1. WANE OF THE WAXER?
2. WORKING WITH TAGGED TEXT
3. PLUGINS FOR INDESIGN
4. RICH BLACKS AND COLOUR PRINTING
5. SCRIPTING
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES
7. HINTS
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
9. LAST WORD
1. WANE OF THE WAXER?
=====================
Someone at a small US newspaper asked if they were the last site to be using a waxer.
We replied: By no means -- and I've heard that some small newspapers have actually fired up their waxers again after going to full pagination.
The problem (including the problem with affordable imagesetters and going direct to film) is that it can take a long time to print out a replacement film for a whole page. And the film for a whole issue can take ages, or several expensive imagesetters.
Running out part finished pages early and having them sitting on the bench ready to add the late ad, or replace a story -- means the time from final okay to going on the press can be very, very short. A lot of film can be put through a process camera very quickly.
And if there is one correction on a graphics-heavy page, then copying the file, deleting everything except the text block with the correction, printing it out and running it through the waxer is one answer -- four cuts with an Xacto knife and the page is on its way in a minute or so.
And that problem file can nearly always be printed in sections.
Imagesetters are the only way to go for really high quality newspaper colour -- and for double-page spreads -- but a 1200dpi laser can cope pretty well with the average newspaper page. Given that most newspaper printers still need a process camera for shooting some ad copy or contract jobs anyway, the cost is also negligible. Did you realise that film for an imagesetter can cost twice as much as film which can be used in a process camera?
Waxers (including handheld ones) are still made by Daige <http://www.daige.com> and others. There's even a new kind with an open ended roller for waxing any size jobs <http://www.portagegraphic.com>. They are also common at print equipment auctions.
The waxer isn't dead yet.
2. WORKING WITH TAGGED TEXT
===========================
The following applies to tagged text in PageMaker but the tagging language in QXP and InDesign are very similar (PageMaker will accept much QXP tagged text and InDesign will accept both PM and QXP tags).
The best way to find out the formatting PageMaker needs in tagged text is to select a text block with the text tool, then select File>Export>Text, and in the formatting options select "Tagged text" but make sure that Export tags is NOT checked. PageMaker has two tagging systems. There is simple tagging, which produces just paragraph tags and character tagging which produces the complex tagging that let's you specify just about anything that can be produced in PM."
Here's a very brief tagged file which you should be able to copy and paste into a text file, and then Place. Or just drag onto a PM page.
<PMTags1.0 oem>
<@Headline:>Test
<@Body text:>A paragraph in body text.
<@Caption:>Another
This assumes you have the styles called Headline, Body text and Caption existing in the file. If you export a piece of tagged text you get all the specs for the styles between the <PM Tags...> line and the first actual style spec (the second line here).
The oem mention is one of three descriptions allowed, the others being win and mac, which are put in automatically when you export from those platforms.
For comparison, the simple tags format would give you the following, and would need to have "text file" instead of "tagged text" selected in the "Save as type" when exporting and "Export tags" turned ON in the dialog. When placing, "Read Tags" would need to be selected in the filter dialog.
<Headline>Test
<Body text>Aparagraph in body text.
<Caption>Another
Note also that you have to have text selected with the text tool in order for the Export> Text function to become available.
3. PLUGINS FOR INDESIGN
=======================
Wondering about what plugins will be available for InDesign either when it ships or very soon afterwards? Here are a few from details published by Adobe. Many of these don't yet mention ID on their web sites but have details of their current Quark XPress plugins for the same purposes.
alap (A Lowly Apprentice Production, Inc., <http://www.alap.com>): ShadowCaster, which creates soft drop shadows for any item, and their Xpert Tools collection.
Callas Software <http://www.callas.de>: MadeToPrint, which creates and stores job settings and styles for PDF, PostScript, and printing; AutoPilot, a batch-processing tool; and e-t-f (electronic ticket format).
Celebro Advertising Solutions <http://www.gmti.com>: automated publishing solutions to create data-driven print ads.
Em Software <http://www.emsoftware.com>: InData and InCatalog, to automate database-publishing projects such as catalogs, directories, form letters, and more.
Enfocus Software <http://www.enfocus.com>: automated preflighting of PDFs including integration with Enfocus PitStop 4.0, which provides professional editing and automated correction of PDF documents.
Extensis Corporation <http://www.extensis.com>: InDesign will be supported for Preflight Pro.
LizardTech, Inc. <http://www.lizardtech.com>: a MrSID plug-in as part of the MrSID for Publishing suite, reducing the file size of high-resolution images without visual degradation.
Managing Editor Inc. <http://www.maned.com>: MagForce magazine production tools includes pagination planning and ad-booking system and a plug-in for importing MagForce pages and ads.
Mapsoft Computer Services Limited <http://www.mapsoft.com>: PageForm to create PDF links, bookmarks, articles, forms, action handlers, etc in interactive PDF files.
ShadeTree Marketing <http://www.borderguys.com>: FRÆMZ PS will offer 404 high-resolution PostScript borders including a custom border-naming and search feature.
Virginia Systems <http://www.virginiasystems.com>: Sonar Bookends InDex, to generate indexes by word frequency, proper noun, and user-supplied word and phrase list.
4. RICH BLACKS AND COLOUR PRINTING
==================================
"Borut" wrote: "I have one question concerning black color in CMYK printing. I know that black process color doesn't give you 'real' black from the print, and you have to mix it with others to get darkest possible black. Can you tell me which combination gives the darkest possible black color (extra black) without any 'light' points?"
There's no easy answer to that...
The black you get via CMYK (100%K) is as black as you'll get from just using black ink in any other way (though genuine process black ink is somewhat more transparent than the more normal spot black), but it is true that you get a richer looking black from mixing in a little of the other colours.
The problem comes with small text -- if you have 6 or 8pt text printed in more than one of the CMYK colours and the registration isn't perfect, you'll get a blurred effect that will look far worse than any improvement you'll get from the richer colour.
The compromise for many is to use a small proportion of yellow (say 10%) which won't show up badly if you get a slight yellow edge to the text and to use a small percentage of the background colour.
Another way is to create a "rich black" with a small proportion of say Y and M and apply this only to larger text sizes. The most common combination seems to be 100% K with 20% Magenta to give a warmer black, and maybe 20% Y. Using Cyan instead of Magenta gives a cooler black.
It's also possible to use higher proportions of the other colours, but then you come up against the problem of the total amount of ink you are putting on the paper -- and this will depend on the paper and the press. It can be as low as around 250% for uncoated papers (taking 100% as the equivalent to printing one colour solid). Overprinted black on solid colour need to be watched especially for this danger.
So, it comes again, as with so many such problems, to needing the advice of an experienced press operator, who will have a good idea from experience of what works in specific circumstances.
5. SCRIPTING
============
We've added a new script to our web site that can be used to add a vertical bar on the left side of a paragraph in PageMaker: <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/scripts.html>
-----
We were asked: "How do you move a bullet that has been resized down a point to a better visual position?"
Manual: Select the bullet and use the baseline shift from the Control Palette -- last box, bottom right when the "T" is selected.
Script: Select just the bullet and then have a script with one line:
TypeOptions -2,-2,-2,-2,1,down
The figure 1 is the number of points to shift.
On our web site <http://www.worsleypress.com/scripts.htm> you'll find a "blob" script which changes a dot/space combination to a proper dingbat, then moves down to the next para ready to do it again, and you could add such a line to this.
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
You have to get changes made to a file that's already been formatted: you could send a tagged text file and replace it afterwards, but tagged text looks too complex. Maybe Trados have an answer with their ITP filter pack, a 1.2MB zip file at <http://www.trados.com>. It's free and is actually part of their translation software. What it does is convert HTML, Ventura, XPress and PageMaker files to rtf format. The tags remain in the rtf file but show up in grey and red so the black, editable text is clearly different. When the file is returned you can use the program to change it back from rtf to tagged text and place it back in your layout file. It runs under Windows only but copes with files exported from Windows or Mac.
Trados, a German company, also produce a "Story Collector" plug-in for PageMaker 6.5 that collects all the text flows in a PM document into a single tagged text file.
------
Problems with crashing in QXP and PM while scrolling on blue & white PowerMacintosh G3 with the ATI drivers may be solved by an updated driver from Apple: <http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n11475>
-----
Owners of any version of PageMaker in the US and Canada can crossgrade to QuarkXPress 4.04 (Windows or Mac) for US$298.00 plus taxes, shipping and handling costs. To receive an order form email <CService@quark.com> with mailing address and fax number or request it in PDF form. Quark say the offer expires on August 31, 1999.
7. HINTS
========
If you have trouble launching Help in any application on a Mac, it may be because you've recently installed an application that has added an earlier version of QuickHelp. Do a search for QuickHelp and remove such earlier versions.
-----
Is there a way to do a "find" which locates anything except a certain character, such as periods that don't have a space after them? The answer is a change sequence which:
1. Finds every dot-space and change to something which isn't anywhere else in the document, like @@
2. Find every dot and do whatever you want with it.
3. Change every @@ back to dot-space.
-----
Can PageMaker make a box with one or two round corners? Yes. Create a four-sided polygon, then add as many extra nodes as you need to make two of the corners appear round (It's not a bad idea to draw a circle placed under the corner so you can use it as a template for the extra nodes, then delete the circle.). Take some time to create one, then keep it on the pasteboard of your template or in a Library to stretch to size as needed.
-----
TAB is a toggle switching all your palettes off and on in PageMaker and most other Adobe programs -- great for when a palette covers what you want to work on.
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
Kompac <http://www.Kompac.com> has a Hints & Tips section including "Tips for Process Color Printing". This is the first of a series of basic tips for printing process color and gives the other side of the colour story: what the press operator should be doing.
-----
Melanie Main asked: "I remember reading in your Format Newsletter about creating arrow heads and I can't for the life of me find it. Can you please advise me which issue number it is in?"
We can't find it either, but there was a mention of the new web address of the people who make a plugin called Starz and Arrowz: <http://www.borderguys.com>.
9. LAST WORD
============
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================