14. Preflighting and Packaging

In this chapter, you learn how to prevent printing problems while creating a Preflight profile, running a Preflight check, and packaging a document for output.

Before you send your publication off to a printing service, it’s always a good idea to use InDesign’s built-in Preflight plug-in to check for any potential output problems. When you run a preflight check, InDesign inspects the document for missing fonts and links, low-resolution graphics, overset text, and various other potential output problems.

After you know your document is trouble-free, you can use InDesign’s Package feature to create a copy of it. You can also use the Package feature to create copies of all the fonts and graphics that your commercial printer will need to output the file.

Defining a Custom Preflight Profile

By default, InDesign applies the [Basic] preflight profile to all new and converted documents. You cannot edit or delete the [Basic] profile, but you can create and apply custom profiles using your own preflight settings.

These custom profiles let you define when certain problems are detected. The preflight settings are stored in preflight profiles so they can be reused.

To define a custom preflight profile, you must display the Preflight panel. To do so, choose Window, Output, Preflight. To define a custom profile, choose Define Profiles from the panel menu. Click the New Preflight Profile button (the + icon) in the lower-left corner of the dialog box. InDesign adds the new preflight profile to the profile list on the left.

In the Preflight Profiles dialog box that appears, click the triangle next to each category to reveal the available options (see Figure 14.1). Place a check mark in the box next to each option you would like to include. To include all options in a category, place a check mark in the category box.

Figure 14.1. Choose the preferred preflight options from the Preflight Profiles dialog box.

Links

Enable this option to flag missing and modified links, inaccessible URL links, or OPI links.

Color

Enable this option to require a specific transparency blending space (CMYK or RGB), and specify which color plates and color spaces are not allowed. You can also indicate how many spot colors are allowed and whether they should use Lab values or CMYK equivalents (see Chapter 13, “Working with Color, Transparency, and Effects”).

Images and Objects

Enable this option to flag any of the following as errors:

• Images that are under a specified resolution

• Placed objects that are scaled nonproportionally

• Objects that use transparency

• Images with profile settings that may cause CMYK conversion or any profile overrides

• Images with layer visibility overrides

• Objects containing strokes under a specific weight

• Any interactive elements (audio, video, buttons, animated objects, multistate objects, or objects that are incompatible with the Flash player)

• Objects inset from the trim/bleed area or near the spine

• Hidden page items

Text

Enable this option to flag any of the following as errors:

• Overset text

• Paragraph style and character style overrides

• Missing fonts and glyphs

• Errors detected by the Dynamic Spelling feature

• Specific font types (such as Type 1 Multiple Master, TrueType, and Bitmap)

• Type that has been scaled nonproportionally

• Type under a specific point size

• Out-of-date or unresolved cross-references

• Conditional text indicators that will print

• Unresolved caption variables

• Span column settings that are not honored

• Tracked changes

Document

Enable this option to flag any of the following as errors:

• Pages under a specific size or orientation

• Documents under a specific page amount

• Blank pages

• Bleeds and slugs beyond a specific position

• Pages that are not of the same size and orientation

When you finish selecting preflight options, enter a name for the profile in the field provided and click OK.

Viewing Preflight Check Results

By default, the Preflight option is enabled for all new and converted documents. You can toggle Preflight on and off by choosing Preflight Document from the preflight footer list at the bottom of the document window (see Figure 14.2). You can also toggle Preflight on and off via the Preflight panel.

Figure 14.2. You can toggle Preflight on and off by choosing Preflight Document from the preflight footer list.

When enabled, InDesign displays the current number of errors found in the document in the footer control of the document window. To view the errors in greater detail, you must display the Preflight panel. The easiest way to do so is to double-click the preflight footer control; however, you can also choose Preflight Panel from the footer control pop-up list or choose Window, Output, Preflight.

In the Error portion of the Preflight panel, InDesign displays the various preflight categories that contain errors. Click the triangle next to each category to display the errors in greater detail (see Figure 14.3). Refer to the Info section of the panel for a possible solution to the problem. To select the error in the document, double-click the error in the list or click the page number to the right of it.

Figure 14.3. Click the triangle next to each category to display the errors in greater detail.

You can change the preflight profile at any time by selecting it from the profile drop-down list. To perform a preflight check over a specific range of pages, click the Preflight Specified Pages button in the bottom-right corner of the panel, and enter the page numbers in the field provided. InDesign displays any errors it finds in the Error portion of the panel.

Embedding and Unembedding Preflight Profiles

InDesign lets you embed a preflight profile, which saves it as part of your document. Doing so ensures that when someone receives the document, they will use the same options when performing a preflight check. However, embedding a profile does not prevent another user from selecting a different profile to preflight with.

To embed a preflight profile, choose one from the Profile drop-down list at the top of the Preflight panel and click the embed icon (see Figure 14.4).

Figure 14.4. Click the embed icon to embed the preflight profile.

In addition, you can embed a profile by choosing Define Profiles from the preflight footer control list or the Preflight panel menu. In the Preflight Profiles dialog box that appears, select the profile from the list on the left and choose Embed Profile from the pop-up list at the bottom left of the dialog box.

To unembed a profile, select it from the top of the profile list in the Preflight Profiles dialog box and choose Unembed profile from the pop-up list at the bottom left of the dialog box (see Figure 14.5).

Figure 14.5. Select the embedded profile and chose Unembed Profile from the pop-up list.

Exporting and Loading Preflight Profiles

You can share preflight profiles with other InDesign users via the Export/Load Profile features. By doing so, you can ensure that everyone on your design team is using the same options when performing a preflight check.

LET ME TRY IT

Export a Profile

Exporting a profile is also a good way to back up your profile settings. To export a profile, do the following:

1. Choose Define Profiles from the preflight footer control list or from the Preflight panel menu.
2. In the Preflight Profiles dialog box that appears, select the profile from the list on the left and choose Export Profile from the profile menu (see Figure 14.6).

   Figure 14.6. Select the profile and choose Export Profile.

   

3. In the Save Preflight Profile As dialog box that appears, specify the name and save location for the .idpp file and click Save.

LET ME TRY IT

Load a Profile

To load a profile, follow these steps:

1. Choose Define Profiles from the preflight footer control list or from the Preflight panel menu.
2. In the Preflight Profiles dialog box that appears, choose Load Profile from the profile menu.
3. In the Open a File dialog box that appears, browse to the .idpp file, or to a document containing an embedded profile that you would like to import.
4. Click Open to import the profile.

Deleting a Preflight Profile

You can delete a Preflight profile by choosing Define Profiles from the preflight footer control list or from the Preflight panel menu. In the Preflight Profiles dialog box that appears, select the profile from the list on the left and click the Delete Preflight Profile icon (the − symbol) as shown in Figure 14.7. When the warning dialog box appears, click OK to delete.

Figure 14.7. Select the profile and click the Delete Preflight Profile icon.

Packaging a Document

Packaging a document lets you collect copies of the files you’ve used, including all fonts and linked graphics, so that you can send them to a commercial printer. When you package a file, InDesign creates a folder that contains the layout document, all fonts, linked graphics and text files, and a report.

To package a document, choose File, Package. Doing so displays the Package dialog box. Note that when Preflight is enabled, InDesign displays a warning icon next to each category in the summary panel where a potential problem could occur (see Figure 14.8). If problems are detected, you can click Cancel to solve them or continue on with packaging the document. Refer to the Info area of the Preflight dialog box for information on how to fix the problem.

Figure 14.8. If potential preflight problems exist, InDesign displays a warning icon next to the affected category in the Summary panel of the Package dialog box.

If everything checks out, click Package. When you do, InDesign displays the Printing Instructions dialog box.

Enter your contact information and any necessary printing instructions in the various fields of the Printing Instructions dialog box (see Figure 14.9). This information is added to the text report included in the final package. When you finish entering the information, click Continue.

Figure 14.9. Enter your contact info and printing instructions in the Printing Instructions dialog box.

In the Create Package Folder (Mac) or the Package Publication (Win) dialog box that appears, enter a folder name in the Save As field (InDesign adds the word “Folder” to the existing filename by default). Locate an area on your disk to save the package folder (see Figure 14.10).

Figure 14.10. Choose the preferred package folder options from the Create Package Folder (Mac) or Package Publication (Win) dialog box.

Enable the Copy Fonts (Except CJK [Chinese, Japanese, Korean]) and Copy Linked Graphics options to collect all fonts and links into the folder. Enable the Update Graphic Links In Package option to tell InDesign to link to the copied images in the package folder and not to the original files.

Enable the Use Document Hyphenation Exceptions Only option to prevent the reflow of text when opening the document on a system containing different dictionaries and hyphenation settings.

To include fonts and links from hidden document layers and to view the package report after collecting, enable the options of the same name. If necessary, click the Instructions button to relaunch the Printing Instructions dialog box and edit the information.

When you finish choosing package folder options, click Package to collect the document.