Text & Design 2015 Wojciech Piskor

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3 Text & Design 2015 Wojciech Piskor All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the author.

4 Introduction 6 Preparing Adobe Illustrator files for print 18 General file specifications 8 Step 1: Set up the document 20 Contents Colour mode Resolution Step 2: The bleed Step 3: Save the file Step 4: Check the outcome The bleed 10 Artwork size 11 Preparing Adobe InDesign files for print 24 File format 11 Additional information 11 Step 1: Set up the document 26 Step 2: The bleed 27 Preparing Adobe Photoshop files for print 12 Step 3: Page numbering 28 Step 4: Changing page order 30 Step 1: Set up the document 14 Step 5: Save the file 32 Step 2: The bleed 14 Step 6: Check the outcome 33 Step 3: Save the file 16 Step 4: Check the outcome 17 Sending the files 34

5 Introduction In order to print your artwork to the best visual quality possible it is necessary to correctly prepare and save the file. This guide will walk you through every step of file preparation and saving process in three Adobe CS6 programs: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

6 General file specifications Artwork designed for print medium requires specific settings, very different to the requirements of on-screen, digital medium. In this section you will find detailed information about those requirements needed to create print-ready artwork, compared to brief overview of the usual settings used for the digital medium.

7 Colour mode (as opposed to 72dpi for on-screen artworks). visible around it. The way to set it up, together with the File format Abbreviation dpi stands for dots per inch and it visual examples, will be demonstrated separately for One of the most important things when it comes to file determines how dense your artwork is. each program (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) as it To avoid any file incompatibility, the files being preparation is appropriate colour mode. is slightly different for each of them. changed due to missing fonts or different software Preparing Files For Print The printing process requires CMYK colour mode (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key - Black, four process colours used in print) opposed to RGB colour mode (Red, Green and Blue, three basic colours of the digital displays) used for on-screen artworks. By choosing correct colour mode for print medium you are making sure that the colours will come out exactly as you intended after being printed. Resolution Resolution higher than 300dpi will not improve the quality of print significantly and can cause problems with the printing process due to bigger file size. The bleed If any of the graphic elements or background images will reach the edge of your artwork you would need to set up your document with 3mm bleed which will expand your artwork by 3mm on each side. Make sure that all important elements like text and logos are within an original artwork size, as your Artwork size Below are listed the most popular paper sizes and the dimensions with 3mm bleed applied. regular size +3mm bleed A6 105mm x 148mm 111mm x 154mm A5 148mm x 210mm 154mm x 216mm A4 210mm x 297mm 216mm x 303mm A3 297mm x 420mm 303mm x 426mm A2 420mm x 594mm 426mm x 600mm versions, as well as to make sure the colours will print exactly as intended it is essential to save your artwork as a press quality.pdf file. The way to save it to the desired specification will be explained separately for each program as it is slightly different for each of them. Additional information Convert any pantones or RGB colours used to CMYK colour mode, otherwise, after being printed, the colours may look different than desired. General file specifications Another parameter which has a tremendous impact on background image, and anything else that is within the A1 594mm x 841mm 600mm x 847mm print quality is resolution (not to be confused with the 3mm bleed area will be cut away. A0 841mm x 1148mm 847mm x 1154mm For any normal black text set it to 100% Black with artwork s dimensions). 0% Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. The purpose of bleed is when your artwork is cropped When creating a custom sized artwork make sure 3mm The resolution of the file should be set to 300dpi down to the desired size there won t be any white line bleed is applied to the original size. For very dense, rich black set each colour to 100%

8 Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphic program, designed to deal mainly with highly realistic or photographic content. It is slightly more complicated to create a print-ready document in Adobe Photoshop compared to Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, but there is nothing to worry about, in this section you will find detailed information which will guide you through every step of this process.

9 Step 1: Set up the document Step 2: The bleed After that go to Image > Canvas Size... and manually Everything on the outer side of previously set guides is add 3mm bleed to each side of the document the 3mm bleed - the part of the artwork that will be Go to File > New... to create a new document. Choose Unlike the other programs (Illustrator, InDesign) (effectively 6mm to Width and Height). trimmed away. the desired paper size, set resolution to 300dpi and Photoshop does not have an option to add the bleed colour mode to CMYK color and press OK. when creating the document. Set canvas extension color to White and press OK to Make sure that the background image fills the whole Preparing Files For Print In order to create the bleed it is necessary to set up the guides. Go to View > Rulers to turn on the rulers. Next, go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Rulers... and set the rulers to mm. Click and hold on the ruler and drag the guide to the edge of the white working area. apply new settings. page and all of the important elements like logo, text and images are within the area marked as Artwork. Adobe Photoshop 3mm bleed Artwork 14 15

10 Step 3: Save the file Choose Press Quality from the Adobe PDF Preset drop Step 4: Check the outcome down menu and press Save PDF. After the content is finished, the file has to be saved Open the file using Adobe Acrobat and check if it is using the correct format. Not changing the preset to press quality may cause saved correctly. problems with printing i.e. different colours or missing Preparing Files For Print Go to File > Save As... and choose Photoshop PDF from the Format drop down menu and press Save. content therefore it could delay the print of the file. Check the dimensions of the document at the bottom left corner and make sure the correct bleed is included. Adobe Photoshop 16 17

11 Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphic program, designed to deal mainly with illustrations, text and flat colours. This software supports file preparation for print medium so it is quite easy to create a print-ready file. Information contained in this section will make this process even easier.

12 Step 1: Set up the document Step 2: The bleed Go to File > New... to create a new document. Set the Unlike Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator will automatically desired paper size and choose Print from the Profile show the bleed (red border around the Workspace). drop down menu. Preparing Files For Print It will automatically set colour mode to CMYK and resolution to 300ppi. Abbreviation ppi stands for pixels per inch and it determines how dense your artwork is. Set 3mm bleed (it will change the Profile from previously selected Print to Custom) and press OK. If required, go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers to turn on the rulers. Next, go to Edit > Preferences > Units and set the General to mm. Everything between the white working space and the red border is the 3mm bleed - the part of the artwork that will be trimmed away. Make sure that the background image fills the whole page, up to the red border and all of the important elements like logo, text and images are within the area marked as Workspace. Adobe Illustrator 3mm bleed Workspace 20 21

13 Step 3: Save the file Choose Press Quality from the Adobe PDF Preset drop Step 4: Check the outcome down menu. Next, go to Marks and Bleeds submenu, After the content is finished, the file has to be saved manually set 3mm bleed and press Save PDF. Open the file using Adobe Acrobat and check if it is using the correct format. saved correctly. Not changing the preset to press quality may cause Preparing Files For Print Go to File > Save As... and choose Adobe PDF from the Save as type drop down menu and press Save. problems with printing i.e. different colours or missing content therefore it could delay the print of the file. Check the dimensions of the document at the bottom left corner and make sure the correct bleed is included. Adobe Illustrator 22 23

14 Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing program, designed mainly for creating multiple page documents like books and magazines. This software s settings and options are aimed at preparing documents for print medium so it is fairly straight forward to create a print-ready file. Information contained in this section will make this process even easier.

15 Step 1: Set up the document Step 2: The bleed Go to File > New > Document... to create a new Similar to Adobe Illustrator, InDesign will automatically document. Set the desired paper size and choose show the bleed (red border around the Workspace). Print from the Intent drop down menu. Preparing Files For Print It will automatically set colour mode to CMYK and resolution to 300dpi. Click More Options and set 3mm bleed, adjust the other settings to the desired values and press OK. Please note that the number of pages in magazines, booklets and everything which will be folded in half and stapled in the middle has to divide by four. If required, go to View > Show Rulers to turn on the rulers. Next, go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Increments... and set the Ruler Units to mm. Everything between the black border around the Workspace and the red border is the 3mm bleed - the part of the artwork that will be trimmed away. Make sure that the background image fills the whole page, up to the red border and all of the important elements like logo, text and images are within the area marked as Workspace. Adobe InDesign 3mm bleed Workspace 26 27

16 Step 3: Page numbering In order to delete the page number, for example from the front and back cover, right click on the desired Note: If you do not wish to add page numbers go to Step 5: Save the file. page in Pages submenu and click on Override All Master Page Items. To add a page number go to A-Master in Pages Preparing Files For Print submenu, create a type box using Type Tool (T) and go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. Repeat it on the other page. Placing the page markers on the master page will automatically assign a page number to every page of the document, which eliminates the necessity of drawing a type box and typing the page number on every page. The correctly placed page marker will appear as a capital letter A on the master page, but it will be a It will make all elements from the master pages fully editable, so they can be selected and deleted. Adobe InDesign normal number throughout the document

17 Step 4: Changing page order Make sure Allow Selected Spreads to Shuffle is In the New Section window select Start Page The picture below shows Pages submenu with new disabled, otherwise when the page order is changed Numbering at: 1 and set Section Prefix. page order applied. Note: If you do not wish to change page order go to Step 5: Save the file. they may split from spreads to single pages. The purpose of Section Prefix is to keep the document Changing page order is necessary if you would like to Right click on page 2 of the document and select format the same while changing the page numbering. Preparing Files For Print set page 2 of the document as page 1 (excluding the front cover from being counted as page 1). Select all pages from the Pages submenu (press and hold Shift and click on first and last page) and right click on them. Numbering & Section Options... to assign a new page number. If the Section Prefix was not set, the document would contain two pages with the same number, which could lead to errors during the saving process. Adobe InDesign 30 31

18 Step 5: Save the file Choose Press Quality from the Adobe PDF Preset drop Step 4: Check the outcome down menu. Next, go to Marks and Bleeds submenu, After the content is finished, the file has to be saved manually set 3mm bleed and press Save PDF. Open the file using Adobe Acrobat and check if it is using the correct format. saved correctly. Not changing the preset to press quality may cause Preparing Files For Print Go to File > Export... and choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Save as type drop down menu and press Save. problems with printing i.e. different colours or missing content therefore it could delay the print of the file. Check the dimensions of the document at the bottom left corner and make sure the correct bleed is included. Adobe InDesign 32 33

19 Sending the files Once your artwork is finished and correctly saved you are only a few clicks away from sending it to be printed and finished for you. This section will help you get it right.

20 Sending the files Colour or black and white? What stock? Once your document is finished and saved as a Even though your document is in colour you may wish One of the most important things is your desired type print-ready file you may send it to print to the following to print it off black and white. Should it be the case, of paper. Are you after plain paper, gloss or card? address: please let me know in your . Preparing Files For Print wojciech.piskor@gmail.com Before I print it off I will give you an accurate quote to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. Once you approve the quote I will proceed with your order. If you are sending a few files, too big to be attached into one due to the attachement limit, send them in the separate s. Clearly mark which it is and how many there will Single sided or back to back? For multiple page document indicate whether you would like it to be printed single or double sided. Stapled, perfect bound or loose? For multiple page document indicate what kind of binding you would like to get. Would you like it to be stapled together with either two If you are unsure, for the comprehensive list of the paper types please refer to the price chart. How many copies? Quite obvious, yet if can be forgotten. Make sure you state the quantity to get an accurate quote and to avoid any delays. Sending the files be i.e. Print Job 1/5, 2/5 etc. In each write full staples or just one in the corner, or folded in half and instructions of how you would like the document to be stitched like a magazine? Or would you rather prefer it printed and finished for you. Please find, on the right to be perfect bound, like a book? hand side of this page, a list of information you would need to include with your order, to avoid any delays. Or maybe you are simply after loose sheets? 36 37

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