Working with GP&DS
Who We Are - GP&DS
We are Albuquerque Public Schools Graphics Production & District Services (GP&DS). Our department is responsible for the mail, copy, print, and design needs of the district and for administering the APS standardization of the Albuquerque Public Schools identity, as described in this book. Our products and services are provided at an affordable cost to the entire district from 4 central locations. We also provide quality teacher supplies and student incentives for a low cost at our Classroom Store. We work hard to support teachers, students, & employees in the district by providing a wide variety of products and services.
Mission
Graphics Production & District Services will provide quality products and services in a timely manner for all students and employees of the district, supporting the goals set by the APS Board of Education.
Customers First, Quality Always!
GPDS Services include:
Graphic Design Center
Graphic design and production of all materials for the district including brochures, newsletters, booklets, agendas, posters, letterhead, memo pads, envelopes, business cards, invitations and all other district materials, maintenance of the standardized APS brand and identity
Print Center
Print and bindery of all forms, stationery, agendas, brochures, posters, etc. for the district
Copy Centers
Copy and bindery of all forms, brochures, booklets, agendas, posters, including laminating and coil/book binding
Mail Center
Sorting and delivery of daily district mailings to all sites, free delivery of GP&DS products, delivery of payroll
District Image & Archive Center
Archival of district records, filming and imaging of all transcripts, back up for school registrars, providing certified copies of transcripts to students, institutions, and the military.
The Classroom Store
A fully stocked store for teachers, providing thousands of incentives, teaching materials, and other products for the classroom at low costs.
Working With Us
At Graphics Production & District Services, our goal is to provide exceptional service. To accomplish this we suggest that each customer take the following steps to ensure they receive the highest quality work and quickest service available.
Where do you start?
GD&PS provides a wide range of services and will be able to assist you with any print or publication work. If you have any questions about the job you need to do, just ask us! As soon as you have a design, production, print or copy job we are here to help right away. Just call 842-3696 and make an appointment to talk with one of our staff members to get ideas and see samples of other jobs we have produced. Get us involved in your work as soon as possible and we can advise you on the best methods to make your job look great and follow the APS standards.
Format for job submission
Once your job is ready to be passed on to us it is time to fill out a work order form and submit that along with your job. Any publications should be submitted to us as a word or text document. (In some special cases a pdf may be used - we can instruct you on the best format for your job). Send it to us on a disk or over email and save a backup copy just in case. ALWAYS submit a completely filled out work order form.
Do not format texts and colors within the document you submit. All text should be black and in a plain, easy to read font. Please make sure that the content of the text is exactly how you want it to appear, that the order of sections, headings, and paragraphs breaks are correct, and that the appearance of any pictures, graphs, and tables, etc. are clear. If you have a specific idea for the layout or design of your job, please format only one separate sample page for us as an example. We will then design from that.
If you have a job that is a revision of one we have previously processed, clearly mark the changes on the latest printed version and submit that. This way is the easiest and quickest to process. We can simply use our files for the job and quickly update them to your specifications. If you would like to add text, please submit an updated file of the original job with the additions and their placements clearly marked. A description of the changes along with the file will also help.
Plan for the Busy Months
Keep in mind that our busiest times of year are the four weeks prior to the beginning of the school year, the four weeks prior to ACE, and the four weeks prior to the end of the school year. For these times we request you submit jobs at least six weeks before your due date so we may schedule them into our work load. If, for instance, you need a handbook produced for the start of the school year, the best way to ensure that you will receive it on time is to bring it to us in June.
For agendas: we require that you get the work order to us by April 30 and the inside front pages to us no later than May 31.
Pre-Scheduling
Our workload at GD&PS is constantly growing and we are now busier than ever. Generally we schedule jobs on a first-come, first-serve basis, but we have an option for work to be pre-scheduled. If you know there is an upcoming job that you will need by a certain date, but it is not yet ready for processing, we can still schedule it in. This allows us to make sure we start on your job as soon as you need it.
To pre-schedule a job, fill out a work order form at least two weeks prior to when you need the work started. Indicate in the “special” section that it is to be pre-scheduled and when you will submit the final draft of your job to us. Remember that with pre-scheduled jobs we still need full processing time from when we receive the final draft to when your job is due (see time estimate chart). Jobs that are not prescheduled run the risk of up to a two to four week wait before we can schedule them into our workload and get started on them. For recurring jobs, such as a monthly newsletter, please provide us with a calendar schedule of the dates each piece is due.
Printing/Copying
Once a design is complete, or you have a document you need copied or printed, there are three ways the job can be duplicated: black and white copying, color copying, or offset printing. Knowing how you plan to print your publication is important for deciding how to best submit and format it. All documents submitted for either black and white or color copying should be clean copies printed on white paper. We can run sizes up to 12 x 18 inches. If the document is two-sided please provide both sides on separate sheets of paper. Anything to be copied in black and white should be printed in black ink only. Please do not staple, tape, or alter anything you submit for copying. We can print the highest quality copies from a digital file, so it is preferred if you can submit a digital copy of the document as a pdf file. This results in the best quality end product.
If your job requires more than 1000 copies we will use the offset press. We must have a digital file for this process, so all large quantity jobs must be submitted as a pdf file. Along with the pdf, please include all photos and graphics as separate files.
Please remember that all documents produced for use by any APS unit must conform to the standards.
Submitting Your Job
All jobs must be submitted with a complete Work Order. It is not necessary to schedule a meeting with us to submit a job, but if you would like to do so please call 842-3696. Otherwise, you may send the complete job request to GD&PS through interoffice mail, or you may submit a work order form online from our website.
We request that you bring or send the following items when you submit your job to GP&DS.
- A complete Work Order
- Your text on disk and/or a marked-up copy of your previously produced document.
- A hard copy of your text, if supplying a disk, so we can be certain we are using the correct text and that it has been formatted properly
Customer Service
Communicating with our customers is very important in ensuring your satisfaction and in keeping you informed about the progress of your job. We make every effort to stay in contact with our customers throughout the production of a job. If you need to contact us call, fax, or email anyone at GP&DS. Our fax number is 842-3552, and our main phone number is 842-3696.
