From design into print: preparing graphics and text for professional printing

337 Pages·2009·11.104 MB·English

by  Cohen, Sandee

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FROM DESIGN INTO PRINT
Preparing Graphics and Text for Professional Printing
by Sandee Cohen
Peachpit Press
From Design Into Print: Preparing Graphics and Text for Professional Printing
Sandee Cohen
Peachpit Press
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
Find us on the Web at: www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to [email protected]
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education.
Copyright © 2009 by Sandee Cohen and Robin Williams
Project Editor: Becky Morgan
Production Editor: Hilal Sala
Copyeditor: Dave Awl
Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry
Cover design: Mimi Heft
Interior design: Mimi Heft
Layout: Sandee Cohen
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For
information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
Th e information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit Press shall have any liability to any person
or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions
contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Adobe, InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Acrobat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe
Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. QuarkXPress is a registered trademark of
Quark Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
PANTONE® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as
trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the
designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identifi ed
throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefi t of such companies with no intention of
infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or
other affi liation with this book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-49220-3
ISBN-10: 0-321-49220-X
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Colophon
Th is book was prepared on a MacBook Pro running the Adobe Design Premium
Creative Suite 4. Layout was done in InDesign. Vector illustrations were created in
Illustrator. Photo and image retouching was done in Photoshop. Screen shots were
taken using Ambrosia’s SnapzPro. Fonts used were Chapparal Pro, Myriad Pro, and
European Pi 3. GridIron Flow was used to track use and versions of graphics and
layout fi les.
FROM DESIGN INTO PRINT: PREPARING GRAPHICS AND TEXT FOR PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
Dedicated to:
My students. You ask the right questions to help me understand
the answers.
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Introduction
This is the book
I wish I had had twenty years
ago, when I fi rst started working with computer graphics. Back
then, it didn’t take long to realize that as soon as I put anything
down on the page, I was acting as a production manager in
addition to the designer or layout person. Just defi ning a color
meant I needed to understand what the requirements were
for color separations. Working with a photograph required
an understanding of that strange concept called resolution.
And then there were all those questions about the diff erence
between RGB and CMYK colors.
During my years in advertising, I relied on the book, Pocket
Pal, A Graphic Arts Production Handbook, published by the
International Paper Corporation. The book was given out for
free by International Paper representatives when they visited
ad agencies. It covered all parts of the printing and publishing
process and even had a page of proofreaders’ marks. I loved
leafi ng through the pages reading about halftone screens,
impositions, separations, and other parts of printing documents.
Back in those days, however, Pocket Pal covered almost no digital
or computer graphics. Digital cameras, scanners, and computer
graphics were missing from its pages. That’s when I thought
there needed to be a book that covered the same topics as
Pocket Pal, but did it from the point of view of the digital artist or
designer. And would be written in a friendlier, more fun, style.
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FROM DESIGN INTO PRINT: PREPARING GRAPHICS AND TEXT FOR PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
The Non-Designer’s Books
In 1994, Robin Williams, author of Th e Mac is not a typewriter,
came out with Th e Non-Designer’s Design Book. Th e concept was
brilliant. Since desktop publishing had made it easier for those
without formal design training to create business cards, advertis-
ing, brochures, and other printed projects, Robin wrote a book
that helped these non-designers learn to look at the page in
design terms.
I met up with Robin at a computer event and told her that the
Non-Designer’s concept was great. But she should now do a Non-
Designer’s book on prepress and production. Robin liked the idea
and some time later, she and I began work on Th e Non-Designer’s
Scan and Print Book.
The Non-Designer’s Scan and Print Book
Th e idea behind the book was simple. We would create a book for
all those non-designers who didn’t have a clue about production
and explain how to best create their digital fi les.
We also expanded the book slightly out of the Non-Designer’s
series to include real designers who also had no idea how to pre-
pare their fi les for the print shop. Th ey were puzzled why their
graphics wound up looking jagged or the text was hard to read in
the fi nal printed project.
In 1999, the book was published by Peachpit Press with great
reviews and feedback. Designers thanked us for writing a book
that helped them talk to print shops and production managers.
It answered the questions they had been too embarrassed to ask.
Production managers thanked us for a book they could give to
their designers. And computer graphics teachers told us how great
the book was for their classes — high school, college, and adult ed.
I was thrilled. And for over seven years we didn’t have to do any-
thing in regards to the book. It practically sold itself. But around
2006, it became clear that the book needed updating. It wasn’t
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INTRODUCTION
that parts of it were wrong, it was that advances in computer
graphics had made many concepts out of date.
Showing its age
Looking through the original book in 2006, it was very obvious
that it was no longer topical. For instance, software had changed
dramatically. All through the book we spoke about QuarkXPress
and PageMaker. XPress was the dominant program in the indus-
try while PageMaker was just hanging on. We had to mention
both equally. Adobe and Macromedia had competing vector
illustration programs called Illustrator and FreeHand which also
needed equal treatment.
Th e book covered scanning in great detail, but the information on
digital cameras was sparse. Few people used digital cameras back
then and the concept of a camera phone was out of a Dick Tracy
cartoon.
And in an eff ort to save production costs, the book had been
printed in two colors. Th is had made some topics, especially the
chapters on color theory, hard to explain.
It was time for an update.
Updating for the twenty-fi rst century
Since Robin was now involved with other projects, I took on the
task of rewriting the book myself. First thing Peachpit and I did
was agree that it would be printed in full color. Not just a color
insert, but four-color throughout the book. Th is made the book
even better than my old Pocket Pal, which only had a twelve-page
color insert and two colors for the rest of the pages.
We then decided to change the title. All along I had to explain
to people not to let the Non-Designer’s label throw them off . Th e
book was most defi nitely for professional designers. After a lot of
discussion we came up with From Design Into Print. It meant that
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FROM DESIGN INTO PRINT: PREPARING GRAPHICS AND TEXT FOR PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
once you have a design, you now needed instruction on how to get
it to print well. Th at covered both designers and non-designers,
which was always my original idea.
I also needed to change the emphasis of some of the chapters.
Scanning, which used to be a very important topic, would be
covered in far less detail. But working with digital cameras was
expanded into its own chapter. After all, it’s hard to fi nd anyone
who doesn’t have a digital camera or camera phone.
In the time since the fi rst edition, pdf has become an important
part of sending fi les to be printed. Originally that was covered as
a small section in the printing chapter, I spun them out into their
own chapter.
And since 1999, the main page layout program, QuarkXPress,
has been replaced by Adobe InDesign. And PageMaker, while still
sold by Adobe, is no longer being developed for future versions.
I deleted all the references to software that no longer was being
sold, such as Macromedia FreeHand. (In fact, the entire Macrome-
dia company no longer existed as it had been acquired by Adobe
Systems, Inc.) I also had to delete references to outdated hardware
such as Zip disks, Jaz disks, and telephone modems. It’s incredible
how much has changed!
How to read this book
Unlike most other computer graphics books, you don’t have to
be anywhere near your computer when you read this book. Th ere
are no step-by-step instructions to follow along with. You don’t
have to worry about if the book covers your most current version
of the software. You can just sit back under a tree, lie back in the
bathtub, or relax in a car and read. (You must not read the book
while driving a car, though. Th at is very dangerous!) Th e chapters
don’t require any real knowledge of any software. Th ey are just the
stuff that helps you understand what goes on when your fi les go
to print.
Th e order of the chapters is somewhat important. Th ere are
concepts in the early chapters that are necessary to understand
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INTRODUCTION
before you read about others in the later chapters. However, if you
do want to jump around the chapters, it won’t hurt.
Th ere is no specifi c software applications that I recommend. I do
tell you which types of software are good for diff erent types of
projects. But I’m not getting into a XPress versus InDesign debate.
Similarly, I’m not commenting on which platform you should use.
Mac or pc doesn’t matter to me.
I had a lot of fun with the images and fi gures in the chapters.
Most of the images explain concepts in the text. But off on the
side of the text you’ll see little illustrations. Some are silly little
cartoons or images that are there just to keep the pages from
being too dull. I hope you enjoy them.
Quizzes and projects
At the end of many of the chapters there are simple little quizzes
and projects that should help you understand the concepts cov-
ered that chapter. Please don’t take them too seriously. I’m not
grading you on the answers and neither should anyone using this
book as part of teaching a class.
I’m just trying to help you look at printed documents in a new
way. And hopefully you’ll be able to create more polished layouts
and designs. In fact, you might want to create your own quizzes
and projects for you and your friends to master.
From Design Into Print: The podcast
I really enjoy explaining these print and prepress techniques to
designers and production people. Th at’s why I’m going to continue
explaining these issues in the From Design Into Print podcast.
Th is will be a “somewhat weekly” podcast where I’ll deal with
many of the topics in the book as well as new ones that will pop
up. Th e podcasts are already up. Look for them on iTunes or go to
FromDesignIntoPrint.com to download and subscribe. Th ere will
also be a blog where you and I can discuss issues.
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