Help I'm desperate, another question about Postscript files?

[Nohjekim]

Here is my problem!

I create a lot of menus and point of purchase cards that are not printed by commercial printers but are printed on a variety of laser and inkjet printers by the restaurants themselves.

This works well as the four color menus are not economical when printed by a regular printer in the small quantities required, 3 or 4 hundred at most.

These are usually individual pages that go into some kind of folder.

The common software that everyone uses to print from is Adobe Illustrator.

I create the art in PageMaker and then export a postscript file that I open in Adobe Illustrator and resave as an Illustrator file.

Each restaurant has someone computer literate enough to open the file and tell it how many of each page to print etc.

The reason that I can’t send PDF files is that they need to be editable to the extent that the prices can be changed when necessary by the restaurant.

Now I have a new computer and PageMaker 7, and the postscript files that I create won’t open in Illustrator.

I have even reinstalled PageMaker 6 and tried to create the postscript files there put they still won’t open.

This is the first job like this I have done since changing my computer and reinstalling everything

Does anyone have any idea how I can create a .PS file from PageMaker that Illustrator will open?

Mike

 

[Nohjekim]

Well I discovered that if I open the job in InDesign and then create a postscript file it will open in Illustrator.

This requires some fussing with the file because the transfer isn't perfect.

So I have decided to send a disk to the client with Acrobat Reader 5 and a set of PDF files as well as the original PageMaker files and tell them if they want to edit it themselves to buy PageMaker 7.

That will make it easier for everyone.

I'd still like to know why the postscript files I create in InDesign open in Illustrator and the ones I create in PageMaker don't.

I started to switch to InDesign at one time, but found that there is absolutely no support for it around here.
Even the local Kinko couldn't open the files so I gave up and went back to PageMaker.

Mike

 

[Eggles]

Mike

Why ever are you creating the menus in Pagemaker?? Why not create them directly in Illustrator? One of the graphic designers I work with does all his layout in Illustrator (for multi-page catalogues - one page per file!!!)

But seriously, you can easily do single page layouts in Illustrator. Stops all this mucking around you are doing too.

 

[viol8ion]

>>I'd still like to know why the postscript files I create in InDesign open in Illustrator and the ones I create in PageMaker don't.<<


I can often open PDF files created in PM in Illustrator, and always can do it in Photoshop.

However I agree with Eggles, stick with one app to create the menu. Eother do it all in Illustrator, or create the menu in PM and place AI graphics in the PM doc. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[Nohjekim]

I thought about doing the whole job in Illustrator but I've never tried to handle lots of copy, columns etc. there.

About the only thing I ever use Illustrator for is creating sign art and logos.
I'll at least give it a try on the next job and see how it goes.

I've been working with PageMaker for so long that it gets to be a habit.

This bit with not sending things to a printer is something fairly new brought about by the improvement in cheap color printers.

The first job like this started to be a normal four color job and when the client saw the output from my new printer he decided to by a large format HP InkJet and print the job himself.

He didn’t have PageMaker but he had Illustrator on his computer so that’s why I first did the bit with converting my PageMaker job to Illustrator. This was a large 6 page menu and it took him several days but it looked great and cost about $300 instead of $3,000 to print, now he wants to do everything this way. Since the quantities are small it works.

He then took it to the printer who had quoted the job and had it laminated which disturbed the printer no end. Now he’s talking about buying his own laminator.

If I had been smart I would have offered to do the printing myself, I could afford to by 5 new printers with the profit from one job the things are so cheap now.

Mike

 

[viol8ion]

If he is saving $2700 he can certainly afford to purchase PM and use it. It makes jobs so much more simple to use the proper tool for the job. PM is a DTP tool, Illustrator is a graphics tool. To try to use AI as a DTP app is possible, but a lot more work and you have a lot more that can go wrong.. as you have found. That is just my opinion. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[Eggles]

And believe me, laminators and the laminating pouches are not particularly expensive, so you could set up a whole new business!!

 

[Nohjekim]

I agree, today I composed one page in Illustrator, that I had already finished in PageMaker.

While there are a number of drawbacks the main one I found is the lack of a Styles Pallet.

I usually change all of my specs through it.

If I get to the end of the Page and I just can't get it to fit, then I can change the leading for all the body copy, or the space before or after headlines, whatever for the whole document at once and see instantly what the results are.

That's hard to beat.

If I get to the end and decide that all the Item Titles look too small, zap they are all bigger.

And of course the main thing is that once I have worked out the first page transferring all that to the rest is a snap.

Mike

 

[Eggles]

Mike

I work with a guy who does all his layout (including an 80+ page catalogue) in Illustrator. When i first started there about 4 months ago, I couldn't believe he did that, but apart from knowing that Ill allows only single page layout, couldn't think of any other reasons why it was such a dumb idea. Every page has to be in a separate file (yeah, yeah, I know you can toss a few out on the pasteboard, but i mean really....).

But now I know of another compelling reason as to why it's not a good idea to do layout in Ill of anything with more than just a few words of text. Good point you have made about the lack of a Styles Palette (I couldn't cope with either).

 

[viol8ion]

My friend does 4 page and 8 page newsletters in AI. She will multiply the size of the work area by the size of the number of 8.5 x 11 pages and lays out as if they were imposed for press. It works for her, and for the life of me I can't understand WHY she would do it that was as she does own PM. It would drive me absolutely nuts trying to work that way. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com