Getting good quality images with InDesign.

[Hopefulwriter]

I originally sent a PDF to a printer/publisher for a book in PageMaker. I had made sure the images were 300 dpi (were .tif). I had grayscaled the images in Corel Photopaint. The book came back with the images lighter than we had hoped. I was advised that my pictures weren't 300 dpi, but I doublechecked and they were, and in most cases I hadn’t increased their size. A tech person then said he would help me. He “enhanced” the pictures by importing the book into InDesign and “tweaking" them with Photoshop. Unfortunately, he moved them and I had to buy InDesign to put them back where they belonged. I then made a PDF by exporting directly from InDesign but when we ordered more books and found the quality was even worse, I am questioning whether I did something wrong. I also used Adobe Acrobat Prof. 7 and Reader 7. I don’t understand flattening the images. I do not have Photoshop or Illustrator or Microsoft Publisher. I had scanned with Microsoft Picture It. Do I need to rescan my images (pictures) and do a higher dpi? (I have about 75 pictures) Do I need to get another program to flatten them? Or could it be the way I sent my PDF? I recontacted the fellow that “enhanced” the images and he emailed back that he is very poorly and can’t help me. I had paid him quite well too. So I need HELP. Thanks to anyone who can advise me.

 

[apepp]

...i have posted a few screen shots here to resolve any further confusion:

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/arlene/Picture 1.png

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/arlene/Picture 2.png

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/arlene/Picture 3.png

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/arlene/Picture 4.png

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/arlene/Picture 5.png

Andrew

 

[eugenetyson]

Oh dear, massive confusion

My fault I admit, as I wasn't clear

Everything I said is a step by step.

As you go through each step the Presets change to (modified)

and the Standard goes back to None.

But my settings will work, i'm confident of that

Andrews screenshots are spot on!


Exactly what I'd have done.

http://www.doozler.blogspot.com/

 

[eugenetyson]

Just want to add that the standards provided by adobe are just guidelines, not definitives. I've been in the industry for 10 years, and I don't really know what the PDF standards really do. I do know that the settings I have are right, and when I choose the adobe presets they are wrongish.

http://www.doozler.blogspot.com/

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Eugene and Andrew,
You have both been extremely helpful. I think I have it now, except -- Andrew, you said -- ...always keep the transparency flattener set to HIGH... The Advanced screen has the transparency flattener grayed out, and it has Medium Resolution, which I can't change. Would you please advise? By the way, Eugene got me started on the right path, and your screen shots, Andrew, were really helpful to complete the process. Thanks to both of you. Arlene

 

[eugenetyson]

It's grayed out because the version of the pdf is above version 4 (1.3) to flatten it has to be version 4 (1.3).

To be honest, I don't think this is relevant to your book. This only matters if you have an object that is transaparent and overlaps other items.

So to be honest, saving as Acrobat 4,5,6,7,8,9 won't matter.

Any version above version 6 will give you the option to use in the Compression area JPEG 2000 which is a better compression than JPEG.

All that really matters is that the printers have the latest version of Acrobat Professional, version 4,5,6,7,8 or 9 to open the pdf you create.

I know some people upgraded to 9 recently, but I'm hearing problems with 9 so a lot of people have gone back to version 8 for now.

http://www.doozler.blogspot.com/

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Thanks Eugene. We have sent the PDF in before and it was printed without any problem except they are so inconsistent about quality. Sometimes the pictures were good and sometimes they were too light, so I was trying to be assured on my end that I was doing things right. My author has written a really good book, so now I will feel that I have done all I can. Thanks so very, very much. Arlene

 

[apepp]

...as eugene said, flattening is only required during Acrobat PDF 1.3 (or lower) creation, and also when printing to postcript (from the print menu)...

...PDF/X formats are for color controlled environments, by which understanding of output intent profiles are needed in the workflow (loop), an output intent might for example be a certain printing press printing on a certain kind of paper (uncoated or coated)...

...for these types of workflows your print provider will be hot on it from the start and can refuse a PDF that doesn't comply. A typical scenario is a print provider who prints monthly magazines on one type of paper, who print to an internationally known target (such as FOGRA in Europe)...

...if they know the output intent is honored in the PDF, then in theory they know it is compliant with their workflow, and so color consistency is a bit easier to control, from one months magazine, to the next. But this is all very well until the print provider change things like printing plates, printing blankets, printing inks, so with all these variables color can then shift...

...this then means things have to be measured all over again, which is no easy task and can take days to complete...

...Acrobat 5 (1.4) or higher preserves transparency, which ultimately means the print provider requires a RIP that can flatten the PDF transparency before it actually outputs to film, plate or proofing device...

...it is generally accepted that for an unknown print provider your best to process an Acrobat 4 (1.3) version and supply that, you can check the PDF in Acrobat before sending to a print provider to see that flattening has worked OK, this can be a time saver in the long run and avoid any come back from a print provider...

...some print providers insist on an Acrobat 4 (1.3) version because it then absolves them from any flattening problems that might occur late on in the workflow...

...whenever using transparent effects it is best to avoid using spot colors (special ink mixes) in artwork destined to be printed in CMYK, as during conversion to CMYK the spot colors can turn white and disappear completely, any spots used are best converted to CMYK before printing or creation of PDF...

...flattening always has to be done in the print process at some point, as the technology involved in printing is such that most RIPS are based upon postcript which doesn't support transparency, only recently Adobe have developed a PDF print engine that can handle transparency much better. It's not something anyone can buy, it is specifically for companies that develop printing RIPS and output equipment...

...most print providers still use the postscript path, which means you either supply them with a flattened PDF, or you get them to do it...

...getting them to do it can introduce problems and they may come back to you to advise any fixes required, assuming they are a vigilant print provider...

...but if you haven't used transparent effects, such as drop shadows, glows, opacity settings, transparent PSD files, then you'll be fine most likely...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...if your print provider is inconsistent about quality there can be a number of problems in the workflow that can effect quality such as poor plate exposure, one print minder printing differently to another in the same company because they do it by eye, and not everyone sees color the same, devices are available to measure ink densities for printers to control color output...

...poor quality paper is another area, different papers have a big effect on print quality and color...

...different printing presses can also vary in quality of output, even ones made by the same printing machine manufacturer. It might be that they print some of your work on one machine and the rest on another...

...all in all, printing is far from easy...

Andrew

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Andrew,
I have Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. But in the Compatibility, should I change it to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3) to be safe? It is now Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4). Also, with your suggestion of typing in the 3mm and it would convert to inches I did that and it changed it to 0.1181 in. I'm assuming that is right. Some of the things you indicated about printers are above my head. I just hope and pray that with your and Eugene's help that we can have a great book! Arlene

 

[apepp]

...yes indesign can convert values automatically so long as you use a measurement value like "mm" at the end of the value, it will convert it to the preferences they are set to, in your case inches...

...nothing wrong with using Acrobat version higher than Acrobat 4 unless your dealing with a print provider that is reluctant to take on PDF files that utilize live transparency due to equipment limitations they might have and they are unwilling to take on the responsibility of flattening issues if they arise (they can, for example, flatten PDF files in Acrobat Pro or they might even place a PDF in indesign and export the PDF to 1.3)...

...another reason for using a lower version of Acrobat is that many people don't have the latest version of Acrobat Reader, so for email proofing purposes it is also worthwhile using either Acrobat 4 or up to Acrobat 6...

...if the print provider does flattening then you can get into a situation of "who's to blame?" if problems arise further down the road, so if it were me, i would prefer to have control over my artwork and flatten in myself, check it over and once happy send away...

...i personally wouldn't flatten however if I use a print provider i know has the latest Adobe PDF print engine on their system...

...your artwork is without the use of transparency i imagine, so the version of pdf won't matter in your case...

...you can tell if an indesign page has transparency because you will see a checkerboard symbol bottom right of the page, like this next to the page number:

http://www.zen63258.zen.co.uk/tek/the X.png

...the safest option is to supply in Acrobat 4 (1.3), however if your artwork has transparent elements then the flattening has to be set to HIGH and the onus is on you, the artworker, to spot any flattening issues that might occur...

...in indesign you have a transparency flattener preview palette you can use to identify possible problems, this is under window > output > flattener preview. Changing the "Highlight" option to "Raster fill text and strokes" is the one to use mainly, and also ensuring the preset option is set to "High"...

...it is then a case of manually checking each page that has transparency using the pages palette, any areas that become red highlight will become raster (bitmap) which for body copy or small text, can be a problem and won't print as sharp as neighboring text (or strokes/lines) that don't interact with transparency...

...a page that views completely grey is good to go, however there are situations where you can't fix problem areas and will have to make do...

...this function is mainly to inspect fairly complex artwork before flattening takes place on output. The solution is to simply move text or vector objects above transparent objects/areas wherever possible (command "bring to front" or move to a layer above using the layers palette)...

...you can also view individual separations using the window > output > separations preview palette, this is useful for checking spot colors (special ink mixes) are as required...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...if you want to know more about PDF/X or PDF in general this link has it all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF/X

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...once upon a time PDF files were simple, but can now get pretty complex, in fact PDF was never even intended for the printing industry, simply to transfer files in an office, saving paper and saving the need for computers to have many software packages to open specific formats...

...now PDF makes the printing industry P-retty D-amn F-renetic...

: )

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Wow, what a lot to absorb. I'm sure the transparency part doesn't pertain to us. You guys are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to explain all this to me. I think I'm good to go. I will save all of this info for future reference. Thanks again. Arlene

 

[apepp]

...always glad to help...

...and indeed, a lot to absorb about the graphics world, and just when you think you know, it can change again when software companies update, and updates are quite frighteningly fast...

...makes me wonder how far it can all go really, who'd have thought wireless computers only ten years ago would be reality...

...i've heard some clever folk trying to develop devices that are powered wirelessly too, no need for electric plugs all over the house...

: o

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Oh dear, I believe you both agreed I should put 3 mm (which converted into 0.1181 in.) in the Bleed box. But I just checked the size of the book in the PDF, and it says 6.24 x 9.24. Our book is 6x9, and as I said, we have already had copies printed and they have come out all right in size. Curious why you told me to do the bleed when it makes the size wrong. When I changed it back to all zeros it again made it 6x9. I'm glad I hadn't sent it yet. Arlene

 

[eugenetyson]

You were asked to include bleed because you should always include bleed, as practice.

The size that you have set in the Document Size is the size it will printed and trimmed.

Crop/trim marks are placed around your page, this is what the printers/binders use to crop/trim your book to size.

Bleed is only printed outside the trim size of your Document Size and does not affect the finished/trim size of your publication.

It is necessary to have bleed for any print job that is printed where any images or colours butt up against the page edge. If the colour or image were placedexactly on the edge of the page, then there could be trimming problems.

Basically the printers/binders use massive machines to trim the publications, if the page is out by 0.1 mm on the machine and perhaps the page is off by about 0.125 degrees under the guillotine, then what will happen is the blade comes through a stack of your pages and it will not trim right to the edge of the page, leaving a small sliver of white.

So, to counteract any movement on press or on the binding/trimming/cropping/guillotine we simply include an extra 3mm to the edge of each page, that is outside the trim/crop area, but it is ONLY so that anything that is outside the trim marks gives us the 3mm that is needed.

It doesn't affect the finished size of your book and it doesn't affect the price or cost or the overall look and feel of the book, it actually improves the look of your book.

Even if you have no images or colours extending to the edge of the page, it is good practice to include this Bleed, as practice.

It also means that if you are laying out a book and need to put a colour or image near the trim/page edge/crop, then you should let the image/colour extend 3mm off the page.

Then when you include Bleed of 3mm on the PDF, this image is now safe from any movement at the bindery stage.

http://www.doozler.blogspot.com/

 

[Hopefulwriter]

Thank you, Eugene. This is the best tech site I have found whose experts are willing to explain things fully and be patient with someone like me, who didn't grow up with computers. You did a great job of explaining, so now I have it. You guys are awesome. Arlene