HOW TO SET UP THE DOCUMENT
- Select new document and then decided how big the document will be, you also must decide if there will be collums and Margins, throughout each page, these are guide and will help to make the document more consistent if you are making more than one document.
- Check the Bleed guide, making it easier to extend without it getting chopped of the page when its printed
- When doing so discuss with the printed, check the paper and the colour system, in order to make the bleed correct.
- Standard Bleed is 3mm (but confirm with Printer)
- Slug- the area around the document, used for printer marks etc, not as common as the bleed,
CONSIDERATIONS
- Page size is very important
- How big is the printed product that you are wanting to produce?
- Considering weather it is a Postcard? Poster? Book? etc.
- It is rear that you will ever chose the pre-sizes that are already on offer for you
- Width/Height can alter the size of your page
- Columns and margins are working with a grid. This will give you constant guides.
- If you need constant amount of white space especially when adding text the margin guides will allow this to happen
- easier to position your text/ images
- Gives you consistency
INDESIGN DOCUMENT
- Bleed is to do with trimming/edge of the document.
- Anything that goes to the edge of the page should be extended off the page.
- There is a common bleed amount which is 3mm standard bleed.
- You should always speak to the printers for their advice or to make sure that they will work with your paper stocks, spot colour reference, bleed, file formats.
- 3mm standard bleed.
- Always confirm that this is the amount with the printer before going ahead and setting it to print.
- The slug is another area around the page,which defines an area outside the page that will print.
- Not as commonly used as the bleed.
- I have set a 20mm slug area but this can be set to preference of the designer/printer.
- Another consideration will be the number of pages that is needed for your document. This is most important if you are producing a book or publication.
- The document
- The Blue line is the Slug line
- The red line is the Bleed
- The black line is where the Original document size and the Purple is the text frame/Margin
COLOUR
The apply colour you apply the fill to the frame, the same as in Illustrator,
if working with text, there are two separate buttons, on will apply colour to the back ground and one to the actual text.
- Like in Illustrator, colour always has to be applied to a frame. So you can use Frames or Shapes. Frames can contain text or images, or just for a block of colour
- When applying colour in indesign you have to apply a frame first.
- Any shape frame can be used to add colour.
- applying colour to the the frame
- Preset CMYK colours
- The coloured box shape at the side of the CMYK colour is an indication that you are using a CMYK process cloud on your artwork
- The box next to the CMYK box is showing that this is a Global colour- enabling you to create tints with the CMYK colour
- applying a fill or the stroke of the frame
ADDING TEXT AND SWATCHS
- Select any swatch and click new tint swatch.
- you can click ADD before clicking on DONE so you can get a nice list of tints without having to mess around
CREATING A NEW COLOUR SWATCH
Very similar to Illustrator, go to swatches then add a new swatch, to use spot colour then use Pantone, you can tell if it is a spot colour then you can see in the colour palette grid.
PREPARING YOUR IMAGE FOR IN DESIGN
PHOTOSHOP FILE
- If working woth colour then images should be CMYK, convert your imgage before you save, if working in black and white then grey scale is ok
- Resolution- 300 DPI
- Images must be actual size, if you enlarge the image in in deign you with lower the resolution, if you make it smaller, then it causes additional problems, when it comes to printing.
- PSD or TIFF, use a PSD when using layers, it allows you tow work with transparency, TIFF wont support transparency.
ILLUSTRATOR FILE
- Ai copy and paste
- CMYK mode, as it is vector based it doesn't change the quality of the image.
PLACING AN IMAGE
- File > place > selected images > open
- The two spot colours will automatically be added to the swatch palette with the image.
- Links palette gives you information about the images
- Links palette- status of image etc.
- Duotone image (2 spot colours )
Colour will automatically come up on the screen in Indesign, you can copy and past straight form illustrator into indesign, in order to get a more precise image.
If you are woking on a one colour palette, you can select the image by, clicking on the circle in the centre of the image and then changing the colour in the colour swatches, this will change the colour so that it works in one colour with other tints.
- You can copy straight from illustrator into indesign
- Edit>Paste
- When pasting from Illustrator you don't have to worry about linked images as you've literally just using vector shapes which are editable into Indesign. Still high resolution.
GREY SCALE
- One colour print jobs
- Can replace the black with any other colour and only works with greyscale
- TIFF file
Transparent Background:
If you want to delete the background then put in Photoshop and double click on the Layer and it will separate the image and the background into to separate layers, the use the magic wand to select it and delete the background, then save a a PSD file, you can then place it back into your Indesign document.
- If you need to edit the image in Photoshop you can right click the image
- Edit original or edit with
- Alt > double click - This is not useful so we need to set it up for photoshop
- Changing preferences
- Cmd > i > open with
- Change open with to photoshop allowing you to edit the image
- Layer > double click on background layer > ok
- Select magic wand tool> delete
You can check the colour settings in order to prepare for commercial print,
if you chamge the separations in the palette drop down, this allows you to look at the colour separately
COLOUR SEPARATIONS
- What happens to the Indesign artwork when sent to printer?
- CMYK and spot colour - what happens to them?
- Open separations file
- This is a very simply Indesign layout
- Offset Litho has a plate per colour CMYK - 4 colour plates
- Spot colour- 1 plate
- Cyan, Magenta, yellow and black layered ontop of each other
- Turning the colours off except for cyan
- this technique is similar to screen printing
- This creates the negatives for printing with screen print process
- Pantone colour selected will bring up the spot colour area of the image separating the colours
- The price of the print job is determined on how many inks they are
- Remove the unwanted/needed spot colours
- how many positive are going to be output?
- Litho print uses this / digital print doesn't
- File > print > setup > output - this allow you to chose if you want positive colours
- 5 Inks - 1 spot colours - 4 CMYK
- 5 positives
The lower the frequency of an image the closer the dots are making the image darker or lighter. sometimes the printer can overprint, trapping can be applied when overlapping colours, it helps with registration, when printing.
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