This checks that the InDesign document is named in the agreed way to identify its purpose.
File names are an obviously important way to know what a file contains, but they can also be used to help with automated exporting, archiving and influencing other GreenLight checks.
Using an agreed file naming convention avoids confusion by ensuring everyone involved in the workflow can be confident of knowing precisely what type of document each file is just from its name alone.
GreenLight ensures that files both in the current workflow and located in the archive use the agreed file naming and are confirmed to be complete.
All files in the workflow should be named in the following order:
- Book Code
- ISBN
- Section identifier
- Page Range (if applicable)
- Language
Each part of the name is separted with underscores and ends with the file type:
[BookCode]_[ISBN]_[Section]_[Page-Range]_[Language].[File-Type]
For example:
MAYBE_9781529503982_PI_001-040_UK.indd is the UK internal section InDesign document for p1-40 of ‘Maybe’.
VIBHI_9781536238518_HC_US.pdf is the US hardback cover PDF file for the book ‘Vibhi and the Voice’.
Allowed Characters
Use only letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), dashes and underscores when naming files and folders.
Underscores are used to indicate different sections of the filename. Regular dashes (using the hyphen or minus key) indicate page ranges and are also used to replace spaces and other characters.
Book Code
Every filename starts with a book code which identifies the book that the files belong to. Book Codes are supplied by production and may contain letters, numbers and a dash.
To add or amend the book code in GreenLight use the GreenLight Run menu > Add / Amend book info for document command.
Section Identifiers
Short codes indicate the section of the book that the InDesign document or output file relates to.
Refer to the Walker Books Group File Creation Policy / File Naming for a complete list. Some common section identifiers are:
PI - Paperback Interior
BBI - Board Book Interior
HI - Hardcover Interior
HC - Hard Cover
PJ - Paperback Jacket
PLC - Paper Laminated Case
Page Ranges for internal pages
For all internal documents the page range is included in the filename after the section identifier. Page ranges are NOT added to the filenames of other section documents.
First and last page numbers are added to the filename and are separated by a dash.
Even if a single document contains all internal pages, first and last page numbers are still added to the filename in the same way.
All pages numbers in filenames have three digits. E.g. page one to page eleven becomes 001-011. Books with over one thousand pages can use four digit page numbers.
GreenLight will compare the page range in the file name with the document page numbering.
Language Identifier
The language code will be at the end of the filename.
Files using international British English use UK. American English files use US. All other languages use the same three letter code used in ONIX. Common languages are listed below and a full list is here.
UK - International or British English.
US - American English.
ENG - Transatlantic English language intended for both the UK and US printings.
UKUS - If a single file contains different text for the UK and US printings then use UKUS.
FRE - French
GER - German
ITA - Italian
POR - Portuguese
SPA - Spanish
WEL - Welsh
If a single file contains different text layers for both the UK and US printings then use UKUS.
Suffix
The suffix is the final part of the file name used by the computer to indicate the file type and should remain unaltered. e.g.
.indd - InDesign document
.idml - InDesign Markup Language
.pdf - PDF
