What is bleed and why do I need it?
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.
Shipping and Fulfillment
Did you know that in addition to making your print projects look great, Craftsmen can also handle your fulfillment projects and ship mass shipments via FedEx or UPS on your account number or ours to get your printed material where you need it, when you need it. We can also provide email tracking or consolidate your tracking numbers in a spreadsheet for you.
Web Browsers that do more
A majority of people use the web browser that came bundled with their Windows pcs which is of course Microsoft Internet Explorer without a second thought. However, with rich media and web 2.0 websites, there are a lot of other web browsers out there that may fit your needs better and they are easy to install and use. Most will even import your existing Internet Explorer favorites and settings. Here is a listing and a short blurb of some that you might want to give a try. Clicking on the icons will take you to their download site where you can download and install the browsers for free.
Mozilla Firefox – This is the world’s second most popular browser, behind Internet Explorer. Mozilla Firefox is an open source web browser that has a wide variety of add ons available, is twice as fast as Internet Explorer, offers more security, renders pages more accurately and is easier to navigate. With the thousands of plugins and themes available, you can customize the browser to look and do just about anything. I also like it because when using the default theme, it functions the same on both macs and windows computers. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Google Chrome - This is a free web browser based on the Mozilla browser platform that Google has modified which means renders webpages quickly and accurately. Google originally created it as the browser for it’s Andriod mobile phone operating system (used on such phones as the G1), they have since modified it and released it as a browser for computers. It is just as fast as Firefox, although I find it a little harder to navigate. One of Chrome’s best features is that you can create shortcuts on your desktop for your web applications. For example, I could go to Google docs and tell Chrome to create a shortcut. It would then place a shortcut on my desktop so when I double clicked it, Chrome would open up my Google docs account like an application that was installed locally on the computer. Very handy if you do a lot of cloud computing. Google Chrome is available for Mac and Windows.
Apple Safari - Safari is the default browser on the Mac OS. Like Chrome, it was also built using Mozilla as its base. Safari is a little slower than Firefox or Chrome, but still offers better performance than Internet Explorer. It is also is easy to use and has a simple and elegant look that ties in nicely with the Apple OS and iPhone OS. While Safari works well on a Mac, on windows based computers it does not function quite as smoothly. Safari really took off in popularity because Apple uses it on the Apple iphone. Available for Mac and Windows.
Flock – This is a web browser you may not have heard of before, but is really great for people that like to social network. Flock is basically a modified version of Mozilla Firefox. From Flock you can easily update and keep track of all of your social networking accounts including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, Picasa; even update your blog and upload photos. However, because the broswer is constantly checking multiple web accounts and RSS feeds, it uses a bit more resources than a normal web browser so it does run a little slower compared to Firefox. Also, it is more of a personal broswer and might not be the best choice for use at the workplace due to the personal information it stores. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Exporting a Print ready PDF from PageMaker 7
Filed under: Design, Educational, Preflighting, Prepress
Here is a step by step guide on how to provide a print ready pdf from Adobe PageMaker 7. These screen shots were captured on a Mac, but Windows based computers should be similar. Please note that Adobe has replaced PageMaker with Adobe Indesign, so there will be no more updates to PageMaker after Version 7. We suggest that you upgrade to a more recent page layout program such as Indesign or Quark.
To begin, we will use the Export option in the File menu to access PDF export.
The window shown below appears. PageMaker presets range from Monitor Proofing to Press. Using the “Press” preset is sufficient in the absence of “PDF/X-1a”.
After choosing an export preset, click the “Export” button:
You will then be prompted to specify a filename and destination for your PDF file. Click “Save” to create the PDF:
Paper weight conversion chart – pounds to gsm
Digital color machines (like the Konica Minolta we have) are more particular about paper weights than our offset presses. For this reason most digital machines use grams/square meter instead of the conventional weight system. This is more accurate in the fact that it doesn’t vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. The caliper of one manufacturer’s 100# cover may be different from the caliper of another manufacturer’s paper in the same weight. No so with gsm weights.
Below is a conversion chart from the conventional weight system to gsm (and visa versa). Most production digital color machines, including ours cannot run heavier than 300 gsm stock. Using the chart below, you can see this is approx. 110# cover, depending on the manufacturer that is.
Tips for Submitting a Print Project
Filed under: Design, Educational, Preflighting, Prepress, Technology
There are several simple guidelines that designers and file submitters can follow to avoid unnecessary prepress charges and project delays.
To ensure a file outputs correctly and consistently it is helpful to have the following:
- The native art file (sometimes called layout file). This is the file that you would produce in a layout program such as Indesign or Quark.
- All support files. A support file is anything brought into the layout program, such as an image. When you import a file (like an image), the layout program does not place the entire image; it only places a low-resolution preview and creates a link to the actual file. This means if the support file that is referenced in the layout file is not provided, we cannot output that image. Also be sure to update all of your links before submitting files for printing.
- All fonts. Due to so many different variations and versions of fonts, it is best to have the font used to create the layout to ensure that your type does not re-flow and otherwise look different that intended. Also, it is worth noting not to use the italic and bold buttons within programs. Use the Italic and Bold versions of the actual font.
- Lasers or a pdf of the file that you are sending us so we can have something to reference to ensure your file outputs the way you intended.
or….
- A press quality pdf (such as a pdf built to the x1a-2001 standard) with bleeds
Providing us with all of the types of files is very easy these days with built in features in common layout applications. With the click of a mouse, these features will copy all the necessary files into a folder for you.
- In Indesign this feature is called Package. Package is located under File > Package.
- In Quark this feature is called Collect for Output. Collect is located under File > Collect for Output
- In other programs such as Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw etc. the files linked in the layout program and the fonts will have to be tracked down and put in a folder manually.
Here are some other guidelines that will help your digital files not only become a printed reality, but look their best while staying on budget and on schedule.
- Make sure all images are 250 – 300 dpi when placed at 100%
- Make sure all images are converted to CMYK
- Build files to final size and in reader’s spreads. This means if your intended product is 5×8, make the page size in your layout 5×8. If the project includes bleeds (where ink runs off the edge of the paper), extend your images or color 1/8 of an inch beyond the edge of the page where bleeds are intended. If your file is built in printer’s spreads, please inform us so that we can make sure your project is imposed properly.
Our new Konica Minolta bizhub pro c6500
We just finished installing our new Konica Minolta Bizhub pro c6500 digital color machine. This new machine allows us to provide you with high quality color prints that are more cost effective at lower quantities. The machine also allows us to provide you with blazing fast turnarounds for those last minute projects. Here are some basic specs on the machine:
Maximum sheet size: 13 x 19
Maximum sheet thickness: 300 grams per square meter (approximately 110# cover)
Inline folding and stitching capabilities for booklets and brochures
Near offset quality color
65 pages per minute
This machine is in addition to our offset offerings. Contact your Account Representative for samples today!
Moving Offices
We recently completed an interoffice move by switching prepress’s office and the customer service and estimating departments. While renovating our old film room to make room for our digital color machine, we swapped the two offices to improve workflow within the company. Now prepress is now located within steps of both the proofing/plating room and the new digital production space while the customer service and estimating department is now located closer to the sales department.
Tips for making electronic dielines and varnish plates
Filed under: Bindery, Design, Educational, Finishing, Prepress
Here are some tips for creating die lines for your projects that require special finishing processes such as foil stamping, embossing and die cutting.
- Always create dies as vector art. This is due to the fact that the machines that read the die lines and in turn cut and bend the metal to make your die, can only read vector information. The most popular ways to make a vector die line are by using your page layout program (such as quark or indesign) or using your vector art program (such as illustrator).
- The only exception the rule above is when making a sculpted emboss die. Sculpted emboss dies can include raster (pixel based) information, however they are quite expensive to make.
- If you would like to show your die line over your art instead of a separate file, spec it as a spot color in your layout or vector art application and put it on a separate layer. This will allow you to toggle the die line’s visibility on and off .
- On foil and emboss dies, make the areas that you want embossed or foiled 100% of a solid pms color. The areas without the color will in the case of embossing, stay flat and in the case of foiling, not foil. This can also be applied to specifying which areas on a printed piece get spot varnish or spot uv applied.
Toll Free Number
Craftsmen now has a toll free number for you to use. It is: 866-948-4313.
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Craftsmen’s Feed- Craftsmen is preparing for our group run in the Peachtree Road Race. Come out and cheer us on! June 23, 2011 FriendFeed
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