CONTENTS
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1. RESOLUTION AND SIZE
2. INDESIGN - SCRIPTING & UPDATES
3. BINDING BOOKS
4. PUBLICATION TITLES
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES
7. HINTS
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
9. LAST WORD
1. RESOLUTION AND SIZE
======================
This question has come up a couple of times in the past week, once from an experienced printer, so it may be worth some clarification. In digital picture sizes, resolution and size are interlinked, and reference to one without reference to the other can cause confusion.
For example, a picture sent by the printer to one of those automated (and generally very cheap) full color business card and postcard printing services, was rejected as being in 72dpi when they needed at least 200dpi. Well it was, but it was also about 3ft (one metre) wide and used to postcard size.
If a picture is, let's say, 12 inches (30cm) wide at 72dpi, then it will be 6 inches (15cm) wide at 144dpi.
In Photoshop, open any picture and go to the Image>Image size... box. Uncheck the Resample image checkbox at the bottom, and now double the figure in the resolution box. The figure in the size box will halve while the pixel figures remain the same.
Basically all you are doing is changing the file headers to the picture; the pixel information is unchanged.
Taking this a step further, you may like to consider what happens if you do use resampling. No matter how clever the bicubic or other algorhythm used, some pixels will be no better than intelligent guesses based on surrounding pixels.
2. INDESIGN - SCRIPTING & UPDATES
=================================
The new InDesign 2.0.1 update includes a number of important fixes as well as providing XML import/export features. The downloads for both platforms are available at <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html#Products>. It is a 13MB download.
Some of the fixes:
* Print: In multiple page documents, page items with a colored fill and no stroke do not appear with a stroke when printed to non PostScript printers from Windows 2000.
* Saving documents: In Windows, if the default location for the "My Documents" folder is changed, the Save and Save As menu commands in InDesign are not grayed out.
* Swatches: InDesign does not unexpectedly quit when importing swatch libraries from non-default libraries
* Text: When copying a multi-column text frame, overset text is not missing when the frame is pasted.
* Icons and scroll bars in the Pages palette do not disappear after moving the palette, minimizing it, relaunching InDesign, and/or creating a new document.
* Typefaces that do not include upper case characters may be used for auto-page numbering.
* A text frame on a master page can be overridden while the text tool is active.
* All styles from active Courier and Helvetica fonts (bold, oblique, etc.) are available in InDesign on Mac OS X.
* Macintosh keyboard shortcuts Cmd+Shift+B and Cmd+Shift+I (used to apply or remove bold and italic to a text selection) function correctly.
* In Windows, all glyphs can be inserted using Alt and the numeric keypad.
* When using the Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) keyboard shortcut to apply a paragraph style to a text selection, all character style attributes are removed for the selection.
If you have used the scripting dictionary in InDesign before installing the update, then the scripting.rpln file may not be updated. The solution is to restart your computer before installing the 2.0.1 update.
One item the InDesign update does not correct is the lack of a WordPerfect filter. Reven 1.5 had a WP filter that imported WP 8. There are still many organisations using WordPerfect and committed to it. One recent forum comment: "Not having a story editor is a disaster, but not having a WP5.1 filter will send me back to PageMaker 6.5"
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A fairly common question: "Can I script InDesign 2.0 in Windows without having to buy Visual Basic?"
The answer is that you can, using VBScript, which comes with Office programs and others, but a suggestion from Olav Kvern at Adobe is to download the Visual Basic 5.0 Control Creation Edition (or CCE). "It's free, and it works very well for InDesign scripting (and provides the user interface building/debugging tools VBScript lacks). You can get it from: <http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/downloads/tools/cce/default.asp> (if this link doesn't work, try searching for it using Google). It is just over 7MB, plus documentation files.
The other useful sources of information are the Scripting Guide PDF which comes on the InD CD and the IDesign scripting forum at the Adobe website.
3. BINDING BOOKS
================
Short runs for books can be satisfactorily bound using nothing more technologically advanced than a brick and a paintbrush -- plus some cold binding adhesive. For a test run you can even use the more liquid PVA adhesive commonly sold as a woodworking adhesive in hardware stores. Basically the brick is used to provide just sufficient weight on a stack of book blocks and the paintbrush used to coat the spine with adhesive. Opionions vary on the extent to which the adhesive should be worked into the spine; the more it is worked in the stronger the binding will be but the more difficult it will be to open the book flat.
The scored cover is drawn on after a second adhesive coating is added to the stack and the individual books cut apart with a fairly blunt blade.
This method of binding is described in our book "Publish Your Book" and there is a PDF of substantial extracts from the book available at <http://www.worsleypress.com/pubprod/Publish.htm> that includes the description of this method of binding. See pages 14 to 15 of the PDF (pages 49-50 of the actual book)
We have also seen mentions of the hand binding use of polyurethane adhesives which are increasingly used in commercial perfect binding, and we would appreciate comments from anyone who has used this adhesive. One description suggested that this adhesive chemically binds with the paper as well as providing the mechanical attachment.
The principal feature which makes a perfect bound book look like a book is that it is cleanly guillotined. It is generally better to get a local printer to handle this final stage unless one can afford at least a secondhand hand guillotine of the kind shown in the PDF referred to above. Paper cutters do not cut it for this kind of job.
Even a genuine guillotine has a blade which shears rather than cuts vertically, so it is better to deal with small stacks even in the biggest of guillotines to avoid damaged corners as the stack moves
We have come across a few smaller newspapers which no longer bind their annual volumes. With methods such as that described above there is little excuse for not providing bound copies for posterity.
4. PUBLICATION TITLES
=====================
Dianne Jenkins asked us about requirements for registering titles of magazines. Dianne, who had bought our book "How to Start and produce a Magazine or Newsletter", had been told by a government department that she must get the name of my magazine trademarked and said our book did not cover this
There is no requirement most countries, include Australia, Britain and the USA to register a magazine or newsletter title, although there are some remnants of old legislation which require registration of "newspapers" (such as in the State of Victoria in Australia).
However, many places including many US states do require anyone running a business of any kind to register and it is therefore convenient for many people to register a trading name which is the same as the publication title. Business name registration does make it easier to object to anyone else running a business with a name which is too similar. In general only the largest circulation magazines are trademarked as it is an expensive process and usually only applied where a magazine is likely to have other goods sold under that name.
Registering the title as a business name also makes it easier for transactions with banks etc. -- a check made out to the magazine title instead of the name of the publisher can be paid into a bank without having to be endorsed etc.
Copyright exists under the Berne Convention (to which the US is a signatory) on creation of a work and no action is needed to register that. However, it is accepted practice to use the copyright symbol, the 'c' in a circle, with the year and name of the copyright holder. There is a system in the USA to have copyright registered but this is optional. It does cut out some stages which a court might require to prove copyright if there is legal action and therefore makes such action cheaper -- but it is not a requirement. Enquire about this registration with the Library of Congress. My understanding is that while it is frequently used for books, it is not normal with magazines where the copyright may be divided between the publisher and many authors.
Incidentally with a magazine you will need to decide what your policy is going to be on use of material by authors. Will you require the first publication rights only, leaving the author free to sell the material again, but not before you publish, or will you require full "serial" rights, ensuring you are the only magazine or newspaper to carry the material, or will you require all rights. Payment rates are usually greater for the more rights purchased.
You will always hold copyright in the layout and presentation of the material, so even if material is sold elsewhere by an author under secondary rights, it cannot be used with your layout.
The bulk of content is likely to remain the copyright of the authors except for very limited rights which you buy and which should be clearly stated in an agreement (a letter will usually suffice).
Briefly, therefore, you do not have to copyright or register a title, though it is a good idea to register the title as a business name.It is likely with a small publication that your copyright will be only in material you have written or had people write to your specific instructions, and in the layout of the publication.
All the above is very general advice and should not be taken as having legal interpretation, other than of general industry practice. It is still a good idea to clarify your exact position with an attorney in your state (and a good idea to establish such a relationship to get quick clearance of anything about which you may have concerns before publication).
5. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
========================
Skip Shipe wrote: "I would like to find a way to extend the capabilities of PageMaker's Indexing. I need to automate reference page numbers for locations on maps and/or map indexes Here is my situation. Over 400 locations are defined in a publication. Each is referenced in one or more map. If a single page is added or deleted, every following location shown on a map (or in a map index) must have the page reference manually changed. If these page references could somehow be linked to the book index this would automate the entire process. Do you have any ideas of where a solution can be found?"
We replied: This is a regularly mentioned problem not only among PageMaker users but for most other page layout software too. In most cases it is for cross references within text -- "see page XX" etc.
In theory, it should be possible to create some kind of marker in text and have a script find these, and check the reference. Put like that it seems simple, but I'm not aware of anyone who has been able to do it.
I can imagine a somewhat simpler script which, at the moment after a page is added, goes through to find each page reference greater than a certain page number and increases it by one. There might need to be some specific wording or formatting to ensure it doesn't change anything other than such page references. Similarly with a page deleted.
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Amy Wilcox wrote: "I saw your post on <http://www.makingpages.org> about Dover clipart in MasterClips. I have been scanning images from the Dover books and saw that this may be something worth looking into. Their latest version MasterClips 1,500,000 only refers you to <http://www.arttoday.com> for the Dover images which are only 300dpi. You mentioned that on one of the CD-Rom versions these images are only in 72 dpi. Do you know if a specific version of the software had Dover images in 600 dpi or higher? This would make my life so much easier."
We replied: "I just checked the Masterclips volumes I have handy (the 101,000 pack) and the Dover clipart in these are mostly from 20 to 50kb images which, at 600dpi makes them in the region of 2 x 3 inches. At 300 dpi this would makes them 4 x 6 inches. I'd be surprised if they had been rescanned for any licensed use from the Dover originals but the lower dpi reference might be used to make them seem bigger without any change in the images or their quality.
In Format62 we referred to the Dover clipart books being available for order from <http://store.yahoo.net/doverpublications/>. There seems to be no reference there to the dpi settings at all. However, I suppose these give the best of both worlds: use if the dpi is sufficient, or scan from the book, or even use something like Streamline to turn the tif into a vector graphic.
6. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
InBooklet 2.0 for Windows has been released by ALAP. This has been upgraded for compatibility with InDesign 2.0 and is priced at US$79.99 with upgrades from 1.x to 2.0 at US$19.99. See <http://www.alap.com/products/inbooklet.html>
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ALAP has also launched Imposer 2.1.4 and MarkIt 1.8.3, upgraded for compatibility with QuarkXPress 5.0 and with fixes for some known issues. The XTensions impose pages in QuarkXPress 4.1 and 5.0 layouts and create custom registration marks.
Free updates are available for Imposer 2.x users and all MarkIt users. Imposer 2.1.4 is priced at US$199.99 (Mac/Windows) and MarkIt is priced at US$99.99 (Mac only). These are for download delivery; physical shipments are not yet available. There is also an Imposer/MarkIt Bundle
For more info on Imposer 2.1.4 see <http://www.alap.com/products/imps.html> amd on MarkIt 1.8.3: <http://www.alap.com/products/mrkt.html>
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An XML-related tool is Xslerator <http://www.topxml.com/xselerator/> It's an editor and debugger and may be overkill if all you need to do is edit XML, but is ideal for those needing to develop XSL templates. Cost US$125. There is also a useful free tutorial on the site on learning XML with free downloadable example code. The tutorial requires a basic understanding of HTML and, to understand the code, a basic understanding of Visual Basic or ASP.
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The Microsoft Windows XP PowerToys have been re-released at <http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp>. You must unistall any previous PowerToys before installing the new ones.
7. HINTS
========
One of those "gotchas" which need to be watched in InDesign. If you import text from Word, especially Word2000, you may find that, even though you have a style pre-defined in InDesign, the tab settings may be those from the imported file, not those from the InDesign style.
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Command-Shift-A/Ctrl-Shift-A is InDesign's shortcut for "deselect all." If you're in text, it deselects the text. At that point, the text tool is still selected, but you can switch to the Selection tool by pressing V.
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Do you understand how QuarkXPress works with its variations of the em space, en space and flex space? A full description is at <http://www.quark.com/support/techinfo/article.cfm?idx=4081> in the Knowledge Base item No. 4081.
QuarkXPress uses the width of two zeros in a particular font to define the width of an em space when the Typographic Preferences dialog checkbox is unchecked. When you select this, spaces will be equivalent to the point size for your text, the more normal printing definition.
The en space is controlled similarly, but if you check Standard Em Space in the Typographic Preferences dialog, the En space is no longer automatically equal to a numeral in width, which can cause problems if you are using En spaces as place holders for numbers in tables or equations.
The Flex Space Width is a user-definable variation of a standard space, also controlled from the Typographic Preferences dialog. It defaults to a half En space.
You can set the Flex Space Width to 200% and obtain a keystroke for a full Em space (two En-spaces).
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The Redefine Style Sheet XTension for QuarkXPress takes local formatting and redefines the style sheet to match. Use it 25 times for free. Available at <http://www.xpedient.com>. It's a 416kb download and there's a 56kb PDF manual.
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If you are thinking of using duotones, take a look at the Eyewire Duotone Selector PDF. It gives the Pantone numbers of the inks needed to mix with Process Black to get the many shades shown in the 1MB PDF -- try the numbers in Photoshop. The PDF is at <http://www.eyewire.com/magazine/features/beyondbw/>.
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The web site of Acumen Training, a consultancy specializing in technical courses in PostScript and Acrobat provides useful information in their online journal. For example the May 2002 issue described Compression in Acrobat, suggesting ways to ensure it has no effect on visual quality: <http://www.acumentraining.com/Acumen_Journal/AcumenJournal_May2002.pdf>
The April issue tells how to combine multiple PostScript files into a single PDF: <http://www.acumentraining.com/Acumen_Journal/AcumenJournal_Apr2002.pdf>
For both the above downloaded rather than read on screen, go to <http://www.acumentraining.com/AcumenJournal.html> where you'll find a lot more interesting articles on Acrobat and Postscript.
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A suggestion by Steve Harley on the InDesign list: use an macro program (such as QuicKeys) to define a key on the number pad for the 'p' in dimensions set in picas and points. One suggestion was to remap "=" to "p" making it operative in just the apps that need it.
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In QuarkXPress 4, you can get the "no content" box as a button on the toolbar. Choose Edit > Preferences > Document and click on the Tool tab. Hold down the Commmand (Control) key and click on the default Tool Palette button. Then click OK. In the Tool palette some tools will have been moved into a pop-out menu to make room for the new contentless box tool, which also has a pop-out menu with more contentless tools. Trash your XPress Preferences file to return to what it was. Unfortunately that shortcut does not work in QXP 5 where you need to use a program such as Badia LiveKeys to apply the function to a little-used key or a key combination.
8. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
=========================
Newsroom-L is a forum for professional journalists, but anyone interested in current events and how they are covered in the media is welcome to join. Exchanges can get quite intense, so this is not the place for the hypersensitive. It is administered by Jules Siegel, an author and graphic designer whose work has appeared over the years in Playboy and Rolling Stone among many other publications. Subscribe to Newsroom-L through <http://www.topica.com/lists/newsroom-l>
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Plenty of tutorials for InDesign 2.0: <http://studio.adobe.com/expertcenter/indesign/main.html>. You do have to sign on as a member of AdobeStudio.
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Worth recommending even before we have seen it: Bruce Fraser's "Real World Color Management" book is to be relesaed by Peachpit Press in July: <http://www.peachpit.com/books/catalog/77340.html>. There's a US$39.99 advance order price. Co authors are Fred Bunting and Chris Murphy.
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For type history information, try <http://www.stbride.org/links.htm>. There are also links to many other sites on subjects such as journalism, newspapers, graphic design etc.
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About.com has lots of useful info as well as many dumbed down DTP articles, though even those can be very useful for areas you don;t know well. Among the more useful is their list of articles about prepress collection programs and tips at <http://graphicdesign.about.com/cs/preflighting/index.htm?terms=preflight>. The pop-up windows are a little annoying, however.
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A corporate logos web site: <http://webchantier.free.fr/logotheque/index2.html>. The site is in French but the logos are international and you only need to click on the first letter of the firm you want.
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Could FrameMaker eventually be based on the InDesgn code. See a video called "Getting condid with Adobe's CEO" found in the right column of <http://news.com.com/2014-1089-0.html>. The statement comes near the end of the video.
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We are not quite sure why we are passing on this information as we supply (and charge for) barcodes. But you can download free ISBN bar codes for books from: <http://www.cgpp.com/bookland/isbn.html>. The site includes a useful FAQ on barcodes and the online generator would also work for ISSN barcodes if you know how to generate a barcode number from an ISSN (The software to do that comes free with our "How to Start and Produce a Magazine or Newsletter" book).
9. LAST WORD
=============
In the same category as using Excel for page layout, and the "first PageMaker game" (there never was a second), comes this example: <http://www.bobroach.com/Smoothies.zip>. A self-portrait of the creator -- using PageMaker's polygon tool with open paths. It's a zipped PM6.5 file. The wonder is not how well it is done but that it can be done at all.
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A warning from Dov Isaacs of Adobe: "Illustrator is NOT, repeat NOT, a PDF editor. It does not have the capability of interpreting all PDF object types and attributes and content can and most likely will be lost for any PDF files other than those created by Illustrator itself."
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Certainly an item for "Last word" is the news that paid advertorial copy is increasingly common in the obituary pages of North America. The Australian Newspaper History Newsletter reports that the International Association of Obituarists, in Dallas, Texas, tells of North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer charging $2 a line after seven free lines and Colorado’s Daily Sentinel charging $12 an inch. Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Gazette, demands 35 cents a word for “information the newsroom wouldn’t normally include”. It’s this feature of the paid obituary, which has some critics especially worried.
Former University of Montana journalism professor Nathaniel Blumberg says: “It’s the worst example of giving over control of the news columns. Now they’re even allowing such expressions as ‘gone to be with the Lord’.” But Charles McCollum, editor of Utah’s Herald-Journal disagrees. “The wonderful thing about paid obits is that you run them ‘as is’,” he says. “You don’t have to fight with dead people’s relatives day after day.”
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================