CONTENTS
========
1. MAILBAG
2. TRACKING
3. WHAT'S TIFF/IT?
6. HINTS
1. MAILBAG
==========
"In Format #3 you published a link to tips on resizing screenshots. While most of those are certainly valid, there's a PageMaker-specific tip that's really cool: use PM's 'magic resize' command.
"To do this on a Mac, hold down the Command key while resizing (on the PC it would be Control). Note that to resize proportionally, you need to hold down the Shift key, too.
"What this does is only allow your graphic to 'snap' to sizes that fit the printer resolution you specified in the 'Document Setup' dialog. Make sure you've set that to match the final output for your project (typically 2400 dpi for items output to film).
"Using PageMaker's 'magic resize' for line art or screenshots will prevent uneven lines and blotchy text that comes from resizing art to odd sizes." -- Marc
-----------
In other mail, we answered someone who thought PM had lost its auto page-numbering. In fact it is just one of many changed shortcut keys. It's now Control-Alt-P (Command-Option-P on a Mac). If this doesn't work you may have a conflict with a hotkey on some other program (maybe one you set a while ago and have forgotten, or a default hotkey -- we've seen PageTools named as a culprit).
2. TRACKING
===========
There's been quite a discussion on tracking on the newsgroups, some of which degenerated into Mac-v-PC, PM-v-QXP sledging (that's an old cricket term which has become a generic Australian term for abusing the opposing team). However, hidden in there were some problems we probably all have at times.
One of these problems was that type spacing went haywire when the operator applied a color. Turns out it would have happened whatever was done to the type -- it showed up that the font which had originally been applied wasn't on the system (because it was a file transferred from another computer). As soon as you go in and alter something, your program can't find the font metrics, and so it goes with whatever is the default or substitution.
Another problem with a PageMaker file coming in from outside was probably that the tracking settings were different from the old ones. Not too many people mess around with the default tracking (although you probably should <g>) but if there are any differences they are recorded in the tracking values file -- which accompanies the PM file if you choose to do a Save As... and select to copy all files needed for remote printing.
On opening the file on a new computer you don't have to do anything special, just make sure the tracking values file is in the same folder as you are opening the file from.
3. WHAT'S TIFF/IT?
==================
Firstly, it's expensive. None of the commercial software packages handle it cleanly, although Photoshop can give you a kind-of compatible file. TIFF/IT (TIFF for image technology) is a format intended principally for delivering reliable digital pages, mostly for advertising. It includes a Line Work (LW) file for text and unscreened graphics, a Continuous Tone (CT) file for halftones, and a Final Page (FP) file which links them.
There is a free plugin for Photoshop which is said to be available from DDAP (Digital Delivery of Advertising for Publications association <http://www.digitaldocumentspanel.com>) though we couldn't find any reference to it on their web site. However, this only produces a file rasterised at whatever the definition is of the original TIFF file, and does not produce the sharper LW portion of TIFF/IT -- so basically you'll have a total file rasterised at say 300dpi. This is the very problem which faces all those wanting to go the direct-to-film route (What do *you* do with artwork submitted as mechanicals?).
I saw it well described in the prepress newsgroup as "a solution in search of users". Another problem is what do you do about last minute changes -- and we all know how often a price or phone number is either wrong, or changed at the last minute.
TIFF/IT's big advantage (for publishers) is that it is all pre-rasterised -- in other words, the dots just have to be transferred from file to plate. If there are wrong fonts (or anything else wrong) it isn't the publisher's fault.
The big defender of TIFF/IT seems to be Time magazine which recommends it (though it will accept ads in Postscript). It is also used by US publications such as TV Guide, Sports Illustrated and Readers Digest. Of course, if you advertise in those, you can presumably afford the $5,000 to $10,000 price tag for software to produce a true TIFF/IT assemblage. It is also an official "standard" backed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The answer for real life small publisher situations seems to be PDF. It isn't perfect, and it isn't yet a "standard", although in February 1996, the Committee for Graphic Arts Technology Standards (CGATS) designated PDF as the basis for a standard for digital distribution of printing data. Most of the trade also has yet to learn how to use it properly, but it is cheap.
4. A LASER ADVANCE
==================
Xante have announced a new oversize tabloid laserprinter which seems to offer a number of advancements in laser printer technology, bringing closer the time of true chemical-free imagesetting.
The new Accel-a-Writer 3 has resolutions of up to 2400 x 2400dpi. It also has Adobe PostScript 3, and handles paper up to 13" x 35.5" with a printable region of 12.75" x 35.23". Negative Enhanced Imaging Technology (NEIT) is claimed to give good quality negative images on "Myriad" film materials (though we don't like to think of the rate of toner usage!) without "plugging" hairline images or the bowls of small type. You can also calibrate greyscales using a densiometer. The printer will also accept a standard IDE hard drive for spooling. <www.xante.com>
6. HINTS
========
Fonts needed to run the PageMaker template scripts are in the Extras>Fonts folder on the CD. You may even have the folder already on your hard drive.
Don't close PM while it is minimised (such as on the task bar in Win95). If you close it while it is maximised, it will reopen with palettes in the same position. Otherwise they go to the default positions which are probably mid-screen on a larger monitor.
You can open the Info palette in Photoshop when you have the Curves or Levels dialog box open -- by going to Windows>Palettes from the menu.
Keep long file names cross platform by compressing the file. Use WinZip or Stuffit on either platform to zip and unzip and the file names will come across even when emailed. We use this method with scripts, even though they may only be a 1k file.
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================