Designers and production artists of the 1990s are addressing the technical pre-press aspects on the desktop that traditionally were handled by skilled pre-print specialists. This study examines the many factors, benefits and pitfalls of performing these tasks as they relate to the overall process. Issues such as colour calibration, spot and process colour separation, trapping and file formats are presented to the student in fostering a comprehensive understanding of the many steps requiring attention for successful results in creating colour documents.