Exporting a Print ready PDF from Indesign CS4

July 31, 2009 by Brenda Bell · 4 Comments
Filed under: Design, Educational, Preflighting, Prepress 

The settings shown here apply to InDesign CS4 for Mac. Other versions of the program work in a similar fashion.

Use the Adobe PDF Presets in the File Menu to access PDF export (as seen below). As always, be sure you have saved your file first. The presets range from Monitor proofing to PDF/X-certified settings. We recommend using the preset designated PDF/X-1a: 2001 (or PDF/X-4a: 2008; see edit at the bottom following this article). This is a pdf standard that has been put together specifically for print pdfs. If you’re using an earlier version (Pre CS) of InDesign (v1 or 2), X-1a:2001 is not offered, so choose the “Press” preset instead.

InDesign will then ask you for a file name and where you would like to save the pdf in a window like the one shown below. Enter the information and click the “Save” button:

After clicking the “Save” button, you will see a window appear like the one below:

Click the Marks and Bleeds section. Crop marks are often necessary when outputting your printed piece, so they should be included on all of your PDFs. Remember that if your source document has bleeds, it is critical to create a minimum 1/8” bleed in the document itself before creating your PDF.

Set your marks and bleeds as shown above.

Please note: The Preset designation changes automatically to “modified” when any of the settings are changed. Changing crop settings in itself is not a violation of the PDF/X-1a standard, so you may proceed with the “modified” setting after doing so.

The Output window will allow you to specify the color mode for your PDF. By clicking the Ink Manager button you’ll see which colors you’ve used in your file.

This feature allow you a final opportunity to determine if color has been applied correctly throughout the document and convert colors to 4-color process if necessary, without having to edit the colors in the document’s color swatch list. Click the OK button when you’re satisfied that all of the ink colors are correct.

IMPORTANT TIP: Do not select any security features in the Security tab. Doing so will prevent your PDF from being processed by our RIP. Password protection isn’t allowed under the PDF/X-1a specifi cation. Leave all of the checkboxes unchecked.

When you are satisfied that all PDF export settings are correct, click the “Export” button to make your PDF:

Edit 8/10/09: As mentioned in the comments below, you could select the X-4a: 2008 standard instead of X-1a:2001 and make the same adjustments as specified above. X-4a: 2008 is a newer revision of the X-1a standard which supports transparency better than the 2001 revision. However, it does allow RGB images, where as X-1a:2001 does not, so be sure to convert all of your images to CMYK before making the pdf, because it will not alert you that you are including RGB images.

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What is bleed and why do I need it?

July 2, 2009 by Brenda Bell · 3 Comments
Filed under: Design, Educational, Finishing, Preflighting, Prepress 

In printing terms “bleed” is referred to as a place or places where image on the finished piece is intended to go all of the way to very edge of the sheet. In order to accomplish this effect, we need to have a little extra image beyond where the final cut is supposed to be made. Standard bleeds are 1/8th of an inch (.125″). Cropmarks (as shown in the image above) show our bindery where the cut needs to be made. The image beyond the cropmarks is considered the bleed.

Why we need bleeds is simple. While our computerized guillotine cutters are precise, when cutting large stacks of sheets, there is a very slight variance, meaning that we could set our cutter to cut right on the very edge of the image of the top sheet, but when the blade goes through the stack it may vary slightly leaving a white line on the bottom sheets, which would totally ruin your intended effect! Bleed ensures that there are no white lines and that your print project turns out as you intended and looking it’s best.

So, what does this mean to you as a designer? This means that, unlike your web projects, on your print projects you need to plan for bleed in your file when placing images and creating graphics by making sure you have enough image extend past the edge of your document. Indesign and Quark make planning for bleed easy by either setting your bleed margins or dragging guides yourself.

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