Chapter 11 & 12

Chapter 11


Chapter 11 mainly talks about production tips, such as placing graphics, dragging files, updating missing or modified links, editing graphics, and swatches. PageMaker, QuarkXPress, and Adobe InDesign, all can place graphics on a page. QuarkXPress are most comfortable making a frame to put an image in first. InDesign works the best of both worlds by doing what both PageMaker and QuarkXPress can do. According to the Print Production Book, "It's helpful to know that both the Rectangle Frame tool and the plain old Rectangle tool can create shapes that accept graphics as content." The "Graphic Frame" tools creates shapes. Basically to place an image in InDesign you go to File > Place. You do this after you create the Rectangle Frame in the page-layout. If you do not place the Rectangle Frame then most likely the image will take up most the page.

There are good and bad ways of drag and drop in InDesign. There are many ways to put a file on a page besides File > Place. You can drag and drop from Adobe Bridge. You can use Bridge to drag multiple files and drag them to the top of the InDesign page. Adobe Bridge provides high-quality images and it also makes it easier to find the correct files. Now to explain some of the bad things that can happen when placing images into a document. You can drag and drop Adobe Photoshop images into InDesign, but there are consequences for doing so. The photo will remain RGB instead of CMYK like you are wanting. It will also increase the size of your InDesign document and take up tons of space on your hard drive. If you need to edit the image after putting it in InDesign then it is impossible to edit it in InDesign and you are out of luck.

The next topic in Chapter 11 to discuss is about missing and modified links. The Links panel tells you if you have missing or modified links. If your links are modified then you links will tell you when you have your cursor over the image link. If you have a missing link a question mark will be beside it and if you click it then you will be able to find that image and make sure it is placed correctly. If you package all the files at the end of your project then you will not have any missing links, which is a great thing to make sure happens. Also, forgot to mention that the link will be a blue hyperlink so you know. When transforming graphics, there are several ways to scale frames in InDesign. First thing you do is select the frame with the Selection tool. Then you can use the Scale or Free Transform tool to scale the frame and its contents. You can also enter percentage values in the X/Y scale fields in the Control Panel. When scaling an image, it is best to make sure the scale is proportional using either Command + Shift for a Macintosh or Control + Shift on a PC and dragging the corner of the scaled image while doing so with the mouse.

Swatches are next on the list. Basically there are two kinds. There is RGB and CMYK colors. In InDesign there is a Swatches panel located on the right side of the page. There is such a thing called Lab colors and this is located in the Colors panel. The Color panel does offer a quick way of creating a tint to a certain spot color. It is best to create your own swatches then using the ones provided. You can select from Pantone, Toyo, and TRUMATCH swatchbooks to pick the exact color you want to use. When doing a duotone in Photoshop or Illustrator bringing it into InDesign will actually bring the Pantone Color swatch over without having any problems. There are times occasionally when InDesign will not let you delete a certain swatch  at times I learned as well. If you ever have extra swatches you aren't using during a project, the best thing to do is delete them all. According to the Print Production Book, "The primary purpose of the Ink Manager is to fix spot-color errors by remapping extraneous colors to correct inks." It basically fixes the colors so that when it prints, it won't look odd or not the color you are wanting. You can open the Ink Manager in the Separations Preview panel menu or the Swatches panel. You will find it in the Print dialog under Output and also in the Exports dialog for both EPS and PDF. Beside this, I will talk about drop shadows from Chapter 11. Drop Shadows are the little black shadows of either a text or photo. You can manually do this and move the shadow to wherever you want it by going to Object > Drop Shadow, then you can enter whatever you would like to move your shadow. Like I said before always remember when you are completely finished with your InDesign document just to package it so you don't lose anything you want before taking it to the printers. You also need to export it as an Adobe PDF document too just so if you happen to lose the packaging file some way, you still have the PDF to back it up. You just go to File > Export and click Adobe PDF Print. You want to make sure before you click export you want to choose the PDF/X-1a setting. All the images in a PDF/X-1a are converted from a RGB image to a CMYK automatically and your spot color is also maintained as well.

Chapter 12


This chapters summary is all about Acrobat Production tips like Adobe PDF's. PDF files come from the Acrobat program. You can also export PDF files from Adobe InDesign or Illustrator. They could be the result from a PostScript file and feeding that to Distiller, or created by some other process, like Global Graphics Jaws interpreter used by QuarkXPress 6.0 and later. When it comes to PDF files, anyone is allowed to view the information on a PDF reference to write software that creates, reads, or edits PDF files. Not all the PDF creation solutions are the same according to the book. There are various settings of PDF files, such as Standard, Smallest File Size, and Press Qualilty and it gives clues to what kind of PDF is to be created. The PDF/X and PDF/A settings are based on standards to make sure that a PDF works as it's supposed too. The X in PDF/X-1a stands for exchange to signify it will work with one of the PDF/X standards can exchanged between the PDF's originator amd recipients with some assurance, that the file will become a usable file to the user who created it. "The PDF/A settings are based on standards geared toward long-term archiving and retrieval of electronic files (hence the "A")." (McCue) All these settings are stored in a common place that is shared among all Adobe applications.

Like mentioned before it is possible to export PDF files from InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop without using Distiller. The time you use export is when you wish to retain layers, live transparency, or interactivity. Export is way faster and easier than using Distiller. You need to have a long conversation with file recipients to find out why you are being asked to take the long way around using Distiller. You ask them to test an exported PDF that is created to their specification, then the both of you find out if it will really work or not. The last thing I will describe from Chapter 12 to use is editing PDF files. It is very limited to edit a PDF. Usually you aren't even supposed to mess with the files after they are created. They need to be finished files that are ready to be shipped.There are times when a comma is missing or something like that. "Acrobat offers three editing tools in the Advanced Editing Toolbar. Choose Tools > Advanced Editing > Show Advanced Editing Toolbar to display the tools." (McCue) You use the TouchUp text tool for selecting and editing the text of a document. That is assuming that you have the correct font throughout your page. You sue the TouchUp Object tool to fix your images on the page, whether it be vector images or just images from Photoshop. The last tool that can be used for editing is the TouchUp Reading Order tool that actually reads the text you. It is mainly for impaired users. If you want to experiment just go to Read Aloud > Activate Read Out Loud from the View menu in the Acrobat programs. The rest of the chapter basically just talks about comments and the review of the whole book. All this information I got was from the book, Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications by Claudia McCue.