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Saving Images: PDF Format

This is the fifth and last posting about formats for saving images. We started a couple weeks ago with the Photoshop PSD format. Then we continued with TIFF, EPS and JPEG formats.

Usually Photoshop images are created to be placed in another application. And, as we have pointed out in the linked post, the Photoshop native format (PSD) works best most of the time. But there are two cases when you might want to use the Photoshop format: The first is when the image will be the final job to be printed. The second is if you have type or vector layers in your Photoshop image and you want to place them into InDesign or Illustrator at the highest possible resolution.

In the example pictured below, an image that consists of both an image and type are combined in one Photoshop file and are being placed into InDesign. If this image were saved and placed as a PSD file, the type would be rasterized at the resolution of image pixels. However, saved as a Photoshop PDF file the type (or vectors) are kept as vector art at the highest possible resolution.

Photoshop uses the same PDF presets as other Adobe Creative Suite applications like InDesign and Illustrator. If you choose to save your file as Photoshop PDF for high-resolution printing, start by choosing a high-resolution preset like PDF/X-1a or Press Quality. Then in the Save Adobe PDF dialog, choose Do Not Downsample in the Compression setting. On the Output panel, choose Color Conversion: No Conversion so the colors stay in the same color space.

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Printing for Less…Definitely going to the dogs…

Check it out–Printing for Less is in the ranks of Amazon and Google when it comes to dogs in the workplace. Recently, we were featured in an article for the Christian Science Monitor. And one of Printing for Less’s very own was quoted: “Having dogs is a lot of fun and keeps a relaxed atmosphere,” said Shayla McKnight, assistant marketing manager at PrintingForLess.com. Nice work Printing for Less dogs (and employees!)

Now if we could just figure out how to train the dogs to answer the phones…

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Did you know greeting cards can help keep water clean?

A friend of mine, and Printing for Less customer, recently helped get a print project underway that uses greeting cards to raise awareness and money for the Greater Gallatin Watershed Council. Their mission, from their website, is:
a locally-led non-profit organization promoting conservation and enhancement of our water resources while supporting the traditions of agriculture, community, and recreation.
The Council used art from artists who submitted their work to be judged and only three were selected for the final cards. The cards are available for sale at local retailers and holiday events, which helps bring money into those stores as well.
While preparing the final files for print, one of their Printing for Less team-members, Cara with the Big Sky team, recommended lightening an image slightly, and when I spoke with Sharlyn of the GGWC, she said all the cards turned out great, and would sell very well.
That is a great thing to hear, and to know that their team was looking out for them so their print project would be a success, raising money and awareness for a great cause. Who knew ink on paper could do that?

Need help with your print? Talk to a live print expert today: 800-930-7978.

Saving Images: JPEG Format

This is the fourth posting about formats for saving images. We started a couple weeks ago with the Photoshop PSD format. Then we continued with TIFF and EPS formats.

Normally, we associate JPEG files with images prepared for web or on-screen use. Because JPEG supports a full range of RGB colors (unlike GIF, which is limited to 256) it’s by far the most common format to use for web pages or digital publishing. However, JPEG files are acceptable for print as long as you choose a high quality setting (see below).

When you save a Photoshop image as a JPEG, you see a similar dialog as for an EPS because a JPEG flattens the image to a single layer.

When you click save you will see the JPEG Options dialog. JPEG compresses the image, and you can choose the degree of compression. In the dialog this is shown as a Quality slider. For print, it’s recommended that you choose a Maximum quality. You should also avoid repeatedly editing and re-saving a JPEG file; each save will reduce the quality. For re-editing, work with the Photoshop PSD format.

Need help with your print? Talk to a live print expert today: 800-930-7978.

OpenType Typography

In our first blog posting about the OpenType font format, we discussed its advantages. This posting will discuss some of the extra typographic effects that are possible with OpenType fonts.

The actual typographic features built into an OpenType font vary by font. In the OpenType submenu of InDesign, features that are in square brackets are not available. Features that are selected have a check mark next to them. In the OpenType panel in Illustrator, the buttons for unavailable features are grayed out.

Here are some examples of the typographic features possible when using OpenType fonts:

When an OpenType font includes small caps, you can apply the small caps feature to change lowercase text to small capital letters. This creates small caps whose weight matches the upper and lowercase letters, as opposed to using fake small caps by scaling down the caps that will be thinner than the letters around them (see examples in the illustration below). Note that InDesign will still use fake small caps when real ones are unavailable.

If a font contains swash glyphs, ordinary glyphs are substituted with a more stylized alternative. Sometimes these are contextual, which means they only occur in specified situations, such as between two particular letters or at the beginning of a word.

• Ligatures are letters that are combined together—for example fi or fl. Adobe OpenType Pro fonts usually include additional ligatures like ffi, ffl or ff. Sometimes there may also be a discretionary ligature feature, which includes more rarely used discretionary and historical ligatures.

To get more information about the features in your OpenType fonts and how to use them, refer to Adobe’s excellent OpenType User Guide. You can download it from this URL: http://www.adobe.com/type/opentype/

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Viewing Transparency Issues

Some newer RIPs (raster image processors) used to prepare artwork for commercial printing don’t require that transparency in the art be flattened. We covered what transparency flattening is in this posting. For example, Adobe PDF Print Engine RIPs can accept PDF files that contain live transparency.

But when transparent objects must be flattened for PostScript processors in Adobe applications like Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator, occasional problems can occur. To view these potential issues, you can use InDesign, Illustrator, and Adobe Acrobat Pro to view transparency interactions.

In Adobe InDesign, choose Window > Output > Flattener Preview. In Adobe Illustrator, choose Window > Flattener Preview. In Adobe Acrobat Pro, choose Flattener Preview in the Print Production panel. There you can a number of options for previewing transparency issues.

In the example shown, the image is surrounded by a drop shadow (a transparency effect). The type at the upper right doesn’t touch the image, but because it is lower in the stacking order than the image and it falls within the bounding box of the transparency effect, it is affected. If we select Highlight > All Affected Objects in the Flattener Preview panel, it turns pink, indicating that it’s an affected object. This could cause the type to spread (get thicker) when the transparency is flattened.

It’s a best practice when working with transparent objects to put text and thin vector objects above transparency to avoid such problems. In this case, moving the type to a higher layer will solve the problem.

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