Cover image for From Design Into Print: Preparing Graphics and Text for Professional Printing

From Design Into Print: Preparing Graphics and Text for Professional Printing

Author Sandee Cohen
Release Date: 2009/05/01
ISBN: 9780321580528
Topic:
0%
30
Chapters
0-1
Hours read
0k
Total Words
    Start Reading Now    
       Add to Wishlist       
View table of contents

Book Description

A designer in New York creates a beautiful design but when she prints it the colors become muddy. An art director in Seattle sends a file to the print shop, and they call him to say the job won’t print. The editor of a college paper can’t figure out why all the pictures in the paper are jagged. And a freelance designer is Chicago needs to bid on her first print job. Linescreen, DPI, CMYK, RIPs, bleeds, spots, and spreads: Why didn’t they teach this stuff in design school?

Sandee Cohen comes to the rescue, whether you’re producing your first newsletter or you’re an experienced graphic designer who needs to come up to speed on professional-level printing. She’ll tell you how to make your desktop printer behave, and will take the mystery out of dealing with print providers. You’ll learn all the necessary techniques, the terminology, and the rules of printing (and when you can break them). It’s like having your own production manager standing over your shoulder. The copious information in From Design Into Print will have your designs looking as stunning in print as they do on your monitor.

This book will help you:

  • Choose the right desktop printer for your needs

  • Finally understand resolution

  • Get the results you want from page-layout and image-editing applications

  • Find the best stock images

  • Know what to expect when RGB colors convert to CMYK

  • Figure out your fonts

  • Preflight your work

  • Sound smart when talking to a print shop

    •

    Table of Contents

    1. Copyright
      1. Dedicated to
    2. Colophon
    3. Introduction
      1. The Non-Designer’s Books
      2. The Non-Designer’s Scan and Print Book
      3. Showing its age
      4. Updating for the twenty-first century
      5. How to read this book
      6. Quizzes and projects
      7. From Design Into Print: The podcast
      8. Thanking those who have helped
    4. Start at the End
      1. 1. Know Where You’re Going
        1. What are the questions?
          1. Sample schedule
          2. When to ask questions
        2. What kind of job is it?
        3. Who’s printing it?
        4. What’s the size of the paper?
        5. How many pieces of paper?
          1. Working with signatures
          2. Understanding imposition
        6. How many folds?
        7. How many copies?
        8. How many colors?
        9. Using any graphics?
        10. What kind of paper?
          1. Paper color
          2. Paper coating
          3. Paper finishes
          4. Paper weight
          5. Other paper considerations
        11. What holds it together?
          1. Office bindings
          2. Professional bindings
        12. Project preparation list
      2. 2. Desktop Printing
        1. General printer considerations
          1. Resolution
          2. Paper size
          3. Print area
          4. Speed
          5. Paper handling
          6. Cost of goods
        2. Types of printers
          1. Specialty printers
        3. Summary
        4. Printer quiz
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
          8. Project #8
        5. Printer quiz answers
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
          8. Project #8
      3. 3. The Basics of Commercial Printing
        1. Print shops, copy shops, and online printing
          1. Copy shops
          2. Small print shops
          3. National commercial print shops
          4. Online print services
        2. To copy or to print?
        3. Different printing processes
          1. Letterpress
          2. Flexography
          3. Gravure
          4. Steel-die engraving
          5. Thermography
          6. Offset lithography
          7. Screen printing
          8. Collotype or screenless printing
          9. Digital color printing
          10. Direct-to-plate
        4. How to find a print shop
          1. What to bring to the appointment
        5. Printing on a budget
        6. Commercial printing projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
          8. Project #8
    5. What is the Computer Doing?
      1. 4. Understanding the Types of Computer Applications
        1. Choose your software
        2. Word processing applications
        3. Spreadsheet applications
        4. Presentation programs
          1. Converting presentations for print
        5. Image editing programs
        6. Vector drawing programs
        7. Page layout programs
          1. Bleed settings
          2. Text features
          3. Editorial partners to page layout applications
          4. Graphic features
          5. Old wive’s tales for images
        8. Installing and managing fonts
          1. Installing fonts using the operating system
          2. Using font management software
        9. Summary of applications
      2. 5. Computer Color Modes
        1. Bit depth
          1. Bit depth and file size
        2. Bitmap color mode
          1. Threshold
        3. Grayscale mode
          1. What to scan as grayscale
        4. RGB mode
          1. Choosing colors in RGB
        5. CMYK mode
          1. Choosing colors in CMYK
          2. How to use a color guide to pick a color
        6. Which modes for photography and scanning?
        7. Converting from color to grayscale
        8. Color mode and depth chart
      3. 6. Raster Images and Resolutions
        1. Monitor resolution
        2. Image resolution
          1. The “cost” of pixels
        3. Output resolution
        4. Print resolution for grayscale or color images
          1. Understanding linescreen (lpi)
          2. Linescreen specifications
          3. Linescreen and resolution
          4. Breaking the linescreen and resolution rules
          5. Linescreen and resolution chart
        5. Resolution for specialty printers
        6. Resolution for 1-bit raster images
          1. Imagesetter resolution for 1-bit raster images
        7. Changing resolution
          1. Stretching pixels
          2. Adding pixels from thin air
          3. Scanning and enlarging raster images
          4. Reducing raster images
        8. Finding and fixing missing pixels
          1. Resampling up
          2. Sharpening missing pixels
        9. Can you have too much resolution?
      4. 7. Vector Images
        1. Types of vector art
        2. Advantages of vector art
          1. Resolution
          2. Easily modified
          3. Smaller file sizes
        3. Challenges of vector art
          1. Learning curve
          2. Image limitations
        4. Transparent and opaque shapes in vector art
          1. If transparent shapes should be white
          2. If white shapes should be transparent
        5. Placing vector images in layouts
        6. Vector/pixel quiz
          1. Artwork 1
          2. Artwork 2
          3. Artwork 3
          4. Artwork 4
          5. Artwork 5
          6. Artwork 6
          7. Artwork 7
          8. Artwork 8
        7. Vector/pixel quiz answers
          1. Artwork 1
          2. Artwork 2
          3. Artwork 3
          4. Artwork 4
          5. Artwork 5
          6. Artwork 6
          7. Artwork 7
          8. Artwork 8
      5. 8. File Formats
        1. Native file formats
          1. Native Photoshop files
          2. Photoshop file options
          3. Native vector files
        2. Non-native file formats
          1. Exporting or saving as non-native file formats
          2. Importing and opening non-native file formats
        3. TIFF files
          1. TIFF compression
          2. TIFF file options
          3. EPS files (pixel)
          4. EPS file options
        4. EPS files (vector)
        5. DCS files
        6. PICT files (Macintosh)
        7. BMP files (Windows)
        8. WMF files (Windows)
        9. GIF files
        10. PNG files
        11. JPEG files
          1. JPEG compression
        12. PDF files
        13. PostScript files
        14. Which format to choose?
        15. Format quiz
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
        16. Format quiz answers
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
    6. The World of Color
      1. 9. Process Color Printing
        1. What are process colors?
          1. Process color chart
          2. Defining process colors
          3. CMYK colors only in a CMYK job!
        2. What are separations?
          1. Channels and plates
          2. What color are separations?
          3. See for yourself!
          4. Color dot screens
          5. Moiré patterns
          6. Avoiding moiré patterns
        3. Choosing screen angles
        4. Tints of process colors
          1. Adding up the inks
        5. 4-color black and other colors
          1. Matching 4-color black
          2. The color “registration”
          3. What is white?
        6. Process color projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
        7. Color quiz
        8. Color quiz answers
      2. 10. Spot Colors and Duotones
        1. Why use spot colors?
          1. Saving money
          2. Color matching
          3. Metallic effects
          4. Fluorescent effects
          5. Small text
          6. “No-color” colors
          7. Defining spot colors
        2. Using spot color guides
          1. Use a guide, not the screen
        3. Spot color effects
          1. Tints
          2. Mixing inks
          3. Overprinting
        4. Colorizing photos
        5. Spotting spot colors
        6. Duotones
          1. Duotones in Photoshop
          2. Fake duotones
        7. Spot color projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
      3. 11. How Many Colors to Print
        1. Number of colors on a printing press
          1. One-color printing
          2. Two-color printing
          3. Three-color printing
          4. Four-color printing
          5. Six-color printing
          6. High-fidelity printing
        2. Separations
          1. Paper separations
          2. Onscreen separations
        3. Counting color projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
    7. Getting Stuff Into the Computer
      1. 12. Digital Cameras
        1. How digital cameras work
          1. From camera to computer
        2. Types of digital cameras
          1. Professional digital cameras
          2. Consumer digital cameras
          3. Camera phones
        3. Resolution of digital cameras
        4. Types of image sensors
        5. File size and compression
        6. Viewing and sorting digital images
          1. Traditional contact sheets and lightboxes
          2. Digital contact sheets and lightboxes
        7. Digital camera projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
          8. Project #8
      2. 13. Scanners and Scanning
        1. Principles of scanners
          1. Scanners use RGB
          2. Original images
          3. Bit-depth
          4. Scanner resolution
        2. Types of scanners
          1. Hand-held scanners
          2. Sheet-fed scanners
          3. Flatbed scanners
          4. Slide scanners
          5. Drum scanners
          6. OCR software
        3. Preparing to scan
        4. Scanner software
          1. Setting the resolution
          2. Color mode
          3. Scaling during scanning
          4. Sharpening
          5. Contrast and color controls
        5. Scanning printed artwork
          1. Scanning printed line art
          2. Scanning colored line art
          3. Scanning printed grayscale art
          4. Scanning printed color art
        6. Descreening printed art
        7. A legal note about scanning
        8. Scanning projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
      3. 14. Stock Photos and Clip Art
        1. History of stock photos and clip art
        2. How to get them
        3. Comp images
        4. Stock photo formats
          1. Stock photo resolutions
          2. What color mode?
          3. Selection paths
          4. Alpha channels
        5. Clip art
          1. File formats
          2. Complete objects
          3. Nested groups
        6. Legal stuff
          1. License agreement
          2. Model releases
          3. Grabbing stuff from the Web
        7. Stock photo and clip art projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
          8. Project #8
          9. Project #9
          10. Answer to the question in project #7
          11. Answer to the extra credit question on page 195
      4. 15. Fonts, Strokes, and Outlines
        1. Font formats
          1. Type 1 fonts
          2. TrueType fonts
          3. OpenType fonts
        2. Styling fonts
          1. Why styling fonts doesn’t always work
          2. How to properly style fonts
          3. Small caps styling
        3. Coloring text
        4. Converting text to outlines
          1. When should you convert type?
        5. Hairlines
        6. Scaling vector lines
        7. Fonts and outlines projects
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
    8. Getting Your Work Printed and Published
      1. 16. High-Resolution Output
        1. What is a print service provider?
          1. Output specifications
        2. How to find a print service provider
        3. What to send to the print shop
          1. Package/collect for output
          2. The disk for the print service provider
          3. Electronic file transfer
        4. Trapping
        5. Imposing your files
          1. Why you shouldn’t impose yourself
        6. Sending Acrobat files (PDF) for output
        7. Sending files for advertising
        8. High-resolution quiz
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
        9. High-resolution quiz answers
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
      2. 17. Acrobat and PDF Files
        1. Glossary of Acrobat terms
        2. A little background
        3. Benefits of creating PDF files
          1. All-in-one portability
          2. Compressing files
          3. Troubleshooting problems
        4. Ways to create PDF files
          1. Using Distiller
          2. Using applications
          3. Using the Mac operating system
          4. Using third-party software
        5. Setting the PDF controls for print
          1. Using the presets
          2. General
          3. Compression
          4. Marks and Bleeds
          5. Fonts
          6. Other
          7. Security
        6. Non-printable PDF elements
      3. 18. Output Specifications
        1. Filling out the form
        2. Client information
        3. Job details
        4. Delivery options
        5. Page information
        6. Output details
          1. Resolution (DPI) and linescreen (LPI)
        7. Separations (colors) details
          1. Color
          2. Output
          3. Positive or negative
          4. Emulsion up or down
        8. Production details
          1. Crop marks
          2. Registration marks
          3. Color bars
          4. Page information
          5. Trapping
          6. Add bleed
        9. Proof details
        10. Delivery details
        11. Output project
      4. 19. Trapping
        1. What is it and why do it?
        2. Color knockouts
        3. Trapping the color
        4. Avoiding the need for trapping
          1. Keep colors apart
          2. Use an overprint
          3. Use common plates
        5. Should you trap?
        6. Trapping quiz
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
        7. Trapping quiz answers
          1. Project #1
          2. Project #2
          3. Project #3
          4. Project #4
          5. Project #5
          6. Project #6
          7. Project #7
      5. 20. Preflight and Proofing
        1. Spelling, prices, and proofreading
          1. Spell check
          2. Prices
          3. Proofreading
        2. Preflight
          1. Built-in preflight controls
          2. Professional preflight software
        3. Monitor proofing
        4. Proofing text
        5. Proofing separations
        6. Digital color proofs
        7. Overlay proofs
        8. Blueline proofs
        9. Laminate proofs
        10. Press proofs and press checks
        11. Proofing direct-to-plate
        12. Fixing film and plates
        13. And after it’s printed?
    9. A. Preflight Checklist
      1. Your preflight checklist
      2. Materials to be sent
      3. Page layout file
      4. Colors
      5. Placed or inserted images
      6. Text and outlines
    10. B. Glossary
    18.220.64.128