Every misprinted job traces back to a sentence somebody didn't write. The work order is the shop's real programming language, and the good ones share an anatomy, whether the thing reading them is a twenty-year veteran, a first-week hire, or software.
The six facts
- The item: booklet, postcard, business card, menu, table tent. One word sets every downstream default.
- Finished size: what the customer holds, after cutting and folding. If the file is built at a different size, say which one wins.
- Pages and sides: "44 pages," "double sided," "front only." Half of duplex mistakes are this fact missing.
- Layout intent: gang it, 2-up, saddle-stitch it, one of each. The verb that turns a file into a plate.
- Quantity: because 500 cards at 24-up is a 21-sheet instruction, and the run math should be on the ticket.
- Outputs: what comes back (fixed file, plate, booklet, all three).
Real examples that run
"500 business cards, 3.5×2, gang on 12×18." Complete. "44-page saddle-stitch booklet, finished 5.5×8.5, plate 2-up on 12×18, 0.25 gutter, send booklet and plate." Complete, with house specifics. "Restaurant menus, finished 5×7." Complete enough: item, size, and the file supply the rest.
What to leave out
Anything the reader can see: page count of the supplied file, its built size, whether it has bleed. State intent, not inventory. And skip apologetic hedges ("might need bleed? not sure"). Name the outcome you want and let the reader flag what deserves a human decision.