaging, the files are opened and the programs substitute any similar font, or it defaults to whatever is the default font in the host computer. InDesign, however, has very sophisticated font substitution modules that inform of missing fonts and allow them to be loaded or replaced. The substitution problem with word processing programs can also apply to margins etc. This results in a printout that, in most cases, looks different from the original.
This is why an accurate printout of the finished piece must accompany any files submitted, as without it, it is almost impossible to check for problems such as reflow or font substitution.