Chapter 11 and 12

Chapter 11 gives tips on how InDesign works.

Graphics:

rectangle frame tool 

InDesign accepts a variety of image formats, but there are some that don't mix well. InDesign gives you the opportunity to use QuarkXPress and PageMaker. It's usually helpful to add a frame first then place the image in it. You would either use the rectangle frame tool or the rectangle tool. I prefer to use the rectangle frame tool because it shows an "x" between the rectangle and that helps me remember to put a picture in there. When placing an image into your rectangle box, go to file > place, select your graphic, and click anywhere on the box.

Good ways to drag and drop:
There are other ways to bring in graphics besides file > place. One method would be to directly drag the image from a folder. Gather up the files you you wish to distribute, click on the InDesign document, and that first click will deposit your graphic wherever you click. You can also drag and drop from Adobe Bridge.

Bad ways to drag and drop:
One method you CANNOT do is drag and drop from Adobe PhotoShop. This causes the size to differ, the image will become RGB even if you saved it as CMYK, it leaves you with no information about your resolution, and it gives you no link to PhotoShop.

The links panel is your guide to know missing links. It shows you what are missing, what needs updated, and what needs modified. When a graphic is used multiple times, the links panel will show a triangle as well as a number of how many times used. To find a missing graphic, select the link name in the links panel list and choose relink at the bottom of the panel. It will navigate you to your documents where you will choose the same graphic file. If you want to update a modified link, click its entry in the links panel list, and select the update link from the panel. Only that link will be updated. If you want to transform an image, there are several ways. Select the frame with the selection tool, and then you can use the scale tool or free transform tool to transform the graphic. You could also add in the coordinates of horizontal and vertical percentage field. you can also just use the direct selection tool (white arrow) to transform. A drop shadow is unique way to almost show that something is 3-D. All three Adobe Software such as, PhotoShop, Illustrator, and InDesign, are all able for you to give an object a drop shadow. You can either use the "just one click away" effect or you can use a custom drop shadow in PhotoShop. Next I will tell you about swatches. The swatches panel is almost the same as the color panel. The icons on the right column does not indicate whether its spot or process, but indicated the color mode used to generate the onscreen appearance of the swatch. The column with the dull gray icons indicate if it's spot or process. The purpose of the ink manager is to fix spot-color errors by remapping extraneous colors to correct inks. The must be only one spot color. You can access this icon from teh swatches menu or separations preview panel menu.

How to use the ink manager you should simply click on the spot color you want to remap. Then choose the correct color in the list and you're done.

Chapter 12: PDF tips

PDF'S usually are made from Acrobat, but they were first made out of Illustrator and InDesign. When you choose various feature settings, it is when you decide what kind of PDF you are creating. You can choose from the smallest file size, standard size, high quality print, press quality, and many more. High quality print is commonly most used. The standard, small size, and press quality give a hint about what kind of PDF file you are intended to create. A PDF complying with one of the PDF/X-1a stands for " exchange." The most commonly requested PDF for print is PDF/X-1a. To comply with such PDF, it must:

• have CMYK images or spot color
• have embedded fonts
• have trim edges of pages defined
• have bleed limits defined.

You have to export rather than use distiller. Why? Because exporting is a lot faster and easier. A distiller's purpose is to convert PostScript to PDF. If you want to edit a PDF, it is possible but you really shouldn't have too. If there is spelling or grammar missing note that you could edit the PDF. When editing text, use the touch up tool to highlight text and change it. The funny thing is that you can edit a graphic easier than text. Us the touch up object tool to select the graphic for PhotoShop or Illustrator. 


source: "Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Application" by Claudia McCue.