1. COLOUR BACKGROUNDS AND SHADOWS
2. COLOUR PRINTING AND PDF
4. A LIFE AHEAD FOR IMAGESETTERS
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
6. XTENSIONS/PLUGINS/SCRIPTS
7. UTILITIES/UPDATES
8. HINTS
9. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
10. LAST WORD
1. COLOUR BACKGROUNDS AND SHADOWS
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If you have a graphic with a drop shadow that you want to put on a coloured background, a clipping path is not usually the way to go. You will not get the gradual change to the background colour as the shadow will be on a white background.
The best way may be to create a background rectangle in Photoshop or other image editing software with the same CMYK value as your background in your layout program. It may not look right on screen (due to the conversion back to RGB and that in many cases you are seeing only a preview image), but you can print sample separations in black to check that the grey percentages are the same.
However, you may also like to try creating a 100% tint copy of black to be used for the graphic and setting this to "overprint". It can work well (we used this recently for output of a duotone drawing), but there is a tendency for bureaus to say "you can't do that" because it shows incorrectly in some preview software and prints to film incorrectly on early implementations of Postscript and some current clone postscripts. It could still be worth trying on a small piece of film as, if it works, it can save a lot of effort.
Another way is to make a copy of your file, and delete the black image before printing the colour background. Then "revert" and print the black. This can also work with printing to file provided your printer or service bureau will accept the separations as separate files.
2. COLOUR PRINTING AND PDF
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Publish magazine has a lot of info and freebies. Check their web site: http://www.publish.com. Of particular interest at the moment is an article on use of PDF for newsprint colour.
Because Treasure Chest Advertising in Baltimore usually has just a few hours to produce film for its retail ad inserts, the company couldn't afford the typical preflight runaround of missing fonts and images. Switching to a PDF workflow has largely solved the problem.
Eric Palmquist, manager of electronic prepress operations, also says that PDF's composite file format is less of a problem than the fact that it offers limited support for trapping. Most of his jobs are printed on newsprint-quality stock, with a high degree of ink absorbency, making trapping difficult to control. And although the traps aren't complicated -- the trickiest usually involve black text overprinting on an image -- some customers are so concerned about them that they insist on maintaining the traps that they specify in XPress. In those cases, the customer prints the PostScript separations from XPress and distills those files for TC Advertising.
Palmquist is quoted as saying that though not all customers have yet upgraded to Acrobat 4.0, he's excited about some of the enhancements in that version, including support for ICC-based color management. "It will make a difference because you can effectively apply tonal curves on the front end to make images look better on newsprint," he says. "Paper stocks require different profiles, and when you convert to CMYK you can adjust for the high dot gain of newsprint."
4. A LIFE AHEAD FOR IMAGESETTERS
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The Creative-Pro web site <http://www.creativepro.com/> recently carried an article "Endangered Species? The state of the imagesetter" which quotes a range of industry pundits, including some from direct computer-to-plate firms, which see a positive future for imagesetters -- but just how long will that future be? They all seem to agree that imagesetters will be around, and getting better and cheaper, for at least five years, but then the pundit views diverge. Our reading of that is that if you are thinking of new equipment, imagesetting may still be the way to go, but perhaps you should also look at a maximum 5-year economic life. Scitex's Stan Najmr is quoted as saying: "In 10 years, if we're still talking about film, something will be wrong." Platesetters will have been made easier to use and should also be less expensive and more flexible by then, he adds. Another forecast is that the same machine may make film, plates and proofs.
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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Dorinda Breeland asked: "In order to use an old publication as a template, I had to delete a couple of 'links'...the old file would not open unless I did. Now, it seems the links I deleted are for the "color" we need, which I have selected faithfully for headlines, drop caps, lines and spot color throughout the publication. How do I prepare this 6 page newsletter to take to the printers? Do all the pictures need to be on separate disks? What about color consistency?
We replied: One point to make is that the colour you use for spot colours in a publication doesn't matter in the file, except if you have to print to an inkjet or other printer for colour proofs (and in any case the colour reproduced this way is unlikely to be very accurate).
You can, for example, just use red or magenta as a second colour and then tell the printer that the spot colour is to be a specific PMS colour chosen from the selection he will show you according to the type of paper it is to be printed on. (There are separate sets of colour sample for coated and uncoated paper).
If you are creating the special colour from process colours then you do have to be accurate in what you choose, but I would be very wary of doing it this way on a first job.
You also need to talk to your printer about how to prepare your files -- whether you supply, for example, the PageMaker file and all the linked graphic files, or whether they would prefer a postscript file (in which case they should give you the PPD file needed) or a PDF (Acrobat) file.
Incidentally, if you really need to use the specific colour used in the old publication, you can import just the colours from the old publication by going to Utilities>Define Colors and then selecting Import to choose the old file. This will bring in the colour specifications without needing bring in any of the objects using that colour, which may have been the cause of the problem in opening the file.
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Massimo Mezzini replied from Italy to our question from Tony on getting coupons from a newspaper publication on to a website. We suggested a couple of ways in the last format but said neither was really satisfactory.
Massimo comments: "I would do it this way:
a) open the page in PM at 'real size', possibly on a big monitor
b) do a screen capture and paste+save the resulting 72DPI image as TIF in Photoshop
c) ImageReady (bundled with PS 5.5) or Macromedia's Firework will let you slice the whole image into single coupons and export it to optimized GIF/JPG/PNG in two or three easy steps. Once you set the slicing guides, Fireworks can even do a batch export (and ImageReady too, I suppose)
d) a basic HTML coupon page could be easily done without messy WYSIWYG editors."
To our suggestion of using InDesign which would produce a web page with layers, Massimo commented: "uhm, layers could be a shortcut for trouble; the support among current browsers is inconsistent at best. But I've heard that InD export_to_HTML capability is very good. It could be the only reason to get it, since no Prepress lab around here is planning an upgrade any time soon."
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David Kunkel replied to Format 34 comments by Allan Bock on our continuing debate on laser film output for press. "For nine years, I worked in a printing plant specializing in chain store signage run on large 2- and 4-color presses. We found a LaserMaster 1200dpi laser printer very useful for outputting large quantities of one-color output, such as price imprints on colored preprinted backgrounds. We never had any problems. One other tip: the laser's black was never dense enough to completely clear the film negative, so we always shot paper positives off the laser prints first. Even with that extra cost, the savings were substantial compared to imagesetting."
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Amanda wrote: "I'm a DTP working with Pagemaker on a weekly sports newspaper in Sydney and I've only just become aware of your great website. Just wanted to say thanks for so much wonderful, useful information (and the book sounds great when I can afford it!). One question: do you know of any programs such as multi ad creator which will work on a PC? Or are you implying that the new version of multi ad will work on PC?"
We replied: "Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any equivalent of Multi-Ad Creator for the PC. For one client I initially looked at using the program on Mac and taking the files across to PC (which is possible with Creator 2 which embeds fonts in the EPS), but the other problems of having two platforms and extra training etc made us stick with trying to produce some of the advantages of Creator within PageMaker. We created templates for all common ad sizes, scripts which print the file to an eps or pdf, and libraries of items like pre-formed PageMaker stars and greyscale tifs of gradients etc. You can even semi-automate having the outer border of an ad act as a mask to allow objects to disappear off the edge of an ad.
"The one advantage of Creator we haven't been able to duplicate is that which will offer different arrangements of the objects if you don't like what you created first time."
6. XTENSIONS/PLUGINS/SCRIPTS
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The first new entry in the available downloads for PageMaker on the Adobe web site in two years is called "Adobe PageMaker 6.5 Scripts for 'Total Control 1999'". It comprises a set of well documented scripts by Olav Kvern which are intended to demonstrate that scripts can be useful for making many small tasks easier, as well as for complex jobs. One example is a script which will place a right-aligned script at the end of a line of text, a task which is almost impossible to achieve manually (PM tries to align the tab with the closest tick on the ruler which could be beyond the edge of the text block). The scripts are cross platform, but are there in Mac and Windows compressed formats at <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/pmmac.htm> or <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/pmwin.htm>
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A new version of CopyFile, a script which copies items to a new PageMaker file, and can help overcome some bad record index errors, is available on the Worsley Press website: <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/scripts.html>. The script works on either platform.
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Olav Kvern has loads of advice to anyone who has thought about automating any layout program on any platform in his new creativepro.com column, at: <http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/0,1819,3135,00.html>
Of special interest to Windows InDesign users will be advice on how to write a Visual Basic script which will then take a script typed in text into InDesign and run it via Windows Scripting Host which now comes free with Windows 98. We will put the plan into practice and report back next issue.
7. UTILITIES/UPDATES
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The QuarkXPress and QuarkXPress Passport 4.1 Upgrader is now available from the website <http://www.quark.com/>. But it is huge: Mac 18.7MB and Windows 14.6MB. If you download the Upgrader for Passport, be sure to also download "A Guide to QuarkXPress 4.1" file and the "Freebies XTs" collection. Quark recommend asking for the CD-ROM, which also has many free third-party XTensions and demos that are not included in the downloadable packages.
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Dov Isaacs of Adobe states that the printer driver that will ship with Windows 2000 is functionally the equivalent of AdobePS 5.1.1. He adds: "Adobe has no current plans to ship an 'AdobePS' version for Windows 2000".
8. HINTS
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Both PageMaker and QuarkXPress have problems with running their files over networks, and for similar reasons -- the way the programs are constantly writing and updating their files. In both case the problems are with the document file itself, and linked graphics can be kept where you wish. The FAQ of the QuarkXPress List points out that QXP works fine on a "perfect" network, but that very few networks are perfect, hence Quark's recommendation not to run files over a network. Access denied messages can also be due to the user not having access for the temporary files to be written to the "Temporary items" folder on the same disk as the original document file when using an Apple server.
However, the general advice remains -- if you are having problems with QXP or PM over a network, the problems will most likely disappear if you move or save the document file to a local drive before working on it and save it back to the network afterwards.
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Acrobat Distiller 3 for Windows platforms, used from PageMaker, and also when used manually, will put a series of odd digits in the created and modified dates for the Document Info field. If you save it again in Acrobat 3 it puts the correct date but with a single zero for the year. If you save it in Acro 4, as an old format file it leaves the odd characters in the created date but put the correct info in the modified field. It's the kind of Y2K problem I can live with, but we're told that the creation date is stored very near the beginning of the pdf file and can be corrected with a hex editor.
9. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
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Have a file with an extension you don't recognise? Try <http://whatis.techtarget.com/>. They have lots of answers including many definitions. For the extensions, click on E, then on "(file name) extensions".
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"Tip of the month" on "The User Friendly Manuals' Website" <http://www.prc.dk/user-friendly-manuals/home.html> is on "Current trends in technical communication". Peter Ring covers: Preferred software for technical writers, HTML help, machine (aided) translation, monitors and screen resolution, possibilities with colour laser printers and photocopiers, "Print on demand" for In-line manual production, increased interest in interactive multimedia manuals, electronic cameras, electronic file transfer to the printshop and usability testing.
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Advice on how to make InDesign run faster: <http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/pdfs/indepthperform.pdf>
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Have a question that no one can answer? Try the STUMPERS-L list. Librarians and consultants frequently post questions that nobody else can answer, yet the list people here nearly always come up with one.
To subscribe, email to: mailserv@cuis.edu with, as the body of the email: subscribe stumpers-l
It's good manners to search the Stumpers archives and look at the FAQ before submitting a question. The main Stumpers web page is at: <http://domin.dom.edu/depts/gslis/stumpers/>. (From the FAQ: "Gadsby" by E.V. Wright, was published in 1939 and goes 50,000 words without any e's).
10. LAST WORD
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A user of PageMaker reported that he couldn't work to the accuracy demanded by a graphic designer who specified dimensions such as 0.5625". Rounding up or down was suggested by most respondents until one of our subscribers pointed out that 0.5625" is exactly 40.5 points or 9/16th of an inch. Give someone 25.54mm and they'll take 1.609 kilometres.
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If the onset of 2000 has made you nostalgic, we're told you can now buy a reproduction manual typewriter, made in Mexico. A current catalogue suggests: "No waiting for it to boot up! Simple to use -- just insert the paper and type."
Apparently the old Underwood No.5 is the secondhand machine of choice, if you want one that looks cool. About 4 million of this and the similar No.4 were made between 1901 and 1932: black, upright, completely manual, they are the ones you see in photos of 1920s and 1930s US journalists. Ribbons are still available. We're told that cleaning so it works well without sticking may cost around US$75 and pica rather than elite type is the expert choice.
For more information than you ever wanted, try the Antique Typewriter collecting site at <http://members.aol.com/typebar/collectible/typewriter.htm>
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
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