In Chapter 8, we learn about job submission. First thing that was covered was the customer service representative (CSR) that your job will be handed over to. When you are talking with your CSR, you must bring up any special issues that have to do with your job. Things like unusual stock, special mixed inks, varnishes/other coatings, custom finishing, and unusual content need to be brought up with the CSR. The CSR will answer any questions you may have and see to it that your job is taken care of correctly.
Whenever you are talking with your printer, you also need to obtain a detailed schedule that includes dates for events such as random proofs, page proofs, bluelines and press checks. All this information will help make sure your job is printed on time. Also remind anyone that is working with your job that they need to contact you if they have any questions about your job. Be prepared to receive calls at random times, like in the middle of the night. You may not be expecting it, but your job has to be finished on time, and the night crew printing it may come up with a question for you.
When you are building your files, it's best to start from the ground up. Make sure you check the external document size, that there is adequate bleed, and check your internal panel sizes. Also look over artwork that interacts with folds, perforations, or die cut trims. Your print service can provide some help when it comes to these things. More things to check are that there are a correct number of pages and correct inks.
If you have raster images in your files, make sure to check the resolution of each photo. They should usually be set to 300 ppi. Check the color space of your images. Images usually come in 5 file types for printing: CMYK, RGB, grayscale, monochrome and duotone. Also look over your files and see if any of them need retouching. If they do, and you don't feel comfortable doing it, let your print service know that you would like them to take care of it. Make sure that all of your images are rotated and scaled properly. You will achieve the best results when your scans or digital photographs are created at the proper size and rotation for final use. When you name these files, avoid using periods, asterisks, and other characters.
To check vector images, make sure your use the correct colors, and that the color naming stays consistent throughout all the files. You can embed images into the file, but that increases the file size. Send your images to the print service just in case they need to edit the images you've included. When it comes to fonts, embed them or create outlines. Keep in mind that fonts are not available for editing when you embed them. Spell check all of your content and make sure there are no empty text boxes lying around. Remember to include enough bleed for you images if it is necessary.
Types of proofs include image proofs and page proofs. When you check image proofs, remember to check the:
- size
- crop
- orientation
- angle
- color
- detail
- moire
- the matching of the original artwork
Make sure they are all set for the final use that you want. When checking page proofs, look over the:
- bleed
- that the document is the correct size
- the image area
- that you used the correct fonts
- that there are no overset texts
- the text reflow
- correct images are used and that the cropped images fit their frames
Also check the special effects on the page(s), rules/other strokes, trapping (no misregistration), overprint, rich blacks, moire in screen tints or images, crossover art (correct alignment and color match the artwork) and make sure there are no unnecessary spot colors.
Know the fate of your images when you are working with them in Photoshop. Decide at what scale will the image be used and how it needs to be rotated. Scan images to the size that they need to be in rather than in Photoshop. Know if your image will be used at multiple sizes. If it will be, scan in the largest size and use scaling tools when you need the smaller version of it. When it comes to image resolution, include as much information as you can, so that you achieve the best quality. You can always get rid of extra information if you don't need it. 300 ppi is generally the resolution you want when you're printing at 133-150 line screen. If the line screen will be higher than that, it is best to include a lot of detail in your content.
Although we print in CMYK, sometimes it can be very beneficial to work with images in RGB, especially when it comes to color correcting, retouching and compositing. The wider gamut of RGB allows you more to work with as you make changes to the images. Artistic features and Photoshop effects are not available in CMYK.
Working with layered files in Photoshop can be very helpful. The layers keep individual components of an intricate work from being stuck together permanently. This is useful if you change your mind on one component as your working - it can be easily changed without messing up the rest of your image.
Adding effects such as transparency can add some pizzazz to your images. Effects like these are no longer limited to Photoshop, but if you work outside Photoshop with them, it may be sort of difficult. Illustrator and InDesign don't always handle transparency well, so it can be limiting to use it. Illustrator and InDesign can handle placed Photoshop images, but not Photoshop's blending modes. Transparency is expressed in percentage opacity, so more or less changes the strength of what is showing through. To get around the problems that Illustrator and InDesign can run into, work on your Photoshop images with things like drop shadows in layers, and then flatten them when you want to take them over to one of the other two programs. Another way to fix the problem is to not add the drop shadow in Photoshop at all, but add it later in Illustrator or InDesign.
When you are trying to create a path, the magic wand tool in Photoshop is not the best way to go, because this tool follows the rectangle edges of pixels and make your clipped images look jagged. If you really want the best results. the pen tool is your best bet. Not many people like the pen tool but with it you can create the most natural looking results.
A duotone is an image composed of two colors. These images usually contain spot color components, and because of that, it's important to create them the right way so that they print the right way. In Photoshop, choose Image>Mode>Duotone and a dialog box will appear. "Black" as one of the colors can stay as black, for it is implied that it is the simple process black of CMYK. Any other colors used need to be chosen from the Pantone colors list.
Adobe Illustrator artboards can be imagined as pieces of drawing paper. In Illustrator, you art can go way past the edges of the artboard. To create an artboard, use the Artboard tool. You can see the width and height of the artboard as you drag its edges. To hide artboards, choose View>Hide Artboads. To modify artboards, you can select them with the Artboard tool, and change the size of the sides. You can also delete an artboard by selecting it and pressing the delete key on your keyboard or by pressing the X that appears next the the board when it is selected. You can also reposition artboards by selecting them and dragging them to a new position.
When creating an Illustrator document, you can specify the amount of bleed you would like. If you already have an existing document, choose File>Document Setup and add a bleed there. Bleeds do not have to be the same size all around the file. How bleeds are applied depends on your settings in the PDF, AI or EPS file.
Even though RIPs can now handle a lot of complexity in files, it is still a good idea to simplify your work.Remove empty points, remove too many points on a pen path, and clean up stray points that you don't need. To clean up these points, simply select Path>Clean Up and Illustrator will do the work for you.
Illustrator offers "live" effects. This means that the effects won't permanently alter your object when the effect is applied. You can edit the appearance of the effects in the Appearance panel. You can also hide or remove effects after they've been applied. Filters are now gone in Illustrator, and pixels aren't generated on the objects you've added effects to until they are printed.
Illustrator effects are added to the interiors and edges of the vector objects, while Photoshop effects are only applied to the interior. They are both even applied to Clipping Masks.
When you want to apply transparency or other blending modes in Illustrator, you may not always get the results you're looking for. Spot colors may not always look the way you want them to when you use these effects. To see how colors will really look, you can turn on the Overprint Preview option and see. Turn off these function when you're done, for this option slows down the program.
Old printers that are still being used have a hard time outputting images with transparency. If you are using a printer with this problem, you must flatten the transparency. The flattening only affects outfut and export and takes placing during export printing. This mimicks the colors of the transparency with opaque objects instead, and allows the printer to print your files. If you must downsave to an earlier AI file type, you must specify a transparency flattener preset. Ask your printer if they have any suggestions on how you should do this.
You can either link or embed raster images in Illustrator. Linking results in a smaller AI file, while embedding does the opposite. When you link images, they are externally stored, and therefore easier to edit. Embedding makes it easier to keep track of files you've added to you AI file, but embedding makes it harder to edit these separate files. When you save files as an EPS file, images and fonts are automatically embedded into the files. You should save the embedded files along with the EPS file just in case, so that you can go in and edit them later if needed. Images still rely on resolution when placed in Illustrator. Scaling up or down after placing an image will still change its quality, like it would in Photoshop. Always place your images at 100%.
Sources:
McCue, Claudia. Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit, 2009. Print.
