Text & Design © 2015 Wojciech Piskor Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphic program, designed to deal mainly with highly realistic or photographic content. It is slightly more

Text & Design © 2015 Wojciech Piskor

www.wojciechpiskor.wordpress.com

[email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this

publication may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including

photocopy, recording or any information

storage and retrieval system, without prior

permission from the author.

Contents

Introduction

General file specifications

Colour mode

Resolution

The bleed

Artwork size

File format

Additional information

Preparing Adobe Photoshop files for print

Step 1: Set up the document

Step 2: The bleed

Step 3: Save the file

Step 4: Check the outcome

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Preparing Adobe Illustrator files for print


Step 2: The bleed



Preparing Adobe InDesign files for print


Step 2: The bleed

Step 3: Page numbering

Step 4: Changing page order



Sending the files

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Introduction

In order to print your artwork to the best visual

quality possible it is necessary to correctly prepare

and save the file.

This guide will walk you through every step of file

preparation and saving process in three Adobe CS6

programs: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

General file specifications

Artwork designed for print medium requires specific

settings, very different to the requirements of

on-screen, digital medium.

In this section you will find detailed information

about those requirements needed to create

print-ready artwork, compared to brief overview

of the usual settings used for the digital medium.

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General file sp

ecifications

Colour mode

One of the most important things when it comes to file

preparation is appropriate colour mode.

The printing process requires CMYK colour mode

(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key - Black, four process

colours used in print) opposed to RGB colour mode

(Red, Green and Blue, three basic colours of the digital

displays) used for on-screen artworks.

By choosing correct colour mode for print medium you

are making sure that the colours will come out exactly

as you intended after being printed.

Resolution

Another parameter which has a tremendous impact on

print quality is resolution (not to be confused with the

artwork’s dimensions).

The resolution of the file should be set to 300dpi

(as opposed to 72dpi for on-screen artworks).

Abbreviation dpi stands for dots per inch and it

determines how dense your artwork is.

Resolution higher than 300dpi will not improve the

quality of print significantly and can cause problems

with the printing process due to bigger file size.

The bleed

If any of the graphic elements or background images

will reach the edge of your artwork you would need

to set up your document with 3mm bleed which will

expand your artwork by 3mm on each side.

Make sure that all important elements like text and

logos are within an original artwork size, as your

background image, and anything else that is within the

3mm bleed area will be cut away.

The purpose of bleed is when your artwork is cropped

down to the desired size there won’t be any white line

visible around it. The way to set it up, together with the

visual examples, will be demonstrated separately for

each program (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) as it

is slightly different for each of them.

Artwork size

Below are listed the most popular paper sizes and the

dimensions with 3mm bleed applied.

regular size +3mm bleed

A6 105mm x 148mm 111mm x 154mm

A5 148mm x 210mm 154mm x 216mm

A4 210mm x 297mm 216mm x 303mm

A3 297mm x 420mm 303mm x 426mm

A2 420mm x 594mm 426mm x 600mm

A1 594mm x 841mm 600mm x 847mm

A0 841mm x 1148mm 847mm x 1154mm

When creating a custom sized artwork make sure 3mm

bleed is applied to the original size.

File format

To avoid any file incompatibility, the files being

changed due to missing fonts or different software

versions, as well as to make sure the colours will print

exactly as intended it is essential to save your artwork

as a press quality .pdf file.

The way to save it to the desired specification will be

explained separately for each program as it is slightly

different for each of them.

Additional information

• Convert any pantones or RGB colours used to CMYK

colour mode, otherwise, after being printed, the

colours may look different than desired.

• For any normal black text set it to 100% Black with

0% Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

• For very dense, rich black set each colour to 100%.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphic program,

designed to deal mainly with highly realistic or

photographic content.

It is slightly more complicated to create a print-ready

document in Adobe Photoshop compared to Adobe

Illustrator and InDesign, but there is nothing to worry

about, in this section you will find detailed

information which will guide you through every

step of this process.

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Everything on the outer side of previously set guides is

the 3mm bleed - the part of the artwork that will be

trimmed away.

Make sure that the background image fills the whole

page and all of the important elements like logo, text

and images are within the area marked as Artwork.

After that go to Image > Canvas Size... and manually

add 3mm bleed to each side of the document

(effectively 6mm to Width and Height).

Set canvas extension color to White and press OK to

apply new settings.

Step 2: The bleed

Unlike the other programs (Illustrator, InDesign)

Photoshop does not have an option to add the bleed

when creating the document.

In order to create the bleed it is necessary to set up the

guides. Go to View > Rulers to turn on the rulers. Next,

go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Rulers... and set

the rulers to mm. Click and hold on the ruler and drag

the guide to the edge of the white working area.


Go to File > New... to create a new document. Choose

the desired paper size, set resolution to 300dpi and

colour mode to CMYK color and press OK.

3mm bleed Artwork

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After the content is finished, the file has to be saved

using the correct format.

Go to File > Save As... and choose Photoshop PDF

from the Format drop down menu and press Save.

Choose Press Quality from the Adobe PDF Preset drop

down menu and press Save PDF.

Not changing the preset to press quality may cause

problems with printing i.e. different colours or missing

content therefore it could delay the print of the file.


Open the file using Adobe Acrobat and check if it is

saved correctly.

Check the dimensions of the document at the bottom

left corner and make sure the correct bleed is included.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphic program,

designed to deal mainly with illustrations, text and

flat colours.

This software supports file preparation for

print medium so it is quite easy to create a

print-ready file. Information contained in this section

will make this process even easier.

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Go to File > New... to create a new document. Set the

desired paper size and choose Print from the Profile

drop down menu.

It will automatically set colour mode to CMYK and

resolution to 300ppi. Abbreviation ppi stands for pixels

per inch and it determines how dense your artwork is.

Set 3mm bleed (it will change the Profile from

previously selected Print to Custom) and press OK.

Step 2: The bleed

Unlike Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator will automatically

show the bleed (red border around the Workspace).

If required, go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers to turn

on the rulers. Next, go to Edit > Preferences > Units

and set the General to mm.

Everything between the white working space and the

red border is the 3mm bleed - the part of the artwork

that will be trimmed away.


page, up to the red border and all of the important

elements like logo, text and images are within the

area marked as Workspace.

3mm bleed Workspace

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Go to File > Save As... and choose Adobe PDF from

the Save as type drop down menu and press Save.


down menu. Next, go to Marks and Bleeds submenu,

manually set 3mm bleed and press Save PDF.






saved correctly.



Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing program,

designed mainly for creating multiple page

documents like books and magazines.

This software’s settings and options are aimed at

preparing documents for print medium so it is fairly

straight forward to create a print-ready file.

Information contained in this section will make this

process even easier.

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Go to File > New > Document... to create a new

document. Set the desired paper size and choose

Print from the Intent drop down menu.

It will automatically set colour mode to CMYK and

resolution to 300dpi.

Click More Options and set 3mm bleed, adjust the

other settings to the desired values and press OK.

Please note that the number of pages in magazines,

booklets and everything which will be folded in half and

stapled in the middle has to divide by four.

Step 2: The bleed

Similar to Adobe Illustrator, InDesign will automatically

show the bleed (red border around the Workspace).

If required, go to View > Show Rulers to turn on the

rulers. Next, go to Edit > Preferences >

Units & Increments... and set the Ruler Units to mm.

Everything between the black border around the

Workspace and the red border is the 3mm bleed

- the part of the artwork that will be trimmed away.


page, up to the red border and all of the important

elements like logo, text and images are within the

area marked as Workspace.

3mm bleed Workspace

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Step 3: Page numbering

Note: If you do not wish to add page numbers go to Step 5: Save the file.

To add a page number go to A-Master in Pages

submenu, create a type box using Type Tool (T) and

go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers >

Current Page Number. Repeat it on the other page.

Placing the page markers on the master page will

automatically assign a page number to every page of

the document, which eliminates the necessity of

drawing a type box and typing the page number on

every page.

The correctly placed page marker will appear as a

capital letter A on the master page, but it will be a

normal number throughout the document.

In order to delete the page number, for example from

the front and back cover, right click on the desired

page in Pages submenu and click on Override All

Master Page Items.

It will make all elements from the master pages fully

editable, so they can be selected and deleted.

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Step 4: Changing page order

Note: If you do not wish to change page order go to Step 5: Save the file.

Changing page order is necessary if you would like to

set page 2 of the document as page 1 (excluding the

front cover from being counted as page 1).

Select all pages from the Pages submenu (press and

hold Shift and click on first and last page) and right click

on them.

In the New Section window select Start Page

Numbering at: 1 and set Section Prefix.

The purpose of Section Prefix is to keep the document

format the same while changing the page numbering.

If the Section Prefix was not set, the document would

contain two pages with the same number, which could

lead to errors during the saving process.

Make sure Allow Selected Spreads to Shuffle is

disabled, otherwise when the page order is changed

they may split from spreads to single pages.

Right click on page 2 of the document and select

Numbering & Section Options... to assign a new

page number.

The picture below shows Pages submenu with new

page order applied.

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Go to File > Export... and choose Adobe PDF (Print)

from the Save as type drop down menu and

press Save.


down menu. Next, go to Marks and Bleeds submenu,

manually set 3mm bleed and press Save PDF.






saved correctly.



Sendingthe files

Once your artwork is finished and correctly saved

you are only a few clicks away from sending it to be

printed and finished for you.

This section will help you get it right.

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ing the files

Sending the files

Once your document is finished and saved as a

print-ready file you may send it to print to the following

email address:

[email protected]

Before I print it off I will give you an accurate quote to

avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. Once you

approve the quote I will proceed with your order.

If you are sending a few files, too big to be attached

into one email due to the attachement limit, send them

in the separate emails.

Clearly mark which email it is and how many there will

be i.e. Print Job 1/5, 2/5 etc. In each email write full

instructions of how you would like the document to be

printed and finished for you. Please find, on the right

hand side of this page, a list of information you would

need to include with your order, to avoid any delays.

Colour or black and white?

Even though your document is in colour you may wish

to print it off black and white. Should it be the case,

please let me know in your email.

Single sided or back to back?

For multiple page document indicate whether you

would like it to be printed single or double sided.

Stapled, perfect bound or loose?

For multiple page document indicate what kind of

binding you would like to get.

Would you like it to be stapled together with either two

staples or just one in the corner, or folded in half and

stitched like a magazine? Or would you rather prefer it

to be perfect bound, like a book?

Or maybe you are simply after loose sheets?

What stock?

One of the most important things is your desired type

of paper. Are you after plain paper, gloss or card?

If you are unsure, for the comprehensive list of the

paper types please refer to the price chart.

How many copies?

Quite obvious, yet if can be forgotten. Make sure you

state the quantity to get an accurate quote and to avoid

any delays.

Documents

Text & Design © 2015 Wojciech Piskor Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphic program, designed to deal mainly with highly realistic or photographic content. It is slightly more