MCG blog

Every now and then we get a client that provides us with a final PDF for printing. But the PDF is saved without crops or bleeds. I have typed up instructions for your use.

Here is how to save you a PDF with crops and bleeds If using InDesign

Open the document in InDesign.
Go under the “File” drop down window
Select “Document Setup” – a window will open.
On the bottom you will see a section called “Bleed and slug”
Add .25 into the “Top, bottom, right, left”  bleed areas.
Click “OK”
You will now see are red rule all the way around each of your pages.
Open, or enlarge your art to touch that red line.

Save the document

Now we need to make the PDF

In InDesign go to “File” dropdown window to “Adobe PDF Presents”
Select (PDF/X-4 2008)
Click “Save” but do not EXPORT yet.

You will see on the left of the export window 7 categories:
General, Compression, Marks and Bleeds, Output, Advance, Security, Summary.

Under “General” Make sure the “View PDF after Exporting” is on also at the top under “Compatibility” change the setting to “Acrobat 7 (PDF 1.6)”
Next, click on “Marks and Bleeds” Click on “All Printers Marks” also click on “Use Document Bleed Settings”

Do yourself a favor before hitting export, at the bottom left you will see a button for “Save Preset” click on this and name the preset something like High Res crops/bleeds” so the next time you need to do this you will have a preset setting. This will save time in the future.

It is now safe to “Export”
When the PDF opens you should see that the file has crops, bleeds, and all the other printer marks.

This should do it.

When providing photos to your designer/ad agency. Please do not alter the photo in any way.  Do not pull photos off a web site and expect that it can be used for print. Do not take a photo with your camera phone and expect that the resolution is good enough for print.

The bottom line is your camera needs to be at least 5+ megapixals in order to be used for print. At 5 megapixals your photo may only be used at around 4 inches wide at best. A Professional digital camera is at least 10 megapixals and the newests professional cameras are over 12 megapixals.

Good news though, many new point and shoot digital cameras are starting to have very a high megapixal range. I have seen new point and shoot cameras that range between 10 – 14 megapixals.

Just remember the higher the megapixal your camera is the better the resolution and the better your pictures will look in print.

Cheers
Mike

When designing a magazine, newsletter, or booklet. Page count is always considered. Most people may not realize that booklets that are under 64 page count (roughly) are generally all saddle stitched. What is saddle stitch you ask? Saddle stitch is a way to bind your booklet together using staples instead of perfect binding the booklet together which uses glue and has a spine.   Saddle stitch is much more cost effective for short run, low page count booklets.

An issue that people don’t realize is that when you use a saddle stitch booklet your page count needs to be divisible by 4. That means your booklet will need to be either 4 pages, 8 pages, 12 pages, 16 pages, etc.

I have had to many clients not understand that fact. They try to cut down the pages by eliminating one or two pages, leaving me with one or two pages that need to be filled.

Take a look around your home. Look for a local newsletter that you might get from a local school, church, or business. You will see that it is bound with staples. Now look closer. The pages that appear to be letter size (8.5 x 11) are actually tabloid size (11 x 17) that have been folded in half then stapled together. This means their are 4 pages to one sheet of paper.

Keep this in mind when planning your next publication.

Cheers
Mike

Resolution

So many of our clients come to us wanting to use images they found on the internet for their print media or a shot they took with there pocket camera. It is hard for them to understand why we can’t use the image for print.

I am going to try and explain it in a nut shell.

Most images found on the internet are low resolution, 72 dots per inch (dpi). Printing requires 300 dpi.

OK, why can’t I just open the images in photoshop and change it from 72 dpi to 300 dpi. Well, I guess you can but if you don’t resize it proportionately your image will become blurry and pixilated. I call it the “oatmeal” effect. Your image will look like oatmeal.

Photoshop tries to add in pixals using an algorithm that does not work very well. So please do not send your designer a photo that you took on your camera phone or give them an image found on the internet and hope that they can use it for your print jobs. it just not gonna happen.

Let me explain more. All cameras shoot at 72 dpi even the professional cameras. The difference is professional cameras shoot at a very large pixal width (4000 pixals by X pixals and greater).  Your camera phone shoots at a much smaller pixal width

What a designer will do with a professional photo is convert the image from 72 to 300. They have to make sure that it all resizes proportionately. What does this mean? Well 72 divided by 300 is 4.16. Your image will now be 4.16 the size of the original photo size. For example a 5″ x 7″ photo at 72 dpi will now be 1.68″ x 1.2″ at 300 dpi.

If you give your designer a photo that looks big on your monitor, chances are it is not going to be big enough for print media. So always talk to your designer about what is acceptable. Be prepared to set up a photo shoot or use an image off a stock image site.

M