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Chapter 1: Prepping Graphics

for Print

In This Chapter

✓ Picking the right resolution, mode, and format

✓ Prepress and working with a service bureau

✓ Printing vector images

✓ Managing color when printing

✓ Creating color separations

reparing images for the screen is a snap compared to what you have to

go through to get images ripe for the printing process. If all you ever

want to do is print your images to a desktop laser or inkjet printer, the task

is a little easier, but you still must consider some guidelines. And prepping

your images for offset printing? Well, throw in an additional set of guide-

lines. It’s not rocket science, mind you. If you stick to the basic rules and,

more importantly, spend some time developing a good working relationship

with your service bureau and offset printer, you’re good to go.

Getting the Right Resolution,

Mode, and Format

If you’re not familiar with the concept of resolution,

I suggest taking a look at Book II, Chapter 1. That’s

where I cover all the basics on resolution, pixel

dimension, resampling, and other related topics.

For full descriptions on color modes and file for-

mats, see Book II, Chapter 2. That said, the following

sections give you the lowdown on the proper settings

for an image that will ultimately go to print.

Resolution and modes

Table 1-1 provides some guidelines about what resolution settings

to use for the most common types of output. Remember, these are just

guidelines. They aren’t chiseled in stone to withstand the sands of time or

anything lofty like that. You need to communicate with your service bureau,

offset printer, or client and get specifications and/or recommendations. (See

the section “Working with a Service Bureau,” later in this chapter.)

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Summary of content (16 pages)

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In This Chapter AL Chapter 1: Prepping Graphics for Print ✓ Picking the right resolution, mode, and format ✓ Managing color when printing MA ✓ Creating color separations TE ✓ Printing vector images RI ✓ Prepress and working with a service bureau P GH TE D reparing images for the screen is a snap compared to what you have to go through to get images ripe for the printing process.
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650 Getting the Right Resolution, Mode, and Format Table 1-1 Recommended Resolutions and Image Modes Device Notes Recommended Resolution Mode Fuji Frontier photo printer Wallets to 10 x 15 inches. Great for printing digital photos. 300 dpi RGB Online photo printers, such as Shutterfly Check recommended size and resolution settings on the vendor’s Web site.
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Working with a Service Bureau 651 File formats As far as file formats go, what you choose depends on a couple issues: ✓ What does your service bureau, offset printer, client, director, or another interested party prefer? Most publications (newspaper, magazines) will accept PDFs only because of their capability to embed fonts and links within the document, thereby eliminating a lot of headaches. For more on PDFs, see Book II, Chapter 2.
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652 Working with a Service Bureau services, including high-end drum scanning. A common service is taking scans or digital photos and burning them onto CDs or DVDs. Many service bureaus provide output to color separations to film and RC paper. Larger bureaus may even have a digital press to handle a short-run (500 or less), on-demand printing need.
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Working with a Service Bureau 653 ✓ When saving Photoshop images for print purposes, stick to TIFF, EPS, native PSD, or PDF file formats. If you’re unsure of the proper format to use for a specific job, ask your offset printer or service bureau. ✓ Create vector shapes and paths efficiently. Use the fewest number of anchor points possible to create the path and delete any unnecessary or stray points. Leave your flatness setting blank.
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54 Choosing Color Management Print Options Some ﬁle format warnings If you save your ﬁle as an EPS or DCS and reopen the ﬁle in Photoshop, Photoshop rasterizes the vector data to pixels. Save the original in the native PSD format. If you save your layered ﬁle as an EPS, Photoshop converts your vector type to clipping paths. Extensive and small type creates complex clipping paths, which can be time-consuming and sometimes difﬁcult to print.
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Choosing Color Management Print Options 655 convert the color space of your image while printing. So, for example, if the ICC (color) profile of your image is sRGB, you can choose to have your image’s color space converted to the color space of your Epson printer when you print. Book IX Chapter 1 Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what specific settings to choose. This choice is a widely debated topic, and different printers have their strengths, shortcomings, and quirks.
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656 Choosing Color Management Print Options 4. Select a method from the Color Handling pop-up menu. The options differ, depending on whether you chose Document or Proof in Step 3. If you chose Document in the Print area, here are your options: • Printer Manages Colors: Sends the document unchanged to the printer, tagged with its color profile. The printer driver then picks an appropriate color profile and converts your document’s colors to the final printout.
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Getting Four-Color Separations 657 6. Mac users, click the Print Settings button to choose paper size, quality/media settings, and other options, depending on your exact printer. Click OK. 7. When you finish making your selections, click Print. Windows users, your final dialog box appears. Depending on your printer, options will vary. In Windows 7, click the Preferences button and search for paper/media and quality options.
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658 Getting Four-Color Separations Before you take your image to a service bureau or offset printer to get color separations, it’s wise to get what are called laser separations. Basically, you’re color-separating your image, not to film or plates, but to paper. If your image doesn’t separate to paper, most likely it won’t to film or plates, either. You can go back and correct the problem, rather than pay upward of $80 to $150 an hour to have the service bureau or offset printer correct it for you.
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Getting Four-Color Separations 659 Book IX Chapter 1 Prepping Graphics for Print Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Corbis Digital Stock Figure 1-2: Color images are separated into four process colors. Table 1-3 Output Options Option What It Does Recommendation Calibration Bars Prints an 11-step grayscale bar outside the image area to gauge how accurately the shades are being printed. When you’re printing separations, this option prints a gradient tint bar and color bar. Select this option.
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660 Creating Spot Color Separations Table 1-3 (continued) Option What It Does Recommendation Corner Crop Marks Adds crop marks at the corners of the image to indicate where to trim the image. Select this option. Center Crop Marks Adds crop marks at the center of each side of the image to indicate where to trim the image. Select this option. Description Prints the description as entered in the File➪File Info area. Select if you have entered a description.
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Creating Spot Color Separations 661 apply metallic inks or varnishes to your print job. Spot colors can be used rather than, or in addition to, the four process CMYK colors. Creating a spot channel Follow these steps to create a spot channel: 1. On a separate layer, create the graphic or type to which you want to apply the spot color. 2. Ctrl-click (Ô-click on the Mac) the thumbnail of the layer to select the graphic and then choose Edit➪Fill to fill it with any solid color at an opacity of 100 percent.
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662 Creating Spot Color Separations 6. In the New Spot Channel dialog box, select a Solidity value between 0 percent and 100 percent. A value of 100 percent represents an ink that’s completely opaque, such as a metallic ink, which completely covers the inks beneath it. A value of 0 percent represents a transparent ink, such as a clear varnish. But the solidity value affects only the screen view and composite prints; it doesn’t affect the separations. It can help you see where a “clear” varnish will print.
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Creating Spot Color Separations 663 In the DCS 2.0 Format dialog box, make sure that the Include Halftone Screen and Include Transfer options aren’t selected. Import the image into your destination application and set your screen angles. Editing a spot channel After you create a spot channel, you can edit it. Select the channel in the Channels panel and use a painting or editing tool to paint with black, white, or any shade of gray, just as you would with an alpha channel.
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664 Book IX: Photoshop and Print