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Creating a high res PDF in Quark

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Smile06

Technical User
May 11, 2005
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Hello

Does anyone know how to create a high-res PDF when using the print PDF option in OSX, as every time I print as PDF and open it in Acrobat it looks really low-res?

Any Ideas?

Thanks
 
What are your PDF export settings? Are all images properly linked before exporting?

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?
 
Ummm? Not sure never heard of that, you wouldn't think I worked on a mac all day would you!


I have just selected print and then selected create PDF, the print options said normal output, 300 dpi, I can't see any other options? sorry to be vague! I would normally create a PDF in Quark 4 and then drop the post script file into distiller in Print format to create a high-res PDF.




 
I have just selected print and then selected create PDF

This smells like you are using OSX's rendering of PDF output, not Distiller or Quark 6's PDF export. OSX own PDF renderer does not create PDF as well as Distiller. Stick with Distiller or Quark 6's own PDF export.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?
 
Thanks, I am new to using the new version of Quark and have just discoved the export feature to save layout as PDf which saves to my desktop as .ps file and when I double click it it opens as a PDF but not in distiller and doesn't save with .pdf at the end but does look high-res when I open it, do you know if this is good enough to send to the printers?

Thank you so much for your help, it's much appreciated!
 
Go to QuarkXpress > Preferences and choose PDF then choose Workflow: Direct to PDF.

When you export a layout to PDF, choose Options/Job Options and choose Keep Resolution (if applicable).

Or: When you create a .ps file, drop it into distiller instead of double-clicking it?
 
Creating a PDF using a PS and dropping it into Distiller may sometimes be a better bet than using Quark's built in PDF creator (Jaws).

*some* repro houses have problems with Jaws PDFs.
You may also find that you can get the PDFs to be smaller and of equal quality.

When it comes down to it though I use Quark's built in PDF creation and don't really have any major problems.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time
 
First of all - if you need high resolution output you have to make images high resolution. When bring in Quark they will be top quality. After this when making PDF - best way to print to file then using Distiller for PDF - you documet/file will be exactly you want.
 
We're a small publisher and we create PDFs in quark in the print function, however the page sizes shrink in the process, coming out about 92 percent of true size when it prints. We have to restart with a page size 108 percent of what we intend in order to end up with a pdf the size we want. Anyone encountered this? And is there a solution?
 
It's actually smaller. I tried printing it on my own printer and the test image was 92 percent of what we intended. As a test, I sent it to a friend and he tried it on his printer and it was 96 percent. Very strange.
 
I assume it's not something daft like an enlargement/reduction setting in the print dialogue box?

What OS and versions of Quark/Distiller are you using?

Are you printing the PDF from the print dialogue, or using Export to PDF?
If from the print dialogue, what PPD are you using?

What kind of size are the documents you are PDFing? What units do you use for specifying size?

Basically, outline the whole process you go through in as much detail as possible. I've seen problems in the past with sizing, but not normally so dramatic.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time
 
We don't have quark distiller. We create PDFs in the print dialogue box. We're on a Mac, os10.2.8, using Quark 6.1. We checked the size carefully in the setup and its 100 percent and the fit to page box is unchecked, which often is the problem. The document pages are 8.25 by 5.25 and when we print them, they are 7.9 by 4.9 or thereabouts. Our only solution is to start with pages that are 8% bigger than desired so that when we create the PDFs they come out what we initially wanted. But that's such an indirect and temporary solution.
 
hamphouse, are you reading all posts in this thread? It sounds like you are using OSX's own PDF print function - - which is the root of your troubles. You should be using Quark's Jaws PDF creation - - or better, purchasing Adobe Acrobat to distill your PDF output from Quark.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?
 
Picklefish - Thanks. I'm slowly realizing that's the problem, using the PDF print function. I'll try to get either JAWS or distiller.
 
JAWS is INCLUDED with Quark, however, you might consider downloading the free Quark 6.5 update from Quark's website because a number of early Q6 versions had PDF output problems.

Using OSX 10.3.8 on a G4
 
I would say that your problem could well come from using OSX inbuilt PDF generation.

Use the built in Quark 6 Export to PDF function (which uses the JAWS system rather than Adobe's).


Incidentally, the OSX print dialogue PDFs will not be of high enough quality for repro. At best they are good enough for laser printing.

It's possible that OSX is automatically resizing your PDF to fit on the paper set up in your print dialogue. Try specifying a larger paper size. Do you have registration/crop marks turned on? They take up some space remember.

It's a long shot, but you might also try changing the units of measurement for the pages to cm or mm instead of inches. Don't know why I think that will make a difference, but I like to try stuff like that :)

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time
 
Foamcow - Are you sure using the print dialogue method of creating a PDF will not creat a PDF of 300 dpi resolution? One file we have is a color cover for a book created in Quark. This is the first I've heard of this. Hamp
 
I just printed out a PDF I created in Quark and sure enough, it is smaller than the original file. In my case it reduced itself to 93% of the original..

I have been using Quark to create PDF's of ads that I have been sending to publications. I haven't noticed that they are smaller than the space they are supposed to fit in. I will have to check that. Possibly the publications have been enlarging them to fit....assuming that's even possible.

Just to review how to make a PDF in Quark, since some of the previous explanations might not be clear to the neophyte, do this:

File>Export>Layout as PDF

When window opens, click on button called 'Options' that is in the bottom portion of the window. Then you get a window with several boxes across the top that lets you configure....and compress...your file into whatever type and size of pdf you want.

However, how to get around the size reduction is a mystery.
 
Using File->Export->Layout as PDF should be fine.
You get full control over how the PDF is generated and you can customise the job options as needed.


Using the Print Dialogue and clicking the Create PDF button uses OSX's built in PDF generation. This gives you NO control over how the PDF is generated. I am 99% sure that these PDFs are NOT suitable for high end repro work.
I would urge you to be very cautious producing PDFs that way.

I will test it when I get to my Mac tomorrow.

For the record, I produce PDFs on a daily basis using the File->Export Layout as PDF method and rarely get problems. On rare occassions I have resorted to creating Postscript files and running them through Distiller.

In the past I have always used Distiller, but since Quark 6 I have used Quarks JAWS system (File->Export as PDF)

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
Toccoa Games - Day of Defeat gaming community
Target Marketing Communications - Advertising, Direct Marketing and Public Relations
"I'm making time
 
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