Acknowledgments

I’m passing on to you some of the Basic Printing Truths imparted to me by a number of fine old printing curmudgeons. Count yourself truly lucky if you’re befriended by a craftsman like Rick Duncan, who came up through the ranks, learned how to do everything the old-fashioned way, and who was always patient with a kid asking too many questions.

I’m also fortunate to be part of an informal fraternity of graphic arts aficionados. While we each have our specialties, our common bond is the love of learning and sharing new tricks. David Blatner, Scott Citron, Sandee “Vector Babe” Cohen, and Anne-Marie Concepción are my InDesign brethren (and sistren), going back to the days when we were considered page-layout rebels. Mordy Golding’s passion for Illustrator is contagious, and he shares my devotion to enlightening designers in the mysteries of print. Dan Margulis is my longtime Photoshop color-correction hero, and I’m grateful to Chris Murphy for putting color management into mere-mortal language. These are some of the brightest (and funniest people) I know.

It’s priceless to have friends on the inside at Adobe Systems: Dov Isaacs and Lonn Lorenz have been generous with their dry humor and no-nonsense advice on PostScript and PDF for years. And Noha Edell has long provided inspirational support and encouragement. “PDF Sage” Leonard Rosenthol has frequently enlightened me on arcane Acrobat mysteries, and he always knows where the best restaurant is (as well as the longest, most interesting route to get there).

I’m pleased to have the opportunity to update this book for Creative Suite 4; it’s sort of like reincarnation. It’s truly gratifying that the first edition is being used as a textbook in some schools, and I trust this version will continue the tradition. I hope it plays a part in creating designers who appreciate the technical underpinnings of the design craft. I have to thank Pam Pfiffner for convincing me (rightly) that writing the first edition would be fun.

I’m grateful to my technical editors, Jim Birkenseer and Peter Truskier of Premedia Systems, Inc., for taking time from their brutal schedules to poke through my words and ensure that I wasn’t spreading any myths. In addition to knowing the inner workings of printing technology, they are responsible for the automation that made the stellar series of America 24/7 books possible, as well as the engine under the hood of the wonderful FOLDRite InDesign plug-in.

And for applying the last coat of varnish and polishing this book to a sheen, I must thank Owen Wolfson for his design and composition work, and James Minkin for crafting the index so you can actually find the information in this book.