Printing PDF files as books by a service bureau 2

[susolov]

My service bureau contact swears he cannot print PDFs to book formats, and he insists on having the native PageMaker file. He says he needs to rearrange the pages in the PageMaker file to make documents into the "perfect" binding format. I know that pages in a PDF can be arranged. And, it is easier than rearranging PageMaker files. The printer charges $50/hour for rearranging the PageMaker files. My question is, can PDFs be printed in book formats? Are there printing software issues that may prevent publishing rearranged pagemaker files for a bound book format? Does anyone in the Houston area know of a reputable printer I can use? I appreciate any help I can get.
susolov

 

[MarcusStringer]

All you have to do, is supply the printer with a PDF running from Page 1 to whatever (single pages only not as speads) make sure they contain trims and bleeds. and your job is done...
If he can't deal with that without charging you money then get the phone book out, look up printing and stear clear of the Backyard fools which it sounds like you have gone to...sorry but it does...

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[tgreer]

Any professional printer will have the ability to arrange pages into various printer spreads and imposition forms as part of the production process. It is not a manual process and should not incur any upcharge.

It can be done pre-RIP with any number of tools, including many Acrobat plug-ins, or on the RIP itself.



Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting

 

[tgreer]

... thanks for the star. I notice you also asked for a good printer in the Houston area. I used to work for Consolidated Graphics. I'm not their biggest fan to put it mildly, but I have to admit that in spite of themselves they do own some very good printing companies. In Houston would suggest Western Lithograph. You can email me (email address on the website) and I'll give you a personal contact name there.





Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting

 

[susolov]

I really appreciate all the help.

Here are a couple more questions about preparing the PDF for the service bureau:

1. In printing terms, what do pre-RIP and RIP mean? (Marcus)

2. I have not set trims and bleeds in a PDF file before. How can I do this? (Sorry, I haven't tried online help yet.) (Thomas)

3. Can the service bureau produce a book by downloading our color PDFs from our Web site and prepare it for printing? The PDFs are downloadable. (Anyone)

Here's some extra information:
I'm a technical writer (7 years), and mostly, I've produced online documents. Before starting work here, whenever I needed to publish a document, the service bureau guided me through the requirements.

I've been at this company for 1 year. And, my supervisor told me that they have used the current service bureau for 20 years (interesting!). Since I am a member of the a trade organization, Society for Technical Communication, I'v learned enough to have a vague idea that our service bureau may not be state-of-the-art on publishing solutions.

susolov

 

[tgreer]

I'll answer number one, if I may.

A "RIP" is a "Raster Image Processor". It's a hardware and/or software (or combination) device which interprets PostScript language programs to produce a raster image specific to the output device. The dots on that hit the page, in other words.

Most RIP devices provide workflow options, so that a RIP operator can specify job options, such as which paper trays to pull from, whether or not to insert slipsheets, and if so, where, finishing options such as inline binding. Critically to your question, most RIPs also manage page signatures. That is, they can take a file organized into "Reader Spreads" and automatically reorginize the PostScript stream into "Printer Spreads", including changing the page size from 8.5x11 to 11x17 so that four pages print on a single sheet. This is as simple as, usually, clicking a single "checkbox" on the RIP.

Sometimes, it is advantageous to rearrange the file before it hits the RIP. This is easy to do with PDF files, since they are organized internally as a collection of objects. Changing the page order just means resequencing these objects.

A search at pdfstore.com:

http://www.pdfstore.com/category.asp?CtgID=6

shows several products that work as Acrobat Plug-ins for imposition. You could buy one and do your own imposition, sending your service bureau a file that is already organized in printer spreads.

These programs will also do your trims and bleeds.

3rd question: if the PDF is print-friendly (which these programs can also address through "preflighting"), it doesn't matter how it is delivered. Email, Web download, whatever. It's all good.






Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting

 

[MarcusStringer]

I'll just add,
In you print window (in pagemaker) there is a bit which lets you select page size also "printers marks"
For bleed you need to extend any pictures or colours (or anything that touches the edge of the page) by about 5mm.

Also I would suggest that anything which was produced to be place on the web is not at a resolution which would produce a quality print job

If you need more info let me know...

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[tgreer]

Marcus - good point about work produced to be placed on the web. But just to clarify, he was asking about web delivery of a PDF, which is just fine. Make sure that the PDF is produced with "press" or "high" quality job settings, and the delivery doesn't matter.

Thomas D. Greer

http://www.tgreer.com

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting

 

[MarcusStringer]

Thomas - Yeap, your right, I should re-read some of this stuff...

Enfocus Pitstop, will put Trim marks on your already created PDF's
Crackerjack from Lantana will as well.
You can increase bleed from Pitstop, but I wouldn't, I would remake them, that way you Native files (Pagemaker) are up to date.


I would also advise (sorry Tgreer) not to do your own imposition. I don't think your printer guys will like you very much. Also They know what their machine specs are in regards to all that....

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[susolov]

Marcus and Thomas,
Thanks for the extra information. Our company has a long-standing relationship with our service bureau, and they seem very happy with him. Whenever I bring up the fact that documents can be can be published from the PDF, I get the *invisible door* slammed in my face with stong comments to the contrary. Now, maybe I can back up my claim after I research and study the technical information you have provided.

susolov