Chapter 8
There are many factors
that must be considered when planning a job to ensure the final product meets
expectations. Communication with the print service provider may be among the
most important. Having open communication with the printer gives a better
understanding of how the project needs to be built in order to be successful.
Additionally, it begins to prepare them for the incoming job. Generally, the
first contact with a printing company will be with a salesperson. This
individual will take your information as well as give an estimate and projected
timeline for the job. The salesperson will then assign you to a customer
service representative (CSR). The CSR is a customer’s contact—they are expected
to know everything associated with the jobs they have been assigned. To ensure
a job goes smoothly, some special circumstances you may need to discuss with
your CSR are unusual stock, special mixed inks, varnishes or other coatings,
custom finishing, and/or unusual content. All of these instances require
additional time, or the like, so it is important that the printer be aware of
them early on. Also, you should acquire a schedule detailing a timeline for
your job and the contact information for everyone who will be handling your
job. Further, be sure they know how to contact you if they have any questions.
Before you begin creating
a job on the software it is important that you are already considering and
planning for the final print. Therefore it is vital to have the following
specifications established:
·
External
document size
·
Adequate bleed
·
Internal panel
size
·
Artwork
interactions with folds, perforations, or die cut trims
·
Correct number
of pages
·
Correct inks
If your final images won’t
be placed in a layout software, check to ensure the image meets all the
printer’s requirements in its original application. Some guidelines for
checking raster images include:
·
Resolution—Generally,
the resolution of raster images should be 300 ppi.
·
Color
space—CMYK, unless otherwise specified, for your color images.
·
Retouching—Printer
services can provide retouching if you would like them to.
·
Rotations and
scaling—Rotating, in increments other than 90 degrees, and scaling cause an
image to lose some of it’s detail.
·
Filenames—Make
sure the file is named appropriately.
When placing images in
page-layout software from other applications, such as Illustrator,
considerations must be taken. It is essential to check:
·
Correct
colors—the color names are consistent between all the files.
·
Images—can be
embedded or linked in the file. While embedding ensures all the elements are in
place, it increases the file size and limits the ability to modify an image if
necessary.
·
Fonts—if you
choose to embed the fonts, only users who have those fonts activated can edit
them. Converting text to outlines can be problematic as it may lose text
effects. Additionally hinting is lost when outlining text, which can cause it
to not be as sharp as the original text.
·
Text—always
spell check and check for stray text remnants created by inadvertent clicks
with the type tool.
·
Bleed—ensure
you used adequate bleed.
After ensuring the used
raster images and vector artwork are correct, the page-layout file must be
checked for errors (spell check, deleting unnecessary elements, scaling and
rotation, etc.). Once this is complete the job is ready to be sent to the print
service provider.
After the job is
submitted, the next stage involves checking the printed proofs of your job.
Image proofs are proofs that include the images only. They are sometimes called
random proofs or scatter proofs because the context of the layout isn’t
included with the images. This proof can be really beneficial if you are, for
any reason, unsure of how your images will reproduce. Check the following:
size, crop, orientation, angle, matching the original artwork, color, detail,
moiré, silhouettes, and retouching. Page proofs contain the content. Not every
printer generates proofs for each page rather they have imposed proofs, which enables
the overall content of the job to be checked as well as the page position. The
following should be examined when viewing a page proof: correct size, bleed,
image area, correct fonts, overset text, text reflow, correct images, crop,
special effects, rules and other strokes, trapping, overprint, rich blacks,
moiré in screen tints or images, crossover art, and spot colors. Following the
viewing of the proofs and making the necessary adjustments, it is time to sign
off on the proof. This indicates that the job is satisfactory and ready to be
printed.
Chapter 9
When scaling and rotating
an image it is important to do as much planning, with its end use in mind, as
possible. However, sometimes this isn’t always possible as you may be using a
provided image. When scanning an image, keep in mind the size at which the
image will be used and scan it at that size rather than scaling it. If the
image is going to be used at two different sizes, scan for the larger size and
scale it to the smaller size. The scaling of an image that will be used at two
different sizes can be done in page layout software if they are fairly close in
size. Though, if there is a substantial difference between the sizes it’s a
good idea to scan them separately at the respective sizes or, at least, scale
the image down in Photoshop with the Bicubic Sharper resampling option. If the
image is going to be rotated scan the image at the angle desired. This can be
challenging so if you do need to rotate it, do so in Photoshop as it will yield
better results than page layout applications. Always keep in mind the most
important aspect of the image and focus on preserving that element’s quality,
even at that expense of the other contents’ quality. If the image is going to
be used for the web and print keep it in RGB to make corrections and
alterations, then save a RGB version for the web and a CMYK version for print.
Image resolution is
closely connected to image size. Therefore, many of the same rules apply. It’s
always a good idea to begin with as much image information as possible—you can
always remove but can’t add. After determining the final dimensions of an
image, scan it at those dimensions to achieve suitable resolution. In general,
appropriate resolution is 300 ppi for printing.
Typically, prints are
created using the CMYK color space. Thus, all images must be converted to CMYK
for printing. However keeping an image in RGB, rather than converting it to
CMYK immediately, allows for more overall flexibility in editing. When sending
the images to a print service provider you will (usually) have to supply the
images in CMYK, so they will have to be converted. Often, your print service
provider will provide you with conversion settings. In the event they don’t,
use Photoshop’s built-in conversion setting North America Prepress 2.
Layers allow for each
component of a composition to be kept separate from each other. This method
provides a way for editing to be performed without permanently altering or
damaging images. For example, if you want to crop an image and do so by simply
erasing it, those pixels are permanently gone. A better way to eliminate those
pixels would be to use the Layer Mask feature and hide them without permanently
removing the pixels. This is not limited to cropping an image. There are also
methods for preserving pixels during editing: adjustment layers for color
correction, smart objects for transformations, and clipping masks for
controlling multiple layers. These layers don’t necessarily have to be
flattened because other applications, such as Illustrator and InDesign, support
unflattened Photoshop files. However, flattened files don’t allow for editing,
which may be desirable in some circumstances.
Creating more interest in
images by adding effects is no longer limited to just Photoshop—programs, like
Illustrator and InDesign, can support incorporated Photoshop files. However,
these programs can’t always interpret the Photoshop file content properly. For
instance, the programs can interpret transparency correctly but don’t
understand Photoshop blending modes. One way to avoid the programs not
correctly interpreting the elements of a Photoshop file is to flatten the
layers and use the flattened image in the final document.
“Photoshop’s attempts to
convert an active selection to a clipping path are valiant, but the results are
usually less than stellar.” The Magic Wand may be adequate in some isolated
instances but in general, it will not create an acceptable path. A better path
can be achieved by using the Pen tool. For simple selections, the Lasso or
Magnetic Lasso tools can be used to create a mask. It is then viewed in Quick
Mask mode, using paint tools to refine it.
Duotone images consist of
two colors—typically black and a spot color. For a job with a limited color palette,
these images can create visual interest. To create a duotone, convert the image
to grayscale and then select duotone from image menu—leave ink 1 as black and
select a color for ink 2. When placing the duotone image in another program, be
sure the ink name is consistent in each program.
Chapter 10
An artboard is generated
automatically when you create a new illustrator document. When creating a new
document you are able to dictate the dimensions and number of artboards or
select a preset in the document profile. Artboards can also be created manually
by activating, clicking, and dragging the artboard tool in an existing
document. With this method, it’s difficult to get precise sizes. To attain the
exact artboard dimensions you want press enter or click the Artboard Options
(in the control panel), after creating the artboard—in the Artboard Options
dialog box you can modify the dimension fields. Additionally, there are
numerous artboard size presets available for you to choose from. Simply
selecting an existing object with the Artboard tool can also create an
artboard. All the artboards you create can be deleted except for one. However,
the artwork within those artboards is not deleted. Though it won’t be exported
or printed unless the Ignore Artboards option is chosen before output. While
bleeds can be set up when creating a new illustrator document and edited in an
existing document, different bleeds cannot be applied for individual
artboards—the specified bleed for the document is applied to all artboards. Because
of the ability to create multiple artboards it may seem as though they are the
same as pages, but they aren’t. Therefore Illustrator alone should never be
used to create a multiple page piece, because artboards don’t provide the
features found in layout applications that support such jobs.
Despite the fact that
today’s computers and RIPS are considerably more capable, compared to those of
the past, eliminating complexity can still be beneficial. Illustrator has tools
that enable you clean up the workspace as well as simply complex artwork. By
choosing Object > Path > Clean Up, Illustrator intelligently eliminates
stray points and other unwanted elements in the drawing. A complex object can
be simplified by choosing Object > Path > Simplify—this reduces the
amount of points and modifies the selected objects.
“Illustrator offers a
number of imaginative live effects that allow you to transform a simple object
into something much more interesting with just a few clicks.” These effects are
live, meaning you can use the effects in the Appearance panel to modify the
object without permanently changing it. None of the effects become actual
pixels until the file is exported or printed. There are two sections of the
Effects menu. Illustrator Effects apply to the interiors and edges of vector
objects, including those used as Clipping Masks. In contrast, Photoshop effects
are only applied to the interior of vector objects—also including objects being
used as Clipping Masks.
Transparency along with
other effects now offered by Illustrator, enable designers to have greater
flexibility in their design. Early on, many print service providers didn’t have
equipment that could effectively output files that included transparencies.
This can still be a problem today if a print service provider hasn’t upgraded
their equipment. “Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat all support live,
unflattened transparency.” Therefore, there is no need for special handling of
a native AI file with transparency that will be placed in InDesign. However in
cases where unflattened transparency is not supported, the transparency must be
flattened. This doesn’t flatten the illustrator file itself. Instead the
flattening process is involved only in the output or export of the file.
“When you place raster
images in an Illustrator file, you can choose to link or embed those images.”
Linking an image stores that image externally. This allows for additional
editing of the linked images to be done easily. Additionally, linking images,
rather than embedding them, yield in a smaller file size. When an image is
embedded it is added to the file. This makes it much easier to keep track of
all the elements included in a file but it also increases the file size of the
Illustrator document and makes editing the image more difficult.
Source: Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications
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