Without a Clue...! [Archive] - Graphic Design Forum

TTHacken

05-28-2006, 07:46 AM

Hi all,

my friends and I are traditionally trained artists and writers without any design training amongst us.

We have assembled a large quantity of original work executed on A4 size paper. Our desire is to turn this into a perfect bound A4 publication.

We have started to scan the work in at 300dpi using Photoshop CS2.

The problems have started to emerge from here.

Should we add 'bleed' to the A4 image size? If so how much and on what sides?

When I have done this PS just leaves an empty boarder around the scanned image that I then have to scale to expand. Is this the right thing to do?

Does the choice of 'colour manager' matter?

Is CYMK at 8 bits with 300dpi good enough for printing art?

What should the background be, transparent or white? The problem is most of the original A4 paper is white and is scanned in as white. Should I (somehow - no idea how?) turn all white into transparent? How will the printer treat white and transparent - differently?

And the big question: say I get all the pages ready in this single A4 format what do I do then? How should I assemble them for the printer?

I greatly appreciate any sharing of knowledge you may offer.

TT

panzer

05-28-2006, 09:24 AM

you have the basic problem here mate or should i say loads of em :)
first of Photoshop is not the horse you want to be riding for your project
hmm sorry
you do your photos in PS nothing else
you need to put them in a page layout prog / say quark or indesign
i feel you need help in this otherwise your problems will get greater when you take them to the printer
if you put all your pages numbered in quark or indesign the printer will easily be able to sort them its very hard for me to explain as you can see :( but seriously you could do well in getting a designer on board just for this project he will be able to steer you round the pitfalls/ for me to explain bleed and all this stuff here would take too much space
in a page layout prog like quark etc you bring the images into a picture box then you import the text it really looks the part/ doing it in photshop can be a nightmare and 8 bit should be okay yes, as for your bleed 3 to 5 mill all round should do well enough

panzer

05-28-2006, 09:26 AM

for a start your printer will at least put a3 size plates on his machine so that will be 2 pages together and then you have imposition how big is your book etc if its say 16 pages 1 and 16 will be on one a3 plate and 2 and 15 will be on another

cjoe

05-28-2006, 10:12 AM

If you have the resources, i am a fan of getting your work scanned at as high a resolution as possible, and resampling for each application of the scan. I always like to consider my bleed when first producing, scanning or photographing artwork, i.e. you produce art that is bleed inclusive. The only time that you should see the effect of bleed is in your layout program or somthing like illustrator, where you can define your document bleeds, in production or preproduction. When you scan in photoshop, your bleed won't appear as bleed in the sense that photoshop will define your bleed area. I guess the way to overcome any problems with bleed would be to scan at a higher res and resample and resize, so that you are maintaining a level of dpi but upsizing slightly to give yourself a bleed area. For a4 size 3mm bleed is good, i say this because this is what i always use, the large format guys such as PrintDriver may say somthing differently, e.g. use an inch of bleed.
The basic thing about colour management is that you are consistent, and that you have some kind of reliable reference. Basically if you stick to a consistent scheme then you should have consistent colour from application to application. e.g. imaging to layout. Where most people fall down is that they dont have properly calibrated gear to display colour that would be consistent in all facets of production. This is probably where a designer could be of greatest help to you.
8 bit CMYK is okay for printing, of of the printing or prepress gurus might me able to explain this better in terms of printing side of things.
At the printer end, there is no difference between white and transparent depending on the print process. Basically there is no white ink, so the printer doesn't print it, unless its a specialist process (some printers will overprint black on white to give a better black). I'm not sure about the technical side of dealing with transparency in the postscript environment, again a guru might elaborate on this... I guess if you look at your separations and there is no ink on the plate, then its transparent.
As for print preparation a layout program is a good start, e.g. Indesign or Quark. I'm pretty sure the printer should do all the pagination (setting the pages on print plates) for you.

PrintDriver

05-28-2006, 01:01 PM

Far too many questions here to make a successful book project happen.

Either hire in a designer or a design consultant
or
Talk with your publisher. They should have the resources to be able to set you up.

Kool

05-28-2006, 02:20 PM

A quick note about bleed. Bleed area is going to be cut off! If you just expand your image to fill the bleed area then any important parts of your image which fall into the bleed area will be trimmed off by the printer.

Without seeing one of the images it's hard to explain but say for instance your image fades to black all around. You would then make your canvas size twice the size of the bleed area on both axis. So if your final image is 8.5 x 11 and you want a 1/8" bleed all around you would make your canvas size 8.75.x 11.25. Then place your image into the exact center and fill the bleed area with black.

I wouldn't hire a designer as a consultant on this job, I would hire a pre-press expert. Some designers know this stuff but unfortunately not all do. I could help you with this project, PM me if you want to discuss it.

TTHacken

05-28-2006, 03:43 PM

Thanks all,
I feel like I am getting somewhere: 3mm bleed all sides, white/transparent equal, 8bitCYMK 300dpi good enough, need Indesign.

@cjoe: problem is the art is all done and none of us was thinking about having to include bleed BUT (luckily) we have kept all essential details (text etc) away from edges with the expectation of losing the borders on the bleed cut.

the real problem here is that we are just starting to digitise the images. This is a genuine pre-press/printing issue as there is no design to be done. We simply want to turn what we have into digital 'versions' for the purposes of 4/c printing.

I can rephrase things: say I was going to give you (an designer/pre-press expert) the digitsed files how would you want them? PSDs, JPEGs?

If I tell you they don't currently have bleed would you want me to resize them or would you want to do that yourself? How would you want me to resize them?

This is a high-end art fanzine that is going to be sold for no profit in zine and art shops in NYC, London, Paris and Berlin. It is self funded and we cannot afford to pay a lot for a designer which is why I am trying to do as much as I can myself. But at the same time we obviously want things to be done right...

Any advice you guys have on the conversion of A4 original art to digital 'versions' for printing will be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
TT

Kool

05-28-2006, 04:04 PM

Gromit801

05-30-2006, 04:42 AM

TT, do NOT measure your bleed in milimeters. The overwhelming vast majority of printers still do everything in 1/16" increments.

Talk to your printer first.

PrintDriver

05-30-2006, 11:29 AM

He can do it in mm if he is in the EU.
:D

jimking

05-30-2006, 11:49 AM

Thanks for the PM TT, I'll answer it here. Talk to your printer. They are the only ones who can really answer these questions. If you don't have a printer yet stop everything and find one now. This will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.
Yes, listen to kool, get yourself a printer and sinse it's a perfect bound job get a good printer. Time and effort aren't the only thing you'll save, you'll save money too. It sounds like you could be in over your heads.

rickself

05-30-2006, 12:33 PM

And absolutely DO NOT save your files as JPEG. You lose resolution with JPEG the second you hit that save button and resolution you will never get back. Save as PSD files and let whomever handles the printing decide what format to use from there. Archive the scans in PSD format and you won't have to scan again.

One thing to note...we used to do a lot of artists' original scanning and you will need somebody experienced in color correction. Matching paint and canvas to CMYK is not an easy task.

Good Luck!

Eggles1

05-30-2006, 01:31 PM

He can do it in mm if he is in the EU.
:D

...or in Australia or for that matter, probably most of Asia. Come to think of it, everywhere except the USA.

Since the original poster mentioned using A4 paper, which is a metric paper size (210mm x 297mm), then using 3mm bleed is eminently sensible.

jimking

05-30-2006, 01:42 PM

Color correction as rick said is going to be a big issue. Also you mentioned that you moved the text away from the bleed. This can end up being an issue also. For example did you move the text .0625 or .25? Is your text margins equal? Are they too close to the trim etc...

urstwile

05-31-2006, 03:59 AM

Yup, 3mm bleed all around is kinda standard for many of the European pubs I release artwork to.

"Technical" Terry

05-31-2006, 01:30 PM

Scanning warning!!

If you scan white areas and you expect them not to print, be sure to check your levels in photoshop. If the white area is not perfectly white some inks maybe applied there to try and make the gray color that is there (not pretty). If possible always crop out unwanted areas in Photoshop. You could also crop in your page layout, but why store all that extra data that you don't want anyway.

P.S. find out what LPI (not dpi) your printer is going to use for your project. You should scan your images at 2X the LPI (more importantly make sure the effective ppi, when placed or scaled in your page layout program, is double the LPI) ie. you may scan at 300 dpi which is correct for 150 LPI, but then you scale your picture 25% larger and now your effective dpi is only 240.

TTHacken

06-01-2006, 12:07 PM

@ terry:
thanks, scanning is what I am "trying", and I want to emphasise that, to do right now and it is freaking me out. Basically all the whites are appearing as roughly 10% grey or a weird light blue. I keep having to scale back what I can do myself and am about to find out: nothing!

I take on board the PSD files idea. I have upped resolution to 600dpi. At most there is 10% scaling on every page to account for bleed.

But I can't even get this part right! How do I scan white as white? Who would have thought that would be a problem? (answer: you all...)

And yes I am EU based so 3mm is good...

"Technical" Terry

06-01-2006, 01:49 PM

First thing to do is make an adjustment layer for the levels. This can be done by clicking on the "ying-yang" symbol at the bottom of the layers pallete and choosing "levels".ying-yang The easiest way to correct the whites is to click on the clear eyedropper in the dialog box (far right one) and then click on the part of your image that is supposed to be white. However, this doesn't work its magic all of the time. Otherwise, adjust the three triangles under the box with all the lines. The white triangle defines what should be white in the picture, black = black, and gray = medium gray. When satisfied, click OK. The cool thing is you have not altered your scan in any way by doing this. It is a separate layer that you can turn on and off.

You may notice now that your colors have shifted or not as desired. After adjusting the levels, you can now color correct by applying another adjustment layer. "Curves" is considered the "correct" way to adjust, but it is pretty powerful with a bit of a learning curve. I suggest either "Hue/Saturation" (the most simple) or "Channel Mixer" (for a little more control). Which ever way, play around and get a feel for what works for you. If you don't like what you have done just delete the adjustment layer and apply a new one.

Good Luck. It's time consuming and very subjective.

TTHacken

06-01-2006, 05:28 PM

@terry:
amazing practical advice that was easy to follow and effective! Terry were you in Berlin Germany you would have just scored yourself a beer and an introduction to some very interesting people (girls...). I was with a female artist from The Slade School fixing her scans and she was in hysterics over how well it went...
I am going to keep at it will be sure to let you know when the next problem arises (read: soon!). Thanks!!

Broacher

06-01-2006, 06:21 PM

>>my friends and I are traditionally trained artists and writers without any design training amongst us<<

That's a scary statement. Don't artists, traditionally (vs. what? Untraditionally?) trained ones at that, cover a lot of the same ground we graphic designers do? Even writers work with many of the same principles and devices when they compose. We're tied more to commercial reproduction, that's true-- but we all start with creativity.

I realize you're probably not aware of it, but in this statement you're making the mistake of equating 'design training' with digital prepress training. It ain't necessarily so either. There are still some great designers who are relatively hopeless at the digital side-- AND a lot more mediocre (or less) people who call themselves designers who are nonetheless, absolute whizzbangs at delivering the best printed reproduction you can get for your buck. But that knowledge comes from a lot of hardwork and experience-- real work experience too. Not just the Googled or bookstore kind. And that kind of experienced-based skill costs money.

If you want to risk translating your quality creative into mediocre reproductions by 'rolling your own', then you're not serious about the quality issue, the way that most people who call themselves graphic designers really are. And if you're not serious about that--why come here at all? See, I don't think you can have it both ways: that is, plan ning self-managed high-quality reproduction while relying on on-line professional graphic design advice.

If you truly want quality, and respect what that can mean to not only your end result, but your longterm repuations, take PD's advice and seek out a good, local designer to handle this with you. Do you have any printed samples kicking around from your group where everyone agrees that the repro quality was acceptable or even great? Find out who printed/designed it and contact them. I can tell you one thing-- if your artwork/writing can hold up it's end to the quality going in, it will inspire any designer/printer worth her/his salt to do their best to maintain that quality as it get translated through the press. And doubly important if the ultimate objective of the printed piece is promotion, or retail (there's that ugly commercial compromise again!).

The best art deserves the best design, the best design deserves the best printing. Sure, there's always lots of production compromises--especially in a collective anthology of work from different artists-- but you need to have someone right there who can guide you through the decisions that knows what they're doing, and has the best interest of keeping your work's end value at it's very highest, from start to finish.

It may seem like a lot of money compared to the relative 'freebie' route you're dealing with now, but you should carefully consider what a difference quality reproduction can make to the value of the finished piece here-- and the converse: what a disaster to your credibility and future reputation can result if it's handled poorly.

Good luck.

"Technical" Terry

06-01-2006, 07:16 PM

I agree that professional work should be handled by professionals. However, I find that most learned processes are best learned through trial and error (not just in graphics, but in all aspects of life). With this thinking in mind, it does not do much good to criticize because it usually falls on deaf ears. Also, there are many times that the budget just can't get stretched that far.
Having said all that, I will gladly take a couple of minutes to help out (technically) and make a project the best that it can be. If someone is unhappy with the results, then at that time they can sit back and evaluate the best route to go. (Unfortunately, learning from the mistakes usually costs much more money than going the professional route to begin with, but such is life.)

TTHacken

06-02-2006, 07:14 AM

if someone needs help with their project and someone else has the knowledge and kindness to help with a few sage words then that is good thing... a VERY good thing.

yeah yeah - professionals do it better, know more etc etc: that's kind of stating the obvious isn't it?

PrintDriver

06-02-2006, 10:54 AM

I think Broacher was pointing out that it is the quality of your product that suffers if you attempt to fly blind based on the input of a few posts in a graphic forum. Not that anyone is steering you wrong but there are so many levels to book publication that you won't get it all here.

The 'scan it yourself' thing is especially worrisome to me because no matter what the image looks like on your monitor when YOU are done with it doesn't mean that is how it will print. Even if your monitor is finely calibrated things can still go nuts at the rip.

Also you say you are scanning at 600dpi. Many general use scanners available out there for under $200 only actually scan at 300dpi and interpolate (guess) what is supposed to be there to make it 600. Make sure the uninterpolated ability of your scanner is actually 600dpi or higher.

For high end stuff it is very advisable to get the art scanned by the people doing the printing. If shipping art around the continent is not possible, good quality 35mm slides with standard color/gray bar included in the shot will work.

Just please don't tell me you are scanning digital camera shots printed from an inkjet... :eek:

Talk to your printer. They may be able to better help you get where you're going.

Broacher

06-02-2006, 01:46 PM

Thanks for clarifying my concerns, PD. Spot on.

Only thing to add would be to talk to your printer specifically about your quality concerns. If they can't produce samples of what they're proposing, or if they do and you're not happy with what you see, or you feel like they're trying to change the conversation, etc.-- talk to ANOTHER printer. Don't shop entirely by price alone. Good printers understand that it's your image and not just your cash, that they should be focused on. Heck, even if you can't afford a good local designer to help you directly, take one out to lunch and ask them to recommend the best printer for your situation. And as everyone knows, we're more than generous with our expertise after a free beer or two-- and maybe an ego stroke for good measure.

TTHacken

06-03-2006, 11:11 AM

PD: I think the scanner is ok: says on spec sheet max. hardware resolution 1200x2400 dpi.

The psd files are coming out massive (well for me) but I think it is better based on the advice here to keep them pss rather than generate JPGs.

I think what I am going to do now is do all the scanning so that I have something to show the printer and just hopefully not degrade the quality or do something wrong...

Broacher

06-03-2006, 03:16 PM

The only time you'd need to realistically go above 300 dpi for print work is for linework. And in that case, as 1 bits, the files would still be very manageable and small. Simply throwing more resolution than that in the scan won't help your detail in anything that's greyscale or colour as it has to go through a halftone screening process--or possibly, at more expense and technical difficulty, going to a waterless stochastic screen method.

Anyways, without seeing the work it's difficult to know if you can separate the line work from the tonal work easily, or effectively. Talk to a printer or a designer first!

TTHacken

06-04-2006, 07:53 AM

orkaknos12

06-04-2006, 05:45 PM

Unless you're printing volume in the thousands with a tiny cost per publication, I would avoid going down this road for a 'zine. Full books cost a huge amount of money to layout and produce. Zines are usually read by kids and thrown out 2 blocks from where they're picked up. You'll basically be throwing money in the fire with no suitable audience target. If you're just trying to get your name out there, you may be better served using the web (perhaps you could even use a web form to get a customer list for your zine if you're going to print it more for the aesthetic value) and handbills/posters to generate traffic, since the web's still a pretty level playing field and you can update it all the time and a good handbill or poster will get people looking. It's a bit more of guerrilla marketing, but you'll generate a lot more buzz and save more money using traditional advertising techniques to get people to visit your site instead of outlaying a ton of money on which you'll never see a return.

-Jon

PrintDriver

06-05-2006, 12:00 AM

Don't assume it's a 'zine' for children.
There are plenty of fanzines out there written for and by adults (with or without active consent of the subject of the fanzine, LOL!). I've seen some decent perfect bound books that contain fan stories and art. Not something you'd throw away and depending on the subject can be collector's items in some circles. I've had offers on an original edition fanzine book of over $120 in the small market that would buy it. I got it for $14.95.

Ovaltine

06-05-2006, 03:37 AM

@Broacher: so do you think 300dpi would be enough? I realse you are saying that there is a difference based on 'line' but I think everything is either greyscale or CYMK colour.

Also, I don't understand the '1 bits'? Is that the option where it says Greyscale 8 bit etc...? Maybe I can use 600dpi @ 1bit? Is that right?

Ta.

Are the images you're scanning to be placed at 100% of actual size, or will they be placed at greater than 100%? at 100% 300dpi should be fine, but if you're going to scale it more than (I think) 120% then you need to scan the originals at a higher resolution.

Seriously, if you want quality printing, you need to bring in a good designer, or pre-press person.

TTHacken

06-05-2006, 07:52 AM

yeah PD you have the idea - we are talking highly limited edition sold through specialist zine shops and art galleries. Not for kids and certainly not for throw away either...!

I have to scale for the bleed: all the originals are A4 so I need to make them slightly bigger in the places where we want the images to run to the edge of the page - nothing like 120% though, closer to 110% max... and usually smaller...

rickself

06-05-2006, 10:47 AM

I don't understand the '1 bits'? Is that the option where it says Greyscale 8 bit etc...? Maybe I can use 600dpi @ 1bit? Is that right?
Ta.No. 1 bit is precisely that - 1 bit. Try a small greyscale scan at 8 bit and at 1 bit...there's no greyscale in the 1 bit. Maybe for lineart but not for greyscale art.

"Technical" Terry

06-05-2006, 02:24 PM

1-bit graphics have only 1 bit of data for each pixel. 1 bit can only be represented as either "on" or "off". The visual result is each pixel is either 100% white or 100% black. There is no color and no shading or "in-between" values. 1-bit graphics can usually be seen in basic clip art, technical drawings, simple logos, etc. To see the effect of 1-bit on an image, simply click on "Image>Mode>Bitmap" in Photoshop. In the dialog box, select any of the modes (I usually use 50%, which makes everything above medium gray become black and everything below becomes white).

If you find that 1-bit is the way you want to scan a file, the 2x lpi rule does not apply. Instead, you want 1/2 the dpi of the film/plate. Usually, I see most shops run at either 1800 or 2400 dpi, but you'll need to ask your printer for thier specifics.

TTHacken

06-06-2006, 07:38 AM

Ah - thank you re the bits. Yes we have nothing that is 1 bit possible. Even the balck and white stuff we do have is full of subtle greys.

OK - so at this stage I am scanning everything in at 300dpi 8 bit CYMK or Greyscale and having to scale around 10%. The supa advice from Terry means that everything that is supposed to be white is looking nice and squeaky clean white. This means that my files are around 40MB psd files which is hopefully just under 4GB.

Is there anything that might cause me a problem that I haven't thought about in terms of saying to the printer these are my digital files? Is 300dpi really enough?

The PS document ('canvas') size I have customed to 216x303mm. Which gives a 3mm bleed on the standard 210x297 - I hope this was the right thing to do.

urstwile

06-06-2006, 09:02 AM

TT,

I've remained silent thus far but now I just can't remain silent.

What does your printer ask of you? If it's true that you're going into this project without the help of a designer or production person, your printer will be more than happy to help you with some of his or her requirements for your final files. Unless they're shady, and frankly, most of them are too busy for that. But better safe than sorry.

This is not to shut you off from asking questions, but you really do need to ask your printer, as each printer has different requirements, and that will make a BIG difference in your final output.

You sound like you've absorbed some of the principles, but really, your printer is the one handling the final output and thus, they are the ones with your printing life in their hands. ASK THEM! They will, unless they're unscrupulous, be happy to tell you whatever you need to know in terms of their requirements. No Joke!

Whenever I'm getting ready to try something new or unfamiliar, I always call the destination printer beforehand to make sure it's kosher, and then modify my workflow from there.

They're making money off of this project, they'll be more than happy to help you. Really, trust me, call your printer!

TTHacken

06-22-2006, 07:50 AM

OK - an update here - see what you guys think...

most of the printers have asked for PDFs. The format is fine for me as setting the bleed etc is easy, so no problem they want PDFs they can have them... but do I want people printing my zine from PDFs? Is there a quality issue here? What is the best way to convert to PDFs? I can save as PDF from PS or I can create PDFs in Acrobat using TIFFs generated from PS. What do you all think?

All my specs are fine by every printer I have spoken with so things are looking good - but I am worried about some of my colours - you know that thing about not exceeding a certain percentage of colour saturation? Can I ensure that all the colour ranges in my documents are fine?

Thanks,
TT

jimking

06-22-2006, 10:13 PM

I believe you've created the whole book in Photoshop? If so, I would insist that they except your native files. As a prepress tech, I would place them in Quark or Indesign and then run it through my work flow and output colorproofs. Since the printer has the native files it would be much easier to make color corrections. You could even ask the printer if it's ok to sit in while they adjust the color. You would learn some tricks I'm sure.

TTHacken

06-23-2006, 07:29 AM

Teej

06-23-2006, 10:39 AM

That's correct TT, 100%K is what you want to use for your text. "Registration" is used for exactly that, it is a color which prints on all plates (C, M, Y and K) and usually only used on registration marks (there's a surprise!) that the printer uses to trim and fold your document down to finished size.

If you're concerned about colour issues then ask whoever is printing it for colour proofs when you've finished the artwork. It'll cost you a bit more, but boy oh boy can it be a lifesaver!

twogun

06-23-2006, 10:46 AM

...or in Australia or for that matter, probably most of Asia. Come to think of it, everywhere except the USA.

Since the original poster mentioned using A4 paper, which is a metric paper size (210mm x 297mm), then using 3mm bleed is eminently sensible.

here in the UK you MUST work in mm, imperial is never used here!!

jimking

06-23-2006, 10:39 PM

That sounds like a good idea JK - so I should let the printer worry about the colour issues? I do have at least one document now that is an INDD... but created from PSD files and imported text...

I have been reading that 'registration' black is a no-no, but 100% actual black - as in the K in CYMK - is all right isn't it?

This is the procedure. You should receive contract color proofs and a folded, trimmed, printed both sides, mockup of your book called either a Dylux, Blueline or Digital lores proof. When you receive your proofs, compare them with the originals. There will be a difference because the cmyk gamut is much narrower than rgb. The trick is to get the colors to match as close as possible. The printer will likely charge extra for doing this. To save money, ask the printer if someone can show you the proper way to adjust the colors. When a color correction is completed the printer will output another contract color proof of only the corrected pages for approval (this will cost extra). This is important because these proofs are used by the pressmen to match on press. Be very careful when checking the proofs!! Check for every kind of error like typos etc.. Keep in mind, when you sign off on the proofs there's no going back after it's printed unless it's the printer's fault.

TTHacken

06-25-2006, 07:52 AM

cool JK - will make sure I go through those procedures...

I am thinking now that an INDD file is going to be the best thing to bring all my images and text together in one file rather than a PDF. But the 'linking' still comfuses me. I have gathered that the PSD files don't actually go into the INDD, just a JPG preview and that really the PSD file is just referenced. Questions:

1) The printer needs all the linked files as well as the INDD?

2) If the linked file is moved then the link to the INDD is broken and needs to be updated?

3) How do the links stay in place if the linked files are given to the printer on seperate disks - does the printed have to re-link them?

Thnx guys,
TT

Kool

06-25-2006, 12:39 PM

1) The printer needs all the linked files as well as the INDD? Yes make sure and send them all.

2) If the linked file is moved then the link to the INDD is broken and needs to be updated? Yes, but not a big deal.

3) How do the links stay in place if the linked files are given to the printer on seperate disks - does the printed have to re-link them? Again yes, but not a big deal. Pre-press people virtually always have to re-link the images. http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/koolsmiley.gif

rickself

06-25-2006, 01:58 PM

3) How do the links stay in place if the linked files are given to the printer on seperate disks - does the printed have to re-link them?
Prepress willl never work off of your original disc, although this isn't nearly the problem with cd's and dvd's as it used to be with zips and (gasp!) floppies. All files are copied into a job folder and the links will update automatically.

jimking

06-25-2006, 03:00 PM

Also, do not embed your graphics.

TTHacken

06-26-2006, 07:01 AM

Thanx heaps guys - this project is starting to shape up nicely with all your help - I really appreciate it!

urstwile

06-26-2006, 09:30 AM

The Package command in Indy will gather PSD files. All linked files in fact.

In the File Menu>Package. You can tell it to update the links in the packaged files, although that's kind of worthless if you're burning to a disc, since as already posted, printers expect to have to relink files.

The main bugaboo is not the relinking as much as the file that wasn't included on the disk that the printer needs to relink. They (and formally I) would copy the files in such a way so that's not necessary (i.e., all files in the same folder, not subfolders). It's S.O.P. for a printer to copy stuff to their server, rarely, if ever, will they print straight off a disk.