Digital File Preparation. A step by step guide to producing print ready artwork

Transcription

1 Digital File Preparation A step by step guide to producing print ready artwork

2 Digital File Preparation Overview To achieve a problem free print run it is important to concentrate on the first stage of the manufacturing process - digital file preparation. This guide has been developed to help eliminate potential problems, to improve efficiency and quality, and to provide a better understanding of what can be achieved using the popular design applications. The following sections will cover design creation using Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. This includes image work, fonts, finishing artwork, and various other elements that can furnish greeting cards. Finally, with all artwork in place, guides for the creation of print ready PDFs for each application are also provided. Software versions used in the guide for each of the applications listed above are CS5 and CS6 for the Adobe software and QuarkXPress 8. Other versions may visually appear different, but all functionality should be the same. Other applications in existence are not necessarily capable of creating artwork to the standards required for print. Throughout the guide you will find internet keyword search terms. These will appear as the example below:- ] Search adding page guides InDesign Searching for the terms quoted via either your search engine of choice, YouTube or similar facilities, will present you with a vast array of online guides that can further accompany this guide - all very useful... and free! A good working knowledge of the applications above will be required in order to make the most of the software and this guide, but should further explanation be required, please ask the Studio department at The Sherwood Group for advice. 2

3 Index The Fundamentals of Greeting Card Page Creation Elements Used Within The Design Example Print/Cut/Fold Design The Fundamentals of Finishing Artwork Design Applications 17 InDesign - Page Creation InDesign - Export to PDF Illustrator - Page Creation Illustrator - Export to PDF QuarkXPress - Page Creation QuarkXPress - Export to PDF Photoshop - Page Creation Photoshop - Export to PDF Viewing PDFs in Acrobat Finishing Rules and Regulations Working with Hexachrome Tips, Tricks and Time Savers 71 3

4 Page Dimensions When using InDesign, Quark, or Illustrator (but not Photoshop, which is explained in the Photoshop section), the page(s) should be created at the flat open size of the card required - as per the examples below. InDesign Illustrator This example will give us a landscape page 250mm wide, 175mm high. When in production, this design will eventually fold to half the width, giving us a final folded size of 125mm wide, 175mm high. Should reverse print be required, the page count needs increasing to 2 (2 Artboards for Illustrator). Please note: Creating spreads is possible, but unlike commercial leaflets, books and magazines, is less commonly used in greeting card creation. It can make the addition of wraparound a little more difficult, which is covered later in the guide. Page Layout This will create a document that will eventually be structured as the following. Please note that tent fold designs (which stand on the longest edge) are set up in much the same way, only with the x and y dimensions switched. 4

5 Page Bleed With the new document created, we now need to establish the position of the spine (AKA crease or fold), vertically down the centre of the design. The easiest way to do this is to add a guide from the rulers to exactly to half the width of the document (this can be worked out mathematically). ] Search using page guides InDesign, using page guides Illustrator, using page guides Quark The right hand side of this document will be the card s page 1 (the front page), and the left hand side will be page 4 (the back page), as per the Page Layout illustration on the previous page. Should you require reverse print, the same will apply to the second page of your document. In this case, the left hand side will be page 2, and the right hand side will be page 3. Design features can now ne added to the document. If, like the example below, the feature is to extend to the edges of the design, it will need to bleed over the edge by 3mm (to avoid the print falling slightly short of the edge when trimmed). This placement rule applies to all objects added to the design; be this print or finishing. Please note that bleed is also controlled at the PDF creation stage, which will be covered later. 5

6 Wraparound Features extending to the spine of the card (as indicated by the guide) need to extend beyond by at least 1.5mm (into the page 4 area). This is to ensure, once folded, that the image doesn t fall short, leaving a visible edge. Please note: Wraparound is only applicable to the face of the design (page 1+4), and not the reverse (page 2+3). Also, certain finishes, such as flitter should not wraparound. This will be covered later in the document (Finishing Rules and Regulations). 6

7 Using Layers Although not completely necessary, it is recommended that layers are used to build the design (Again, Photoshop uses layers in a slightly different way. This will be explained in the Photoshop section). The example below shows print and finishing on separate layers, and can extend further to include individual elements. These can be tailored and named to suit your needs. Layers can be locked for protection, or not displayed at all which helps with design and organisation during file creation. Please note: At PDF export stage all required layers must be visible, otherwise they will be omitted from the resulting PDF. InDesign QuarkXPress Illustrator Layers are a good way of ordering and building the features that appear on the design - starting with the base print layers, with the finishing layers (Spot UV, foil, emboss etc.) above. ] Search using layers InDesign, using layers Illustrator, using layers Quark. 7

8 CMYK vs RGB Images Offset litho print is commonly produced by combining 4 inks together: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (or Key) - referred to as CMYK, or 4 colour process. A digital image is converted to a series of small dots created from each of the 4 colours, which transfer small dots of ink to a substrate - usually, but not exclusively, paper. The different coloured dots appearing next to each other, or on top of each other, and combined with the colour of the paper when viewed from a distance gives the effect of a very large range (or gamut) of colours. There s a vast array of other methods when it comes to producing printed material. In the main however - when digital images are used in print, they should be in the CMYK colour space. RGB images must be converted to CMYK for use in print. RGB refers to colours produced by mixing Red, Green and Blue light. This applies to devices using light to transmit images, such as monitors and TVs. As the primary colours of RGB and CMYK are different, so are the colours that can be achieved in each particular colour space. RGB images can generally be brighter, as light is used to project and produce the primary colours. This light is mixed to produce other colours within the gamut - this is known as additive colour. CMYK colours are visible via light reflected from another source (daylight or indoor lighting) as, for example, a traditional printed image, cannot transmit light. This is know as subtractive colour. RGB images used as part of a design therefore have to be converted to the CMYK colour space, which may affect the colours that appear within this space. This also goes someway (but not all the way) to explaining why images viewed on screen are not always exactly the same as the final printed version. Greyscale images are ok to use as these are in the Black colour space (using the K part of the CMYK space). ] Search CMYK vs RGB, converting images to CMYK. 8

9 Colour Swatches Following on from creating images in the correct colour space; correct use of colour swatches for colouring objects and strokes is also a vitally important factor in creating print ready artwork - especially if the design is to contain finishing information. There s a whole section dedicated to finishing later in the document which will cover specific swatch requirements (The Fundamentals of Finishing Artwork). The information below relates to colours used for printed artwork. Each of the design packages allows you a range of options when picking a colour. Examples below are from InDesign - others are similar. 1 - Mixing colours via Colour pane 2 - Adding/controlling swatches via the Swatches pane In the examples above, both colours are mixed using CMYK values. As per the previous section, please stick using CMYK for printed images (unless otherwise instructed). Please note: Take care to select Process if given the option (Colour type in picture 2). 3 - Using colour libraries 4 - Converting library colours to CMYK Colours can be added to your swatches palette from the built in colours libraries, such as the Pantone library in picture 3. If colours are added in this manner, please make sure that the swatches are converted to Process CMYK. To do this, please double click (or edit) the swatch, choose CMYK for the Colour Mode, and change the Colour Type from Spot to Process. Please note: A common mistake is to leave library colours unconverted. This can add extra separations to the resulting PDF, which in turn can result in artwork queries. 9

10 Colour Swatches By default; InDesign, Illustrator and Quark (not Photoshop) have built in basic swatches. These are None, Black, White (or Paper), and Registration. These basic swatches can be used as part of your design. When the Black swatch is used, the object will just appear on the black separation (or plate). White, or paper, is exactly as described, omitting any print from anything coloured as such, and knocking out anything appearing below it. None will leave an object clear of colour, allowing objects and colours appearing below to show through. 5 - Black, White (Paper), and Registration Registration must be used with great care, if at all. It will colour an object in every separation appearing on the document (CMYK and any other spot colours). Usually only used for tick marks, which can be added automatically at the PDF creation stage. Spot colours can also be added to the swatches palette. These are essentially extra colours (or extra separations) and can represent both printed inks and finishing separations. As mentioned, spots used for finishing processes will be covered later in the guide under the Finishing Rules and Regulations section. Spots can also be used for printed objects, text, etc. A common example is to use a spot Pantone Cool Gray for verse text on p3 of a design (as opposed to using a tint of black out of the CMYK set of inks). The result of this is an extra printing plate to transfer a specially mixed ink on the press. Therefore any spot, or special ink requirements must be discussed at the ordering stage, due to the extra costs involved. So, if required, Pantone colours can now be chosen from the library and left as Colour Type Spot (picture 6). In addition, custom swatches can be created and named to represent any other type of ink (picture 7), again with Colour Type as Spot. 6 - Using colour libraries 7 - Custom printing spot colour Please note: The actual colour mix used to represent these spot colours is for display/visual purposes only. The ink used on the press will determine the final printed result. 10

11 Colour Swatches With the swatches palette in list view, each application (again, not Photoshop!) has a visual key relating to the make-up of each swatch. This can be a quick and easy way of ensuring you are picking the correct swatch when colouring objects. 8 - InDesign swatch list view 9 - Quark swatch list view Colours that are mixed from 4 colour values have the box with CMYK sections. The RGB stripes indicate an RGB mix, such as New Colour Swatch in picture 8. If needed on the design, this will need to be converted. Spot colours are identifiable by a little circle (a spot) next to them. ] Search creating swatches InDesign, creating swatches illustrator, creating swatches Quark. 11

12 Solid Black Features Should large areas or objects on your design need to appear as a solid black, they should include a shiner or be underpinned, or coloured using a Rich black - terms all relating to the same thing:- Instead of colouring an object as the default Black from the swatch panel a custom shiner swatch needs to be created which is 100% Black and (approximately) 50% Cyan. The reason for this: Black ink, when just used on it s own, is not completely opaque when printed. Solid black areas will always automatically be set to overprint when processed, and features beneath the solid black areas can become visible. When the custom shiner swatch is used, the object will not automatically overprint, and the mix of black and cyan gives a much richer appearance to the black ink. Objects running beneath the black feature will be no longer visible. Please note: The shiner swatch mix can include Magenta or Yellow instead of Cyan, but this tends to give a warm appearance to the black. A tint of 50% Cyan is most commonly used. Also please note: This (subjectively) only applies to large solid black areas, and large block text - please do not apply the above to any small feature which normally coloured as a default solid black (e.g. fine black text or barcodes). The black panel, and the large black text both coloured as a custom swatch (100K, 50C) Smaller/finer text and objects should be coloured as default Black 12

13 Page 4 (the back page) No rules are set in stone when it comes to the design of page 4, as designs can vary dramatically depending on range styles and artistic license! Usually though, on greeting cards, we expect to see an individual item code, or design reference, for identification and tracking purposes. Barcodes There are a number of barcode applications available that can generate your purchased barcode numbers. These can be obtained and downloaded from the internet. The codes are usually EAN-13 (12 digit plus 1 check digit European codes). If printing in black, please make sure these are 100% Black only, and in the CMYK colour space. Barcodes that appear black may actually be RGB, which will be a 4col black when converted to CMYK (approx 75C, 70M, 70Y, 90K). ] Search barcode software Mac, barcode software Windows, purchase barcodes. Alternatively, barcodes can be created at The Sherwood Group. Please discuss this with your Business Development Manager if required. If barcodes are to be added, please add a box on the artwork as a positional guide. We can then remove the box (if necessary) from the PDF, and replace with the relevant barcode. FSC Logos (Forest Stewardship Council) As an FSC accredited company, the FSC logo can be added to artwork manufactured at The Sherwood Group. This usually appears on page 4 of the design. Certain requirements need to be met before the logo is authorised for use - for further explanation, please contact your Business Development Manager should usage be required. If logo use has been granted, the rules governing the placement are quite strict. Guides for placement will be issued should this stage be reached. Please try to allocate and indicate an area where the logo is to be placed on new designs. 13

14 Rastered Images & Resolution Image resolution is traditionally referred to in dots per inch (dpi). The resolution can be thought of as a grid of dots (or pixels): The more dots that can appear in the grid, the better the quality of the image. Images that have a resolution, such as photographic images, or images created in Photoshop, are referred to as rastered images. The recommended resolution for images used in print is 300dpi. For bitmap images (mainly used for finishing separations, and covered in detail in the Finishing sections found in this guide) the recommended resolution is 1200dpi. Please note: A hi-res image of 300dpi once placed in InDesign or Quark will only be 300dpi if placed at 100% (at the same size). When scaled higher, the grid formation of the image is effectively stretched, reducing the resolution. For example, a 300dpi image placed and scaled to 200% will effectively reduce the resolution to 150dpi. 300dpi: Pixels forming edge of circle not noticeable 72dpi: Pixels are large and visible Lo-res images can describe anything of low quality below 300dpi. Images used for small thumbnail images, monitor displays or the internet are often 72dpi. Images of this resolution are noticeably of poor quality when printed. Vector Artwork Vector artwork is a term used to describe artwork created using paths and points. These shapes are not subject to a resolution - instead, they are all generated by a computer language describing the shape and position of each path and point. Vector artwork can be re-sized and scaled to any size without degradation of the image. Vector artwork is perfect for anything requiring clean and sharp edges, such as fonts and finishing information; as curves and round edges appear smooth, and will not be pixelated. In general: Shapes added to your artwork from the toolbars of Illustrator, InDesign and Quark, as well as text set using the type tools will be vector artwork when exported to PDF. Images, shapes, text etc added from Photoshop will (generally) be rastered artwork, once exported from Photoshop. 14

15 Example Print/Cut/Fold Design From everything covered so far in this guide, we can create a basic print/cut/fold design - without the addition of any finishes, such as the example below. This design has a 4col face, and single colour reverse (4/1). InDesign print/cut/fold card 15

16 Finishing Information If required - this is probably the most important part of file creation to set-up correctly. There are many ways in which to create and use various forms of finishing. The Finishing Rules and Regulations section of this guide will illustrate how individual finishes need to be controlled when added to the design. However, the basic fundamentals regarding artwork for finishing is as follows:- Finishing information should be:- i) a spot colour ii) named relevantly iii) solid (not tinted) iv) ideally set to overprint v) vector, or at a suitable resolution. The risks associated with the points above:- i) Any finishing not set as a spot colour will automatically be recognised as a process colour, and will therefore appear as printed artwork. ii) In order for the information to be processed and manufactured correctly, we need to know exactly what the spot colour signifies. Naming a colour Spot UV when it should be Emboss will inevitably lead to a query, or potential problem. Naming a spot colour New Colour, a Pantone reference, or anything nondescript can again lead to a query or potential problem. Likewise, including a list of spot colours in a document, and on the resulting PDF, when they are not used (or when they should be print) can cause confusion. Please also keep naming consistent if possible. iii) Finishing should always be solid, and not tinted or screened. This is because all finishing is either applied, or not. There is no grey area in between (it would be impossible to have a 50% foil area for example). Please also do not use finishing artwork at 0% for anything coloured white or none. This will cause problems when the file is processed. iv) To be totally correct and accurate, all finishing should be set to overprint any print features that lie beneath. All finishing processes are independent of print, and therefore should not affect or interfere with it. Overprinting will ensure that print appearing underneath the information will not knockout. v) Vector artwork is always preferable as previously mentioned earlier in the guide. Rastered artwork should be created at 1200dpi wherever possible (opposed to upscaling to 1200dpi from 300dpi) - this to give a smooth appearance to the final component. It is recommended that all finishing is created as part of the main design (not as a separate page or document) and following this, as part of a composite PDF (This may not be possible if solely using Photoshop). This will give the best visual representation of the card design as a whole, and will ensure registration (fit) against print and other finishes. 16

17 Design Application Specifics With the ground rules established, the following sections will explore each major design application in more detail. Artwork can be created by using just one application, or by a combination of a few. Individual applications each have their own strengths and weaknesses. I shall illustrate the creation of a 4/5 design - 4 colour face, 5 colour reverse (CMYK + PAN Cool Grey 5). The open (flat) size of the design will be 240mm wide x 170mm high. Folded size therefore is 120mm x 170mm. The card will also be diecut, have gold foil (flat and fluted), flitter and spot UV. Please note: There are many different ways of producing certain results using design applications... You may well have your own methods and techniques! In addition, there is no strict sequence in which the designs need to be assembled. The ultimate aim is to create accurate artwork, regardless of technique. The final PDF in each case will be as the following (InDesign version shown):- Face (p4 & p1) Reverse (p2 & p3) 17

18 InDesign Pictures 1 + 2: A new document is created, using the dialogue box below. This is a custom layout, set to the open size of 240x170mm. The intent has been set to print. Only one page has been created for now (the other can be added later). Columns are not important for greeting card design, and the margins have been set at 0. The margins will appear as purple guide lines on the document, and can always be adjusted to suit your needs. 1 - New document 2 - New document Picture 3: A guide has been placed to indicate the spine (using co-ordinates), and a background tint added. Layers are also being used to build the design. 3 - Guides and layers Picture 4: Page 4 details have been added to the design. This can consist of artwork created externally (e.g. Photoshop or Illustrator), and features, text etc., added from InDesign. The vector barcode has been checked for colour, and uses the black channel only. 4 - Page 4 detail 18

19 InDesign Pictures 5 + 6: The card is to have a shaped diecut p1. This has been created via the pen tool in InDesign, and will therefore be vector artwork on the final PDF. This can be seen, and worked on more clearly by toggling the visibility on the other layers. Guides have been added to the artwork to ensure accuracy. 5 - Diecut shape 6 - Diecut shape Pictures 7 + 8: The image to be used (from Photoshop) has been duplicated onto it s own layer, and has had the background removed - which is now transparent. When exported and placed as a Photoshop document, InDesign will honour the transparency. The image can now be re-sized, angled and positioned as necessary. Please note: An increase in size will reduce the resolution of the original image. Also, only later versions of InDesign will allow Photoshop transparency. There are many other ways of achieving the same result. 7 - Photoshop image 8 - Image positioned ] Search placing images InDesign, creating image cutouts InDesign. 19

20 InDesign Pictures 9, : A subject which will be explained in depth later in the guide (in the Photoshop section - p63), will be the creation of finishing using Photoshop and bitmap TIFFS. The foil artwork here has been created at 1200dpi, based on the original image, and saved out as a bitmap TIFF (a separate image from the original). The advantage here is that the image to be placed has the same dimensions as the image used for print. In order to position this accurately over the 4col artwork the follow method was used: The image has been duplicated onto it s own layer, which then generates two entries in the Links window. The new layer can be renamed, and the link from this picture box can be re-linked to the bitmap TIFF containing the foil artwork. The image will be positioned exactly in place, using the same image offsets, size, angle etc. This bitmap can be selected using the Direct Selection Tool and coloured from the swatch panel. 9 - Foil image being created in Photoshop 10 - Final bitmap in place 11 - Artwork coloured as Gold Foil Again, may other methods are possible; however this method will guarantee exact placement, which cannot always be achieved placing by eye. ] Search exact copy InDesign, moving objects between layers InDesign, relink image InDesign. 20

21 InDesign Picture 12: Areas of finishing can always be added directly from InDesign, by creating an object(s), or filling a certain area. If tracing over an image, please be as accurate as possible, and make sure the image is being displayed hi-res (Object menu/display Performance/High Quality Display). Picture 13: Foiled text has been added directly from InDesign. The caption here has been coloured as a new spot colour called Gold Fluted Foil. This distinguishes it from the other (flat) Gold Foil spot colour. The resulting die will have a raised/embossed area for the caption, and flat image work elsewhere Flitter area hand traced around neck of bottle 13 - Fluted Foil caption Picture : Ellipses from InDesign have been added to represent bubbles in the background. Note how the layers are being used to position artwork in order (with the finishing elements above the print). The ellipses have been given white strokes (print) and gold foil strokes. All bubbles have also been given a fill of spot colour Spot UV to give a gloss finish Bubbles in print and foil 15 - Filled with spot colour Spot UV Please note: Spot UV can only be added to designs that are to be printed using a coated material. 21

22 InDesign Pictures : The reverse of the design (p2+3) has now been added. Please note: This can happen at any time during the creation of the design. The text Well Done! on p3 has been added using a swatch from the Pantone library (Cool Gray 5), making this a 4/5 design. ] Search adding pages InDesign document New page added to the document 17 - Artwork added Picture 18: Should amendments be required - in this case changing the overall background on p1 to a tint of yellow - layers can be used to locate objects with ease. Other layers can be locked for protection, or have the visibility switched off. Picture 19: Once the artwork is complete, we can check the document using Separations Preview. This allows us to see all the separations in use, and check how they interact. We expect to see the basic 4col separations and any custom spot colours Amended background 19 - Separations Preview Please note: This is different to layers. Layers are control object order, separations represent the colour split of a design. 22

23 InDesign Picture 20: The Separation Preview panel here shows us the colours in use. As expected, we have the 4 process colours, the extra Pantone Cool Gray ink, and all the finishing spot colours. Should any unwanted or unnecessary colours appear here, they can be dealt with before producing the final PDF. Please note: Printers will use these separations to manufacture the design. It is good practice to use this stage as a final check Separations Preview panel 21 - Spot finishes not overprinting Picture 21: As mentioned in the Fundamentals of Finishing, ideally the spot finishes should overprint the artwork. Currently when turned off, they are knocking out the print beneath; as shown by the white areas on the design. Please note: Supplied artwork, such as this, would still process correctly when manufactured. This is because, by default, all finishing spot colours are set to overprint, and our PDF workflow gives full control over these colours Overprint applied from the Attributes panel 23 - Spot finishes correctly overprinting However, to be completely accurate, and to give a better preview of your design, the finishing spot colours need to overprint. Picture 22: Using the Attributes panel (Window menu/output/attributes) objects can be selected and overprinted (both fills and strokes where necessary). Please note: Overprint should only be applied to finishing spot colours - not spot colours used for print. Picture 23: The result when complete is now completely accurate, with print unaffected by the finishes. The document will also view correctly when Overprint Preview is toggled on (View menu/overprint Preview). ] Search setting objects to overprint InDesign. 23

24 InDesign Picture 24: Effects can be used on certain objects, but please be aware that they can cause PDF problems. They can result in vector artwork being converted to rastered artwork (flattened), or result in unwanted artefacts where the line between rastered and vector artwork can be seen after flattening. Our general advice is to avoid these effects if possible! ] Search dangers of transparency effects InDesign, transparency flattening artefacts. Please note: Please do not use Effects to overprint objects, or finishing Transparency effects 24

25 InDesign Pictures below: With the design now checked and complete, we can export a print ready PDF. Each tab and dialogue box is illustrated below, and can be copied in turn. This can be set as a Preset using the Save Preset button on the dialogue box. When given a relevant name, this preset can be selected from the top drop down menu; saving any repetition. Please note: Default PDF settings are subtly different, and not always suitable. In addition, certain PDF/X standards can cause problems. Please name the PDF as per the design code Pages required for designs set up at the open size. Spreads to be selected if set up as a 4 page document Settings here will give good compression with no visible image loss Crop Marks and Page Info only needed. Tick Offset and Bleed set at 3mm 25

26 InDesign No colour conversion will take place (e.g. RGB to CMYK), and profiles aren t attached to graphics. These settings will be ultimately controlled at The Sherwood Group, giving the best results possible 26

27 Illustrator Pictures 1 + 2: A new document is created, using the dialogue box below. This is a custom layout, set to the open size of 240x170mm. Only one page has been created for now (the other can be added later). These are referred to as Artboards in Illustrator. Page bleed of 3mm can be set when creating a new document. When created, the bleed area is shown as a box around the edge of the page. 1 - New document 2 - New document with page bleed guides Picture 3: A guide has been placed to indicate the spine (using co-ordinates), and a background tint added. Layers are also being used to build the design. 3 - Guides and layers Picture 4: Page 4 details have been added to the design. This can consist of artwork created externally and features, text etc, added from within Illustrator. The vector barcode has been checked for colour, and uses the black channel only. 4 - Page 4 detail 27

28 Illustrator Pictures 5 + 6: The card is to have a shaped diecut p1. This has been created via the pen tool in Illustrator, and will therefore be vector artwork on the final PDF. This can be seen, and worked on more clearly by toggling the visibility on the other layers. Guides have been added to the artwork to ensure accuracy. 5 - Diecut shape 6 - Diecut shape Pictures 7 + 8: The image to be used (from Photoshop) has been duplicated onto it s own layer, and has had the background removed - which is now transparent. When exported and placed as a Photoshop document, Illustrator will honour the transparency. The image can now be re-sized, angled, and positioned as necessary. Please note: An increase in size will reduce the resolution of the original image. Also, only later versions of Illustrator will allow Photoshop transparency. There are many other ways of achieving the same result. 7 - Photoshop image 8 - Image positioned ] Search placing images Illustrator, creating image cutouts. 28

29 Illustrator Pictures 9, : A subject which will be explained in depth later in the guide (in the Photoshop section - p63), will be the creation of finishing using Photoshop and bitmap TIFFS. The foil artwork here has been created at 1200dpi, based on the original image, and saved out as a bitmap TIFF (a separate image from the original). The advantage here is that the image to be placed has the same dimensions as the image used for print. In order to position this accurately over the 4col artwork the follow method was used: The image has been duplicated onto it s own layer, which then generates two entries in the Links window. The new layer can be renamed, and the link from this picture box can be re-linked to the bitmap TIFF containing the foil artwork. The image will be positioned exactly in place, using the same image offsets, size, angle etc. This bitmap can be selected using the Direct Selection Tool and coloured from the swatch panel. 9 - Foil image being created in Photoshop 10 - Duplicated image from print layer 11 - Relinked to the bitmap TIFF and coloured Again, may other methods are possible; however this method will guarantee exact placement, which cannot always be achieved placing by eye. ] Search exact copy Illustrator, moving objects between layers Illustrator, relink image Illustrator. 29

30 Illustrator Picture 12: Areas of finishing can always be added directly from Illustrator, by creating an object(s), or filling a certain area. If tracing over an image, please be as accurate as possible. Picture 13: Foiled text has been added directly from Illustrator. The caption here has been coloured as a new spot colour called Gold Fluted Foil. This distinguishes it from the other (flat) Gold Foil spot colour. The resulting die will have a raised/embossed area for the caption, and flat image work elsewhere Flitter area hand traced around neck of bottle 13 - Fluted Foil caption Picture : Ellipses from Illustrator have been added to represent bubbles in the background. Note how the layers are being used to position artwork in order (with the finishing elements above the print). The ellipses have been given white strokes (print) and gold foil strokes. All bubbles have also been given a fill of spot colour Spot UV to give a gloss finish Bubbles in print and foil 15 - Filled with spot colour Spot UV Please note: Spot UV can only be added to designs that are to be printed using a coated material. 30

31 Illustrator Pictures : The reverse of the design (p2+3) has now been added. Please note: This can happen at any time during the creation of the design. In Illustrator this is achieved by adding a new Artboard (Windows menu/artboards). The position of the artboard can be located anywhere (below or to the side of the first artboard), and can be named accordingly New page (artboard) added to the document 17 - Artwork added ] Search adding artboards Illustrator. Picture 18: Should amendments be required - in this case changing the position of some of the bubbles - layers can be used to locate objects with ease. Other layers can be locked for protection, or have the visibility switched off. Picture 19: Once the artwork is complete, we can check the document using Separations Preview. This allows us to see all the separations in use, and check how they interact. We expect to see the basic 4col separations and any custom spot colours Amended artwork 19 - Separations Preview Please note: This is different to layers. Layers are control object order, separations represent the colour split of a design. 31

32 Illustrator Picture 20: The Separation Preview panel here shows us the colours in use. As expected, we have the 4 process colours, the extra Pantone Cool Gray ink, and all the finishing spot colours. Should any unwanted or unnecessary colours appear here, they can be dealt with before producing the final PDF. Please note: Printers will use these separations to manufacture the design. It is good practice to use this stage as a final check Separations Preview panel 21 - Spot finishes not overprinting Picture 21: As mentioned in the Fundamentals of Finishing, ideally the spot finishes should overprint the artwork. Currently when turned off, they are knocking out the print beneath; as shown by the white areas on the design. Please note: Supplied artwork, such as this, would still process correctly when manufactured. This is because, by default, all finishing spot colours are set to overprint, and our PDF workflow gives full control over these colours. However, to be completely accurate, and to give a better preview of your design, the finishing spot colours need to overprint Overprint applied from the Attributes panel 23 - Selecting multiple items Picture : Using the Attributes panel (Window menu/attributes) objects can be selected and overprinted (both fills and strokes where necessary). To make multiple selection easier, Illustrator will select items with common attributes. The fill and stroke overprint settings can then be set over multiple items. ] Search setting objects to overprint Illustrator, select multiple objects Illustrator. Please note: Overprint should only be applied to finishing spot colours - not spot colours used for print. 32

33 Illustrator Picture 24: The result when complete is now completely accurate, with print unaffected by the finishes. The document will also view correctly when Overprint Preview is toggled on (View menu/overprint 24 - Overprint set correctly 25 - Transparency effects Preview). Picture 25: Effects can be used on certain objects, but please be aware that they can cause PDF problems. They can result in vector artwork being converted to rastered artwork (flattened), or result in unwanted artefacts where the line between rastered and vector artwork can be seen after flattening. Our general advice is to avoid these effects if possible! ] Search dangers of transparency effects Illustrator, transparency flattening artefacts. Please note: Please do not use Effects to overprint objects, or finishing. 33

34 Illustrator Pictures below: With the design now checked and complete, we can export a print ready PDF. Each tab and dialogue box is illustrated below, and can be copied in turn. This can be set as a Preset using the Save Preset button on the dialogue box. When given a relevant name, this preset can be selected from the top drop down menu; saving any repetition. Please note: Default PDF settings are subtly different, and not always suitable. In addition, certain PDF/X standards can cause problems. Save As a PDF. Please name the PDF as per the design code Illustrator editing preserved, meaning the PDF can be opened from/dragged onto Illustrator for editing Settings here will give good compression with no visible image loss Crop Marks and Page Info only needed. Tick Offset and Bleed set at 3mm 34

35 Illustrator No colour conversion will take place (e.g. RGB to CMYK), and profiles aren t attached to graphics. These settings will be ultimately controlled at The Sherwood Group, giving the best results possible 35

36 QuarkXPress Pictures 1 + 2: A new document is created, using the dialogue box below. This is a custom layout, set to the open size of 240x170mm. The layout type has been set to print. Columns are not important for greeting card design, and the margins have been set at 0. The margins will appear as blue guide lines on the document, and can always be adjusted to suit your needs. 1 - New document 2 - New document Picture 3: A guide has been placed to indicate the spine. The guide can be double clicked, and positioned accurately using co-ordinates. 3 - Guide for the spine 4 - Page 4 detail Picture 4: The page 4 details have been added to the document. Layers have been used to keep the artwork organised. The elements used can consist of artwork created externally (e.g. Photoshop or Illustrator), and features, text etc., added from Quark. The vector barcode has been checked for colour, and uses the black channel only. ] Search basic objects QuarkXPress. 36

37 QuarkXPress Pictures 5 + 6: The card is to have a shaped diecut p1. This has been created via the pen tool in Quark, and will therefore be vector artwork on the final PDF. This can be seen, and worked on more clearly by toggling the visibility on the other layers. Guides have been added to the artwork to ensure accuracy. 5 - Diecut shape 6 - Diecut shape Pictures 7 + 8: The image to be used (from Photoshop) has been duplicated onto it s own layer, and has had the background removed - which is now transparent. When exported and placed as a Photoshop document, Quark will honour the transparency (using the Alpha Mask - see the Measurements panel at the bottom of the screen). The image can now be re-sized, angled and positioned as necessary. Please note: An increase in size will reduce the resolution of the original image. Also, only later versions of Quark will allow Photoshop transparency. There are many other ways of achieving the same result. 7 - Photoshop image 8 - Image positioned ] Search placing images QuarkXPress, creating image cutouts QuarkXPress. 37

38 QuarkXPress Pictures below: A subject which will be explained in depth later in the guide (in Photoshop section - p63), will be the creation of finishing using Photoshop and bitmap TIFFS. The foil artwork here has been created at 1200dpi, based on the original image, and saved out as a bitmap TIFF (a separate image from the original). The advantage here is that the image to be placed has the same dimensions as the image used for print. In order to position this accurately over the 4col artwork the follow method was used: The image has been duplicated onto it s own layer, which then generates two identical images over the top of each other. The image from the new layer (named Page 1 Image Foil) can be re-linked to the bitmap TIFF containing the foil artwork. The image will be positioned exactly in place, using the same image offsets, size, angle etc. (via the Maintain Picture Attributes checkbox - Picture 10). 9 - Foil image being created in Photoshop 10 - Image re-linked with same picture attributes 11 - TIFF background coloured None 12 - TIFF image coloured Gold Foil via Picture Colour The TIFF can be selected and re-coloured from the Colours panel. Select the Picture Background Colour icon from the top of the panel, and make this None. The background of the image is now transparent. Next, select the Picture Colour and make this spot colour Gold Foil. The two images for print and finishing are set up correctly, and in perfect register. 38

39 QuarkXPress Picture 13: Areas of finishing can always be added directly from Quark, by creating an object(s), or filling a certain area. If tracing over an image, please be as accurate as possible, and make sure the image is being displayed hi-res (Preferences/Full Res Preview tab). For any artwork that requires perfect register, please use another method! Picture 14: Foiled text has been added directly from Quark. The caption here has been coloured as a new spot colour called Gold Fluted Foil. This distinguishes it from the other (flat) Gold Foil spot colour. The resulting die will have a raised/embossed area for the caption, and flat image work elsewhere Flitter area hand traced around neck of bottle 14 - Fluted Foil caption Picture : Ellipses from InDesign have been added to represent bubbles in the background. Note how the layers are being used to position artwork in order (with the finishing elements above the print). The ellipses have been given white strokes (print) and gold foil strokes. All bubbles have also been given a fill of spot colour Spot UV to give a gloss finish Bubbles in print and foil 16 - Filled with spot colour Spot UV Please note: Spot UV can only be added to designs that are to be printed using a coated material. 39

40 QuarkXPress Pictures : The reverse of the design (p2+3) has now been added. Please note: This can happen at any time during the creation of the design. The text Well Done! on p3 has been added using a swatch from the Pantone library (Cool Gray 5), making this a 4/5 design. ] Search adding pages QuarkXPress document New page added to the document 18 - Artwork added Picture 19: Should amendments be required - in this case adjusting the caption to be larger and higher - layers can be used to locate objects with ease. Other layers can be locked for protection, or have the visibility switched off Amended caption Please note: Unlike the Adobe applications, there is no Separations Preview to check the file prior to exporting to PDF. The list of separations used will be visible later as part of the PDF export process. 40

41 QuarkXPress As mentioned in the Fundamentals of Finishing, ideally the spot finishes should overprint the artwork. By default they are set to knockout the printed image beneath. Please note: Supplied artwork, such as this, would still process correctly when manufactured. This is because, by default, all finishing spot colours are set to overprint, and our PDF workflow gives full control over these colours Finishing spot colours set to overprint 21 - Trap Information However, to be completely accurate, the finishing spot colours should be set to overprint. This will make the separations in the resulting PDF view correctly in Acrobat (Pro version). Picture 20: From the Edit menu, select Colours. Here you are given a list of colours used on the document. Select each finishing spot colour (in turn), and click Edit Trap. All the colours in the list can be selected (select all), and from the Trap drop down menu, select Overprint. Please note: This only applies to the finishing spot colours - not any spot colour used for print. Picture 21: The result when checking using the Trap Information panel (Window/Trap Information) will show objects correctly overprinting. Please note: This can be a little hit and miss. Certain objects (such as the Spot UV fill in the bubbles) are still set to knockout. When selected and viewed using Trap Information, the option of controlling the fill colour is greyed out. If in doubt: Please leave the object knocked out. This is far safer than overprinting something that shouldn t be. ] Search setting colours to overprint QuarkXPress Transparency effects Picture 22: Transparency (or Opacity) effects can be used on certain objects, but please be aware that they can cause PDF problems. They can result in vector artwork being converted to rastered artwork (flattened), or result in unwanted artefacts where the line between rastered and vector artwork can be seen after flattening. Our general advice is to avoid these effects if possible! ] Search dangers of transparency effects QuarkXPress, transparency flattening artefacts. Please note: Please do not use these effects to overprint objects, or finishing. 41

42 QuarkXPress Pictures below: With the design now checked and complete, we can export a print ready PDF. Each tab and dialogue box is illustrated below, and can be copied in turn. Please note: Default PDF settings are subtly different, and not always suitable. In addition, certain PDF/X standards can cause problems. Export the layout as a PDF PDF Style will be covered at the end of this section. The document has been set up as a flat open design, so Spreads not needed Hyperlinks not applicable to print designs 42

43 QuarkXPress Images have a low amount of compression (otherwise the PDF will be very large in size). Resolution to be downsampled to 300dpi (and 1200dpi for bitmaps) if currently larger The PDF needs to be composite (not separations), and please use As Is for the setup. Composite CMYK and Spot can be used here, and is still acceptable (this will use a DeviceN colour space = a less editable PDF). Ticks added to the PDF 43

44 QuarkXPress Bleed added to the PDF Please make sure all the correct and relevant layers are switched on for the PDF Should any transparency effects be used on the design, this setting will flatten the image using vector and 300dpi rastered images 44

45 QuarkXPress Picture below: The settings can be added as a preset to avoid re-typing at the information. From the Output Styles (Edit menu/output Styles), select PDF from the drop down menu under New. The PDF Style can be given a relevant and recognisable name, and the PDF settings covered above can be added. When exporting other documents to PDF, the setting can be accessed from the PDF Style drop down menu. 45

46 Photoshop Overview Adobe Photoshop is an application primarily aimed towards image creation, editing and manipulation, and not towards page creation. However, if Photoshop is your only option then page make-up is still possible, but different methods of creation are required, as opposed to other applications such as InDesign and QuarkXPress. Photoshop can be used in many, many different ways, probably more so than any other application in this guide - the application has a vast array of options. Please note: With this in mind, if attempting to use Photoshop solely to create designs, I believe that a very good working knowledge and understanding of the software is required. It can be easy to get certain important aspects of a print ready design quite wrong - such things can also be difficult to remedy should they occur. Photoshop still makes use of layers to aid design, but these behave in a slightly different way to other applications. Also in Photoshop, it isn t possible to add spot colours into a colour palette, as per the other applications. Instead, spot channels can be created. And finally: Photoshop generally rasters artwork to a given resolution. When exporting to PDF, only certain objects will be retained as vector artwork - certain fonts, and certain paths (depending on the font and how they ve been applied in the design). As a general rule of thumb however; PDFs exported from Photoshop are rastered and uneditable. This means compromises have to be made when it comes to finishing artwork, as clean vector artwork can t be added as part of the design. In addition, 1200dpi bitmap artwork cannot be combined with print, as only one overall resolution can be used (usually 300dpi for print artwork). It is possible to originate the whole design at 1200dpi, but this would make the artwork huge in file size, and possibly sluggish in operation. As before, I shall build a design from scratch, and the way in which this is performed should cover a few different features within the application. Please note: This guide is compiled using Photoshop CS6. Previous versions can be different. 46

47 Photoshop Picture 1: The new document in this case cannot be created at the open trim size of the final design. The canvas area needs to incorporate area outside of the trim for page bleed, and also for the tick marks (trim marks). In this case, I have created the width at 240mm (trim size) plus 6mm (for 3mm page bleed each side) plus another 6mm (for the tick mark each side) which equals 252mm. Likewise for the height, which is 170mm (trim size) plus 6mm (for 3mm bleed each side), plus another 6mm (for the tick mark each side) which equals 182mm. Here, the name entered reflects the item code. The resolution is set at 300dpi (for print), the colour mode is CMYK (again for print) and 8 bit. The profile used is FOGRA39, which mimics colours obtained printing to the ISO standard. 1 - New document Picture 2 + 3: With rulers visible, we now need to establish the trim, bleed and spine areas, which can be denoted by guides mathematically. By dragging a guide from the ruler, we can drop horizontal and vertical guides at 3mm (the tick mark area) and at 6mm (the bleed area), using the info and guide indicators for accurate placement. The same needs to be done at the bottom right of the canvas 3mm and 6mm in from the edges. 2 - Guides added 3 - Guides added 47

48 Photoshop Pictures 4 + 5: With the guides added at the top left of the canvas, and at the bottom right, we have our trim and bleed area defined. Following this a guide can be added vertically down the middle of the canvas (at 126mm, half of 252mm) to denote the spine. Finally, a guide placed 1.5mm to the left of the spine will denote the wraparound area. 4 - Guide for the spine 5 - Guide for the wraparound Picture 6: We now need to add tick marks to indicate the trim area. The first step is to add a swatch using the Colour Picker. This swatch is set to 100% CMYK, meaning the tick will appear on all the 4 print separations. Add this colour to the swatches. Please note: Beware of the default Photoshop black! This is not usually suitable for print, as it is made from a split of 4 colours, none of which are set at 100%. This will be covered in more detail later in this section. Picture 7: The tick marks can now be added using the Line tool. These are to be added using the inner guides (set 6mm in) up to the bleed edge - as illustrated in this picture. Make sure the ticks coloured correctly. Please note: Other applications can add tick marks at the PDF stage. Photoshop does not have this function % CMYK swatch 7 - Ticks added in the corner ] Search adding guides Photoshop 48

49 Photoshop Picture 8: All the areas of the document are now correctly and accurately defined, and the individual pages can now be worked on. Should this be a common design size as part of a range, the document can be saved and used as a template (this can happen throughout the procedure). 8 - Areas defined, and ticks added 9 - Layers grouped Picture 9: Photoshop layers can be handled in a number of ways. For this example, I will group and tidy all the tick marks (the Shape layers) into a folder. Using the Layers window, click the folder icon to create a new group. This has been named relevantly, and all the layers multiply selected and dragged into the folder. This can be tabbed closed, and even locked (using the padlock icon above it). Pictures : Again from the Layers window, I have now created a new layer using the icon at the bottom of the window. This I have named Page 1 BG. Using the guides, and using the Marquee tool, I have made a selection that covers the page 1 print area, from the bleed edges to the wraparound. My required tint was added to the foreground of the colour picker, and the Fill window (Edit menu/fill) has been used to fill the selected area. ] Search select area and fill with colour Photoshop 10 - Selected area using the Marquee tool 11 - Filled with a colour 49

50 Photoshop Pictures : From a separate image of a Champagne bottle, which has been cutout onto it s own layer, I have selected all pixels from that layer and copied the image. Returning to the card artwork, when pasted the image will appear on it s own layer. This can then be positioned as necessary, in this case using Free Transform from the Edit menu Main image, from a separate PSD document 13 - Pasted and positioned Picture 14: Other methods of placement are possible. For the logo to be placed on page 4, I have dragged an Illustrator file onto the PSD document. This has appeared on it s own layer (named as per the file), which can now be manipulated to fit the correct position. As this is vector artwork from Illustrator, the image will automatically be added as a Smart Layer. This means the image will be scalable without degradation (which is possible with vector artwork), right up to the point of creating the final image or PDF. ] Search smart layers Photoshop Picture 15: This time, using Place from Photoshop s File menu, the barcode has been added. Again this will appear on it s own Smart Layer and can be positioned accurately using guides if necessary. Using the layers window, I have tidied the p1 and p4 layers into their own groups using the Groups folder icon at the bottom of the window. Please note: Take care when moving layers about in Photoshop. As per layers in other application, the order can affect the visibility or appearance of certain objects added to the artwork Image dragged and dropped 15 - Barcode placed and layers tidied 50

51 Photoshop Picture 16: The barcode used has already passed via Illustrator and checked to be just on the black channel. This can be proved by using the Channels window and switching off the visibility of the black separation. The barcode (and the black used in the images elsewhere) has disappeared Barcode correctly just on the black channel 17 - Text added to page 4 Picture 17: Using the text tool in Photoshop, the text has been added for the price code, design code and address - using guides for accurate placement. Much like Smart Layers, the text will remain as vector artwork until manually rasterised, or saved as an image. This again means the text can be amended, recoloured, or scaled. ] Search adding text Photoshop Picture 18: The text can be controlled by using the options found at the top Options bar, or via the Character and Paragraph windows, or by the Type menu, or a combination of all the above. Picture 19: In this case, when switching just the black channel off, the text still appears. This means the text is not a true black, but in fact a 4col mix (the CMY is visible here). The text can be selected and changed to 0% CMY and 100% K. Please note: An underpinned rich black can still be generated in Photoshop for large areas. Instead of just 100% K, the colour can be set to 50% C and 100% K (for example) Text controls ] Search the colour black in print designs 19 - Text not a true black 51

52 Photoshop Picture 20: The barcode on p4 was protruding above the level of the text. Photoshop doesn t deal with picture boxes in quite the same way as other application; so in this case a marquee has been added, the top of which is level with the text. With the barcode layer active, a layer mask has been added by clicking on the layer mask icon at the bottom of the window. The layer now has two thumbnails - one for the layer content and one for the mask. The black area of the image is masked out and therefore not visible, leaving the white area visible. Masks are very powerful in Photoshop, and can be used to non-destructively control what can be visible on individual and multiple layers. ] Search using layer masks Photoshop 20 - Layer mask added 21 - Circular marquee 22 - Border added and filled white Pictures 21 & 22: There s a number of ways in which to add the bubbles onto p1. Here, I have added a circular marquee, and from the Select menu, chosen Modify and Border. A 6 pixel border gives the width required, and this selection is then filled white. 52

53 Photoshop Picture 23: Another method is to use Photoshop s Ellipse tool, which from the control menu, can be set as having no fill and a white border. This appears on it s own layer when added. Picture 24: To repeat the two bubbles created, we can either duplicate the layer by right-clicking the layer required and selecting Duplicate Layer, or by dragging the layer required onto the New Layer icon at the bottom of the layers window. The duplicated layer can then be moved into position. Another method is to use the Move tool and hold down the Alt key, which presents you with a white and black pointer. The artwork can then be dragged into position, and doing so will generate a new layer Ellipse with white stroke 24 - Layers duplicated Pictures : Once complete, I have a the bubbles with white borders required, but a lot of layers. To keep things tidy, the layers can either be grouped, or combined as one layer. For this example I will combine the layers. With all relevant layers selected, right-click and select Merge Layers. The merged layer can then be renamed and kept tidy along with the other layers. Please note: The option to merge the layers can also be found in the Layers menu. Commands such as this can usually be found by multiple means in Photoshop (including key commands) Layers selected and merged 26 - One layer containing all artwork 53

54 Photoshop Picture 27: The artwork for the print on the face of the card has now been taken as far as possible. The artwork for the finishing still needs to be created, and this can prove to be a little more involved compared to the more traditional page make up applications such as InDesign. Please note: Spot colours and spot channels can be added to Photoshop documents. However, they are not totally suitable in creating a true print ready design containing finishing. The method to be described here is to ensure the best quality possible when using Photoshop for page work Final artwork for print 28 - Final artwork for print Picture 28: Save the current document with a relevant code name, followed by a reference to the fact that this is for print only, and the face of the design (e.g. XYZ123_Face_4col). This can be saved as a PDF following the instructions found later in this section. To be completely safe, duplicate or Save As a separate document for the finishing artwork. Please note: The finishing artwork will eventually be saved as a separate PDFs, and not a composite file (which is possible using other applications). Picture 29: The next important step is to increase the resolution of the artwork to 1200dpi, using the Image menu/image Size. Please make sure the document dimensions are unaffected - this is critical for the best quality possible! Please note: If this stage isn t performed (or performed later) the artwork is created at a resolution of 300dpi, which will affect the quality of the finishing information. This is one of the reasons why finishing isn t added as an extra channel in this guide. I also haven t recommended starting at a resolution of 1200dpi when creating the print artwork, simply because the image would be very large, which could result in operation being sluggish (depending on the power of your Mac/PC) Image size increased to 1200dpi However, spot colours can be used as part of a Photoshop document (which is covered later in this section) and should you deem this acceptable for your finishing artwork, we will accept the resulting PDF. 54

55 Photoshop Picture 30: With the image size set at 1200dpi, we can now create an extra layer for the finishing artwork - and I ll start with the cutter guide. With a new layer created, and using the Pen tool, a bezier path can be added (similar to Illustrator etc) to create the cutter artwork Cutter artwork 31 - Brush settings Picture 31: Make sure swatches are set to default, with black in the foreground. Now select the Brush tool, and from the Options bar, make a basic brush 3 pixel wide following the settings above. Pictures : From the Paths window, the path created can be double clicked and named. And from the drop down menu within the window, select Stroke Path. Use the Brush to apply the stroke, without simulating pressure Save and stroke path 33 - Stroke with Brush Picture 34: From the Layers window, turn off the print layers leaving only the cutter artwork and the tick marks visible. This artwork is nearly ready to save as a PDF. For this guide however, I shall continue to add the rest of the finishing before doing so Ticks and Cutter 55

56 Photoshop Picture 35: With a black stroke set, I have now created the foiled bubbles, using the same method as for the same features added in print. Again, these have all been merged into their own layer and named accordingly Foiled bubble strokes 36 - Brush settings Picture 36: Again in black and on it s own layer, the foiled artwork has been added to the bottle. Please note: Remember! All the artwork at this stage is being generated at 1200dpi Save and stroke path 38 - Stroke with Brush Picture : Now the text has been added - here using the Warp Text feature instead of typing on a path. The layer is again named accordingly once in position. 56

57 Photoshop Picture 39: The Lasso tool has been used here to trace select the flittered area required. This is then filled black, again on it s own layer. Please note: Many other methods of selection are possible. However the selection is made, it is important that when filled, the artwork appear on it s own layer, and not part of another layer. ] Search methods of selection Photoshop, 39 - Flitter area 40 - Brush settings Picture 40: To create the Spot UV areas within each of the bubbles, I have selected and unlocked the Bubble layer used for the print artwork. Then using the Magic Wand, I have multiple selected (by holding down the Option key) the pixels in the middle of each circle. ] Search multiple selections Photoshop, Picture 41: A new layer has been created to hold the Spot UV artwork. The selection from above has been filled black. Next, we must add to this by selecting the pixels from the centre of the foil artwork circles Beginnings of the SUV layer 42 - Rastered layer Picture 42: Currently, the layer I have for the foiled outlines of the bubbles contains vector shapes with a stroke applied. I cannot apply a Fill to these shapes, as I want the pixels to be part of the layer used for the Spot UV artwork. So, I will rasterise the vector artwork, and convert it to pixels (at 1200dpi). This is ok in this case, as ultimately all the finishing artwork generated will be rastered at a later stage. 57

58 Photoshop Picture 43: Now the pixels from the centre of the circle can be selected. Once this is done, select the SUV layer, and fill to black SUV layer complete 44 - All finishing added Picture 44: This completes all the artwork for the finishing, and at the moment this all looks to be a mass of black artwork. Please note: In the following stages, I will be converting each of the finishes to a bitmap, and then to a PDF, for each of the finishes used on the design. In this case; one for the Cutter, one for the Foil, one for the Fluted Foil, one for the Flitter and finally, one for the Spot UV. This equals quite a few separate PDFs for the one design. But, as mentioned, a composite PDF would compromise quality when solely using Photoshop. Also, please note: The PDF has not been completed at this stage. To supply a Photoshop document with the finishing as separate layers is not print ready artwork. 58

59 Photoshop Pictures : At this stage, save the Photoshop document (not overwriting the PDF created for the print artwork), as we may keep returning to this stage of the artwork. A good idea here is to take a Snapshot using the History window s drop down menu. This can be used a return point at any time New Snapshot of the artwork 46 -Snapshot selected in History window Picture 47: From the layers window, select only the Cutter layer and the Tick Marks layer (as well as the default Background layer). From the Image menu, select Mode and then Greyscale. This stage must be done before conversion to a bitmap. Accept any warning regarding flattening the image (which will happen automatically when a bitmap), rasterising the artwork (likewise) and discarding colour information Mode/Greyscale 48 - Flattened greyscale image Picture 48: We now have a flat image on the Grey channel only. The greyscale mode in Photoshop uses 256 shades of a single colour to form an image. Please note: As described in the Fundamentals of Finishing Artwork section; finishing is either there, or not there. You couldn t have a 50% tint of a cutter for example. Bitmaps are therefore ideal for finishing artwork. Each bit of a bitmap either appears, or does not appear. 59

60 Photoshop Pictures : Again from the Image/Mode menu, now select Bitmap. This is to be 1200dpi (as per the current setting), and converted using a 50% Threshold. This will disregard anything from the greyscale image that is under a tint of 50%, and only accept anything above. As our finishing artwork was created using black fills and black strokes, we have ensured that all of the artwork will be converted. This explains why black was used to create the finishing information. A tint of yellow for example when converted to a greyscale, may be under 50%, and therefore missed from the final bitmap. Please note: Please do not use any other method of conversion as they will not give the same usable result. Also, please note: Artwork originating at 300dpi and upscaled at this stage to 1200dpi will effectively remain at 300dpi, as upscaling from 300dpi to 1200dpi is asking Photoshop to create pixels that aren t currently there. Therefore the resulting artwork may not necessarily be of the quality required Mode/Bitmap 50-50% Threshold 51 - Zoomed bitmap image 52 - Save As a PDF Picture 51: The curved image used for the diecut information is now as smooth as possible using pixels in a rastered image. Picture 52: The image can now be saved as a PDF, with a relevant suffix following the design code. All PDF settings shall be covered at the end of this section. 60

61 Photoshop Picture 53: As we took a Snapshot of the artwork after creating all the finishing, we can return to that point in time by clicking on the Snapshot thumbnail in the History window. This now allows us to repeat the bitmap process for each finish in turn. Please note: In this case the foil image appears on two different layers. Make sure both are visible (along with the Tick Marks) when converting to a greyscale. Also, in this case, I want to keep the fluted foil image separate on it s own PDF Foil layers and Tick Marks 54 - Reverse of the design Also, please note: If creating finishing in Photoshop, be aware of how the different finishes interact with other parts of the design. For example The bottle may have overlapped some of the foiled bubbles. In this case a mask would be needed, created from the bottle artwork, to mask out the unwanted areas of foil. Picture 54: Two separate artboards, or pages, are not possible in Photoshop. Instead, for the p2&3 artwork, we will have to create a new layer. Going back to using the 300dpi Photoshop document, and using the Layers window, I have switched off the visibility of all but the background and the Tick Marks layer. I have created a new group for p Background tint 56 - Pen tool shape Picture 55: Working from the ground up, a layer has been added for the overall background tint. This bleeds off each trim edge using the guides placed earlier. Picture 56: The box area has been drawn using the Pen tool. This appears in the Paths window, and can be renamed to suit. 61

62 Photoshop Picture 57: To convert the path to a selection, highlight the path in the Paths window, right-click and choose Make Selection. In this case I don t want a feathered edge on the selection, so this is set to 0. An Anti-Aliased edge will give a smoother result. This can now be filled to white Path to a selection 58 - Reverse of the design Picture 58: As mentioned previously, there are many ways to select pixels in Photoshop, and many different key commands can be used to make this quicker. For the white shape, we can click the thumbnail of layer on which this has been created whilst holding the Command key (Mac) or Control key (PC) select the non-transparent pixels used on that particular layer. With the selection made, I will now expand this (Selection menu/modify/expand) by 30 pixels - this is to create the red border around the shape Expanded selection 60 - Expanded selection minus the original shape Picture 59: The selection is now expanded. If filled at this point, the red border would also cover the white box, which is not what we require. An option would be to layer the white box on top of the border, which is perfectly acceptable, or we could deselect the white shape from the selection we currently have. Picture 60: At the moment, the white shape is the only thing appearing on the layer selected. By holding down the Command key and the Option key (Mac) or Control key and Alt key (PC) and hover over the layer thumbnail, you ll see the pointer tool change to a selection marquee with a minus symbol. Click on the layer and the pixels will now be deselected from the current selection - therefore leaving only the border around the shape selected. This can now be filled with a colour. ] Search Modifier keys Photoshop 62

63 Photoshop Picture 61: The spot colour (Pantone Cool Gray 5) for the text is created via the Channels window drop down menu, and New Spot Channel. Click on the colour swatch to select either an arbitrary colour, or a swatch from the colour libraries, name the spot channel accordingly, and select a solidity of 100% (which will not affect the print). Please note: It is possible to create finishing information using this same method, as mentioned earlier in this section. Please be aware of the current resolution settings and how this would affect the quality of the finishing Spot colour 62 - Text added to the spot channel Picture 62: With the new spot channel selected, and using the Text tool, the reverse text has been added. Please note: The text is added at a 100% (solid) colour - which will result in 100% (solid coverage) of the spot colour stipulated when printed. This is visually represented by a grey colour (created when adding the new spot channel) Final artwork for the reverse of the design 62 - Text added to the spot channel Also, please note: Channels are not layers, and layers are not channels! Terminology can be confusing between the two! Picture 63: Artwork for p2 & 3 is now complete. With the correct and relevant layers selected, we can now save this as a PDF. Picture 64: In this case, the dialogue box should be checked as having a Spot Colour. The name, as before, should be relevant to the PDF. 63

64 Photoshop Pictures below: With the design now checked and complete, we can export a print ready PDF. Each tab and dialogue box is illustrated below, and can be copied in turn. Please note: Default PDF settings are subtly different, and not always suitable. In addition, certain PDF/X standards can cause problems. Export the image as a PDF, include Spot Colours if necessary Photoshop editing can be preserved If the image resolution is correctly set, no need to downsample No colour conversions recommended 64

65 Acrobat Adobe s Acrobat is the most widely used application used to view PDFs (although many other options are available). Acrobat comes in three main flavours: The free Reader version, and two paid versions, Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro. Most of the time, the free Reader version is quite adequate, but it does have it s limitations. Useful features found in Acrobat Pro can be found following:- Trim Area Picture 1: The trim area of a print ready PDF is usually defined by the tick marks added at PDF creation (the exception being Photoshop PDFs). In Acrobat Pro this is indicated by the Trim Box, which can be viewed via Tools/Print Production/Set Page Boxes. The trim area is highlighted and is defined under the page thumbnail. Picture 2: The same Trim Box option is not available in Reader. Instead however, the Measuring Tool (Edit menu/analysis/measuring Tool) can be used to manually measure between tick marks. Prior to this, you may need to change the unit of measurement to millimetres. To do so, go to the Acrobat Reader menu and select Preferences. In the list of Categories is the options for Units. Here Page Units can be changed. 1 - Trim Box in Pro version 2 - Measure Tool in Reader version 65

66 Acrobat Separations Picture 3: Greeting card artwork can contain quite a few separations and spot colours - mainly to represent finishing information. Using Acrobat Pro, these can be viewed, and turned on and off via Tools/ Print Production/Output Preview. 3 - Output Preview in Pro version Please note: This function is not available in Acrobat Reader. Also, please note: When finishing spot separations have been switched off, don t be alarmed if they knockout the print artwork beneath. This means that overprint hasn t been applied (or isn t checked in the Output Preview window - explained following this). When the PDF is processed at The Sherwood Group, finishing spot colours will be forced to overprint. Overprint Preview Picture 4: To see the overprinted areas of the design correctly, the box for Simulate Overprinting must be checked. Again, this option is only available in the Pro version. Please note: When processing PDFs through a PDF workflow, Trapping may be applied to certain areas of the artwork. This will spread one colour into another, and where the overlap occurs, the two colours will overprint. This is to guard against mis-register problems when printed, and doesn t adversely affect the look of the design. 4 - Simulate Overprint in Pro version To be viewed correctly, Simulate Overprint in Acrobat Pro needs to be on. Trapped areas in Reader may look to be incorrect in such areas. 66

67 Finishing Artwork - The Dos and Don ts Print finishes, such as diecutting, foiling, embossing and so on, are all manufacturing processes, and this means they are all subject to manufacturing tolerances. To guard against any potential quality issues, we must consider the following when creating finishing artwork. Flitter/Virko If possible, please do not extend the flitter image over the spine. This is to avoid the flitter cracking when the card is folded. Cards are usually gripped on the left edge of page 4. Should a flittered image ever be required on page 4, please make sure it is 10mm clear of this trim edge. Fine flitter areas will still appear on the flitter plate, but will not necessarily appear correctly on the final design. This is due to the random nature of how flitter is applied, and the particle mix. Design no XXX123 Printed in the UK Flitter.indd 1 26/02/ :13 Larger/thicker areas stand more chance of appearing on the card, but again do to the nature of application, shapes, sharp edges and objects are not exactly formed. 67

68 Foil, Fluted Foil and Emboss As mentioned in The Fundamentals of Finishing Artwork section, vector artwork (top) is always preferred for a good clean image. If rastered, artwork created at 1200dpi is preferred (bottom) as opposed to 300dpi (middle) which can show jagged edges when closely examined. abc Embossed or fluted areas can weaken the card when over the spine, resulting in a split when folded. Please run the artwork up to the spine as the example here, to avoid problems. Foil is ok to wrap over the spine. Spot Foil Spot Emboss Spot Fluted Foil Design no XXX123 Printed in the UK Embossed areas of foil can be coloured as a foil spot colour with an emboss spot colour overlapping (and overprinting). Alternatively, these areas can be one feature, coloured as a separate spot colour called Fluted Foil - should a fluted die be required. Foil-Flute-Emboss.indd 1 26/02/ :31 Here, the blue box is print, and the grey box is foil. If butted up exactly next to each other we will have a kiss fit between the two different processes, possibly resulting in a small amount of mis-register. Ideally, the print image can extend slightly underneath the foil image (or vice versa) to provide grip (an overlap) between the two processes. Designs that have very tight register between print (in blue here), foil (grey) and emboss (green) can potentially cause a problem, as all three are separate processes, each with a small amount of manufacturing tolerance. Design no XXX123 Printed in the UK Foil-Flute-Emboss.indd 1 26/02/ :47 68

69 Diecut Please avoid apertures (of various shapes) of less than 4mm in diameter. Please keep diecut apertures 4mm away from the trimmed edge of the page. Please avoid creating anything that would result in weak areas when punched or stripped out. Please again try to keep 4mm between apertures (or as much space as possible!) Design no XXX123 Printed in the UK Diecut.indd 1 26/02/ :00 Please keep diecut areas 10mm away form the spine. Please avoid diecut shapes that double-back in on themselves. When stripped out (waste pulled away) these can tear away areas that needed to be retained. Design no XXX123 Printed in the UK Diecut.indd 1 26/02/ :05 69

70 Hexachrome An alternative to CMYK print is Hexachrome, developed by Pantone. This uses six primary colours; Orange and Green, mixed with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, to create a wider, more vivid colour space, as opposed to the normal 4 colour CMYK colour space. There s a couple of ways in which artwork can be set up should Hexachrome be required. Picture 1: One method is to use RGB images and tints throughout the artwork - not something normally recommended! When the PDF is processed at The Sherwood Group, the RGB images and tints are converted via an ICC profile, and separated into 6 colours. Picture 2: Artwork can always be created using six colours (CMYK with two additional spot colours - Orange and Green) and this is perfectly acceptable. Mixing CMYK with the two spot colours can become very complicated, especially when working with images. 1 - RGB image 2 - Mixing Process and Hex colours Please note: Digital proofs and digital print cannot fully replicate the same Hexachrome effect achieved when printed, although it can get reasonably close. This is because the CM and Y inks within the Hex set are slightly different to the normal process colours, and the brightness of the Orange and Green is difficult to replicate with digital inks. In addition: Normally, when working with CMYK images, the monitor (depending on how well it has been calibrated) can give a rough idea of colour, once printed. When working with RGB images that are to be converted to a Hex colour space, this is no longer the case. Certain colours can look quite different when converted. Also, please note: Hexachrome and 4 colour work cannot be mixed on a sheet, due to the differences in the CM and Y inks. 70

71 Tips, Tricks and Time Savers There are many! But as a means to ensure quality and speed up certain processes, a few (hopefully helpful) tips can be found following:- Importing Spot Colours Pictures 1 + 2: Should you be creating artwork to be later imported into an InDesign or Quark document, you can still create and use spot colours (for finishing or print). When the artwork is placed, the spot colours are automatically added into the swatch panel. Please note: Beware of ambiguity between spot colour names should a spot colour already be used as part of the page makeup document. EMBOSS and Emboss may appear as different separations. 1 - FOIL used in Illustrator artwork Keeping Things Common 2 - FOIL added as a swatch when image placed in InDesign Picture 3: Especially useful when finishing bitmaps have been created in Photoshop: If we have a CMYK 300dpi image that is to be used for print, then upscaled to 1200dpi to create a bitmap for finishing, try to keep the dimensions of the image the same between the two (or more) images. When the print image is placed into a box in an InDesign or Quark document, it will be placed using certain offsets and dimensions. If this picture box is duplicated, or copied to a new layer, the image within can be re-linked to the bitmap required for the finish. All offsets are maintained, and the image will register much more accurately than if the two elements were placed by eye. The same method can be applied in many other circumstances, for logos, captions etc. 3 - CMYK image with a bitmap placed above 71

72 Tips, Tricks and Time Savers Templates & Presets Pictures 4 + 5: Ranges of card designs will usually feature common elements, be this text, logos, caption positions etc. One design can therefore set the template for others in the range. Master Pages can be used, or documents can be saved as a Template, to ensure positional accuracy across every design. Likewise, certain presets, such as PDF settings outlined in this guide, can be saved, eliminating re-entering errors. 4 - Master Page common items 5 - Dialogue box Presets ] Search using Master Pages InDesign, using Master Pages QuarkXPress Solid Spot Inks vs Tints of Black Pictures 6 + 7: A spot colour used in print can be shaded from 1% to 100%, and this is quite acceptable. However, please bear in mind that certain spot colours are quite pale, and if a 25% tint of an already pale ink is used, it may not be very apparent when printed. Spot gray s are used commonly on greeting cards for verse text, as is process black. To achieve a gray colour, it is most likely that a solid (100%) Pantone Gray is required, or a tint (e.g. 50%) of process black is required. Please ensure the two options are not mixed up, as this will not give the desired result. 6 - Solid (100%) Spot Pantone Gray 7-50% tint of process black 72

73 Tips, Tricks and Time Savers Co-ordinates & Guides Pictures 8 + 9: All applications allow features to be placed, positioned and sized using co-ordinates, which has been demonstrated various times throughout this guide. Co-ordinates ensure ultimate accuracy and control as opposed to hand drawing, or positioning objects by eye. Basic mathematical functions can be used when positioning objects. For example; in InDesign, if creating a picture box to cover the whole of an open design measuring 240mm x 170mm, select and add a basic box. Then from the control bar at the top of the screen (using the top left point as the reference point) X and Y co-ordinates can be set at -3, -3 (for the 3mm page bleed), then for the width a function of can be keyed in (3mm bleed left and right), and for the height (again 3mm bleed top and bottom). 8 - Object co-ordinates 9 - Guide co-ordinates In addition, guides can be very useful for aligning objects and indicating certain areas. These again can be positioned mathematically in the same way as above. A guide to indicate the spine can be positioned using the function 240/2 for the example above. Fonts Picture 10: As part of the export to PDF settings, all fonts used will be embedded within the PDF. Normally this is ok; but should there be an issue with the original font (part of the font missing, damaged or limitations of usage) the resulting PDF will have a replacement font in it s place. If the font is displaying correctly on screen, an option is to outline the font, which will convert it into a shape. Illustrator, Quark and InDesign all have this feature. Be sure to check the result, and make sure it is of the quality expected should you use this function. ] Search convert fonts to outlines, convert fonts to paths Fonts converted to outlines in Illustrator 73