Digital printing presents some unique challenges when it comes to design, but with some basic design conderations, you can create jobs destined for digital printing that look great and fly through production! Learn about the software tools and best practices for dealing with color, transparency, PDF creation, variable data and more at my hands-on Mac lab at PRINT13® in Chicago, IL titled Digital Print Design: 20 Top Tips ‘n Tricks. Here’s a sneak-peek: 1. Always color correct images in the RGB color space When images are converted from RGB to CMYK, you lose color information—a lot of it. As a result, you (and Photoshop) have fewer colors to work with, or average, when attempting to make color changes to an image. Also, when images are converted from RGB to CMYK, you’re creating the black separation and reducing the amount of CMY in the image at the same time. Depending upon how much CMY is eliminated in the separation, it can be very difficult—or even impossible—to make color adjustments to an image. 2. Test your fonts Freeware fonts are readily available for download all over the Internet. Some of these fonts can contains restrictions the prohibit PDF creation and printing–something you may not find out until you’ve finished designing your job. Before you design your project, it is always best to test the font. First, activate the font on your system. Then create an InDesign or QuarkXPress document using that font. Finally, export the page and try to create a PDF. If the PDF is created without any warnings, then the font can be embedded.  3. Avoid large solids While lithographic presses have the ability to reproduce solids evenly, toner-based devices have a  tendency to mottle, show unevenness, or even banding. This is because ink and toner are radically different materials. When toner is applied to paper, it is dry. Toner is not actually absorbed into the paper fibers, instead,  it is fused to the sheet using both heat and fuser oil, creating a bond. Consistency lies in how evenly the toner was applied to the paper, and how evenly it was fused to the paper. If tints and large solids must be used in a design, there are some ways to help counteract the uneven  appearance associated with toner-based devices. First, try applying a filter (Photoshop Add Noise or Texture filters work well) to the large tint or solids. Another option is to also break up large color areas with other design elements such as text, images, or illustrations.  4. Folds Because toner is fused to the paper surface and not absorbed like ink, it can be more prone to cracking along folds. Thin lines, rules, and headline text across a...

Digital printing presents some unique challenges when it comes to design, but with some basic design conderations, you can create jobs destined for digital printing that look great and fly through production! Learn about the software tools and best practices for dealing with color, transparency, PDF creation, variable data and more at my hands-on Mac lab at PRINT13® in Chicago, IL titled Digital Print Design: 20 Top Tips ‘n Tricks. Here’s a sneak-peek: 1. Always color correct images in the RGB color space When images are converted from RGB to CMYK, you lose color information—a lot of it. As a result, you (and Photoshop) have fewer colors to work with, or average, when attempting to make color changes to an image. Also, when images are converted from RGB to CMYK, you’re creating the black separation and reducing the amount of CMY in the image at the same time. Depending upon how much CMY is eliminated in the separation, it can be very difficult—or even impossible—to make color adjustments to an image. 2. Test your fonts Freeware fonts are readily available for download all over the Internet. Some of these fonts can contains restrictions the prohibit PDF creation and printing–something you may not find out until you’ve finished designing your job. Before you design your project, it is always best to test the font. First, activate the font on your system. Then create an InDesign or QuarkXPress document using that font. Finally, export the page and try to create a PDF. If the PDF is created without any warnings, then the font can be embedded.  3. Avoid large solids While lithographic presses have the ability to reproduce solids evenly, toner-based devices have a  tendency to mottle, show unevenness, or even banding. This is because ink and toner are radically different materials. When toner is applied to paper, it is dry. Toner is not actually absorbed into the paper fibers, instead,  it is fused to the sheet using both heat and fuser oil, creating a bond. Consistency lies in how evenly the toner was applied to the paper, and how evenly it was fused to the paper. If tints and large solids must be used in a design, there are some ways to help counteract the uneven  appearance associated with toner-based devices. First, try applying a filter (Photoshop Add Noise or Texture filters work well) to the large tint or solids. Another option is to also break up large color areas with other design elements such as text, images, or illustrations.  4. Folds Because toner is fused to the paper surface and not absorbed like ink, it can be more prone to cracking along folds. Thin lines, rules, and headline text across a...

Just as a pilot performs a number of system checks on the airplane before take off, it’s important to make sure that a print project doesn’t contain any serious errors that will prevent it from printing successfully. Preflighting for print production is about examining all of the components that make up an eventual printed piece and comparing them against a checklist of potential known issues. If they “pass” the check, the job can move forward in the print production workflow. If they “fail,” something has to be done to correct the problem before proceeding. It is by default a methodical task that is typically performed by prepress personnel (no one wants to reprint a job because an error wasn’t found in time), but designers should also preflight their work before they send it off to their printers. Software tools and a checklist are both critical to the preflighting process. Some of the things that a typical preflight checklist helps you examine: Layout issues: Does the physical size of the layout match the specifications? Are all page elements there? Was the job created with a professional desktop publishing application? Are bleed elements there? Do graphic elements abut (will there be white gaps between objects)? Are any of the rules set to a thickness of “hairline,” or are they made up of a screen build? Fonts: Are they supplied/embedded properly? What type of fonts are they? Are they from a valid foundry (i.e., will they RIP)? Were they menu-styled? Has any type been set to a very small point size, and is small type made up of a screen build? Images: Is there sufficient resolution for the printing or output method? Do the images contain unsightly artifacts? Is the ink density of shadow areas too high for the type of paper that the job is being printed on? Are the images compressed and, if so, by what type of compression? Color: How many colors are supposed to print? What color space are the images/layout objects? Is RGB color used? Are spot colors indicated correctly and consistently? Which color swatch library was used? Effects: Was transparency or other special effects used? Is transparency live or will it have to be flattened? Does the file contain layers? Are they all supposed to print? Are there annotations or other non-printing objects in the file? In addition to application preflight tools, there are also web-based preflight and delivery tools and PDF creation and printer drivers that have preflighting built right in. These software-based preflight tools can detect many errors, but some problems require manual, human inspection and intervention. Knowing what to look for is half the battle—that’s where the checklist comes into play. Download a...

Last week, Printing Industries of America presented the Optimizing Color from your Digital Press workshop to a sold-out audience. The workshop—which focuses on what it takes to produce reliable, high-quality digital output on digital presses—was the perfect blend of classroom instruction with hands-on learning in our production laboratories. Dave Dezzutti and Greg Radencic, co-workshop leaders, both concur on the success of the program. Dezzutti said, “The attendees were extremely pleased with the content and techniques presented, and were able to take what they learned back to their own facility and implement them right away.” The overall workshop score of 4.7 out of a possible 5 also points to the success of the program, as well as the satisfaction of the attendees. As one attendee states, “beautiful facility…enjoyed myself and would definitely come back for more training…” This popular workshop will be offered again in May 2012 (exact dates TBD)…watch for it on www.printing.org/training. You’ll want to register early as there are a limited number of seats for this...