The program prepares the design layout for printing. General rules for preparing layouts for a printing house

How to prepare a vector file for printing. General descriptive article) For the Russian version of Illustrator
First of all, check with the publisher where you plan to print for layout requirements. Often they do not hide such information. On the contrary, they are posted for public viewing. Like, use it! Do not be shy!
For example here

A vector file is not an abstract phrase. This is a vector image created in a vector editor, often Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.
And there is also a bitmap image - created in, for example, in Adobe Photoshop
The difference between a vector and a raster is as follows: A vector is created using mathematical formulas that describe the properties of the curves (color, direction, length...) And thanks to this mechanism, the vector can be scaled without losing image quality. That is, increase to nothing. A raster consists of pixels (small squares that are visible when the picture is greatly enlarged). So the picture is made up of pixels. And the number of these pixels is countable and limited. For example, an image is 3000 pixels wide. and height 2000px. To figure out how many pixels (sometimes someone needs it), we multiply the width (3000) by the height (2000) and get 5 million pixels. I will say that this is not enough for Shutterstock. The picture is not very big. To check how the picture looks in real size (approximation) when we print it, go to fsh in the "View" and "Print size" menus.
Why am I writing about a raster here, if I need to talk about a vector? And then, that you still have to re-save (export) a copy of the vector file to a raster. Make a preview. So it is necessary) So that people can see what you drew there. Because the preview is a viewing file, a file for viewing. I won’t write about export - off topic and boring) Just go to the menu "File" "Export" and select the jpeg format
What can be in a vector file? Illustration, logo, layout (business cards, postcards...)
Precisely because a vector can contain different images, each has its own special requirements. Most requirements for the logo: The logo is most often made in two colors. And these colors are assigned to this logo. They shouldn't change. And they should be displayed exactly in the color they were assigned. The color is taken from the palette. Palettes (basic) are:

RGB (used for screen viewing)
CMYK (use for printing)

A color is made up of numbers. For example R=130 G=130 B=130
Red ( R ed) 130 Green ( G reen) 130 and Blue ( B lue) is also 130. So is CMYK.
The logo may not use the standard palette, but Pantone. If you don’t know much about this palette, don’t touch it) Let the customer tell him what color to put. Pantone is more expensive to print than just CMYK.

Let's move on to the general requirements for the vector. In Adobe Illustrator
Color model (palette) СMYK. I draw in RGB and save in it. Then, when it's time to send the layout to print, I press File - Document Color Mode CMYK

Parse text into curves and everything else. "Object" "Disassemble"

In the pop-up window, check the boxes "Stroke" "Object" Do not touch the fill.

A normal vector should not contain a raster. Throw out all photos and other pictures from the layout)

Guides(indentation from the edge of the picture). Here it is desirable to find out the dimensions in mm from the printing house. If you don’t know, then set the standard indents of 3-5mm. What kind of guides are these? - When printing, the edge of the picture should be marked with guides. And designate one more edge of the picture in a smaller size.
How to do it. View Rulers Show Rulers

And right-click on the ruler, select "mm"

Now click on the ruler and drag it down. Got a stripe? This is a guide. Place it exactly where the top edge of the picture ends.

Once again, drag and set the guide just below the edge of the picture. As if cutting off a piece of 5mm. Yes, there should not be important elements. If there is something important in your picture in this place - move it down) Otherwise, this element may be cut off when printing)
Now let's place the guides on the left, right and bottom.
It turns out this beauty:

As you understand, the yellow square is our layout)
It is also important to check that:

transparency was missing (if there are, go to "Object" "Transparency processing" and set the parameters

line thickness was not less than 0.5mm
black should be 100%

If you are not sure that your vector will print well, or you just didn’t understand everything from my chaotic descriptive article, then just export the vector to tiff (bitmap format) in good resolution. But what if you need it urgently? To do this, open Photoshop. Open the vector folder on your computer. And drag the vector into Photoshop with the mouse. (it's more comfortable for me)
In the pop-up window, try to choose
300dpi (quality)
8000px (width)
color model CMYK 8bit
Click OK. The file is rasterized.
Click "File" "Save As" And select the format tiff
Printing house will accept for printing.

In contact with

classmates

From this article you will learn

What are the main stages of prepress layout preparation
What requirements are important to consider when developing a layout
What are the features of prepress layout preparation for flexo printing
What happens if you ignore prepress

Prepress preparation, which is otherwise called prepress, is rightfully considered one of the most important stages in the process of creating a high-quality printing product. Tasteful design and good layout cannot produce good results without proper media handling. In order to create printed products of any level of complexity, it is important to understand the basic principles of the technological process of preparing a layout for release into circulation. This procedure allows you to get rid of significant errors and, therefore, saves time and money.

Why do you need prepress

It is this process that determines how the finished printed product will look and is responsible for its quality.

Prepress preparation is designed to understand how the layout meets the technological requirements and meets established quality, based on the materials of manufacture of the product, as well as the planned volume of circulation. Sometimes the customer puts forward his own individual conditions, which must be taken into account in the process of work.

Often you have to bind the layout to the requirements of a particular printing house that will print.

Before you transfer the finished product for release into circulation, be sure to check it for errors with the utmost care, since the slightest flaws made through inattention can lead to unpleasant consequences in the form of material losses.

Prepress preparation and its stages

Stage 1. Design (a layout and general project statistics are being developed).

The first step in creating a project is to carefully plan the exterior design. In order to start implementing a conceived strategy, you need to have a clearly articulated overall concept, a holistic style, and a vision of the end result you are striving for. It follows that prepress imaging is the design of the project, which serves as the basic basis for further actions and is the foundation that affects the entire structure of the work. well-formed external image The value of a product largely determines how much it will be in demand by the target audience, which, in turn, directly affects the profit from the sale of this product.

Prepress design preparation is usually a lengthy procedure. It is interconnected with many other aspects, and also requires careful concentration and close attention. This is due to the fact that a well-designed design provides a quick return on investment in the shortest possible time. Final result at this stage, it should attract a potential consumer, be distinguished by simplicity and, at the same time, originality. Also, special attention should be paid to the selection of background colors.

Stage 2. Layout.

The most important condition for this process is prevent the location of significant elements near the cut line and in the spine area. Usually the size of this value is at least 5 mm. Particular attention should be paid to bonding using the CBS method and sizing along the spine - in this case, the fragments should be at a distance of 7-8 mm from each other.

Then elements should be correctly positioned on the strip, going to the departure (English bleed), the size of which must also correspond to the established parameters, usually 5 mm. With the correct placement of objects, it is important not to allow any distortion. For this reason, sometimes it is necessary to increase departures. One of the main aspects of the work is the proper arrangement of images on the spread. It is advisable not to place people's faces in this area. Additional difficulties arise when fastening the KBS, since in this case it is necessary to make a separation. It is also important to take into account that with the SSHR binding method, the outer notebooks are longer than the inner ones. Printers who design impositions in Preps 5.3 do not have the automatic page shifting feature because the program does not do it correctly. This must be taken into account in the process of work. You can make the shift manually or refuse large objects placed near the cut line. Thus, the layout and prepress preparation at this stage is carried out.

Stage 3. Color correction.

This procedure is also necessary before releasing the finished product for printing. The vast majority of advertising media in one way or another needs correction, during which the original layout acquires its natural colors. It is best to prepare a sample of the future product, in which you can display the planned shades, so that it is easier to correlate it with the final result.

Usually, the color corrector has two stages of working with images that make up a well-organized prepress process.

First carry out preliminary (primary) image processing. This stage usually includes color correction, clipping, total ink limit in accordance with the selected type of printing and paper features. Source files are also renamed according to conditional requirements (names must be with Latin letters, no spaces) and the images are saved in the desired format, usually tiff and psd.

The next step is that the color grading specialist works with layout. Increases overhangs as needed, converts images to 100% scale and sets resolution according to selected print scale. This process ends with the processing of illustrations.

Stage 4. Work of the prepress operator.

This specialist starts working with the material already studied and corrected by the corrector.

The main tasks of the prepress operator are to check the layout in terms of compliance with the technical requirements of the printing house and subsequent recording in PDF format. This, in turn, requires proper OS environment configuration and program setup. A prepress operator has a great responsibility, because the efficiency of the whole process depends on how competently he performs his tasks. The specialist must have a certain set of knowledge of the basics and standards, as well as an excellent understanding of the technical requirements. A professional operator is familiar with the most common types of printing defects and makes every effort to avoid them.

Stage 5. Production of printed forms.

To carry out the manufacturing process using the offset method, a printing plate is needed. For this purpose, two main methods are used: with film (the procedure consists of 2 stages) and without it.

The first technology has been used for quite a long time. On a specialized device, a photoform is output, which later goes into printing (CtF technology). Another method appeared relatively recently and nevertheless is very promising. Its advantage lies in the fact that it performs the operation in one step - displays printing forms on CtP.

To use either of the two technologies, the resulting file must be converted to a format that will be read by the output device, otherwise this procedure is called rasterization.

This process is quite complicated, and for its implementation you will need a very powerful computer, which, using special programs (RIP), will translate the existing document into the format you need, usually PostScript or PDF.

In the case when the product manufacturing procedure takes place in 2 stages, the file generated during the conversion process is first printed using a special photographic film. The result obtained is used at the next stage of manufacturing a layout intended for further implementation. The peculiarity of this stage is that offset plates are printed in special copy frames using photoforms. As a result, finished products are obtained, which are subsequently installed in the printing machine.

The shortened process, which takes only 1 step, is easier, since the photographic film is excluded from the shaping procedure. After converting the document to the desired format using the RIP program, it is not displayed on film, but a special polymer is exposed, used as a printing plate, after it has been developed.

photo output(CtP, CtF) is a method that today is considered quite promising due to the fact that it is of high quality and takes less time. But its use has a number of disadvantages, so many customers prefer the more traditional method of making molds.

So, we have considered the main stages of prepress, but each case is individual and has its own characteristics, without which your product will not fully comply with the declared sample.

Prepress Layout: Important Requirements

Dimensions.

In the event that you need to prepare graphics for printing, and not in in electronic format, it is important to observe the basic principle: work with real dimensions. For example, if you need a 5x9 cm business card, then you need to create a layout in accordance with these parameters. This rule is simple, but very significant. If you need a document or graphics in A4 format, you should create a file of this particular scale. When designing a flyer, it is also important to take into account its physical dimensions during the manufacturing process. The parameters must be exactly the same, not approximate.

Remember the main thing: the monitor screen is measured in pixels, and the printed product, whether it is a flyer, business card, sticker or booklet, is measured in millimeters and other standard units. In order to build a work in real scale, in the process of creating a file using Photoshop or Illustrator, immediately include physical units.

Permission.

If the parameters of a standard printed photo are 10x15 centimeters, then how to understand how much it will be in pixels? To understand this, you need to focus on the resolution of the image, also called resolution, which is measured in dpi and ppi. As a rule, one pixel equates to one dot of paint. Their number in a unit of measurement indicates how much graphic information it contains. For example, with an image resolution of 1 dpi, 1 pixel equals one inch, and the photo format would be 10x15 pixels.

The quality of the image that is saved at a resolution below 300 dpi is low, and, accordingly, the photo is fuzzy and blurry. Pixels become noticeable and the finished printed layout doesn't look the best. in the best way. Resolution over 300 dpi is visually difficult to perceive. Therefore, you must select an appropriate size before saving the file.

If you need to print a photo using a digital printer, a resolution of 150 to 250 dpi will do. For a street banner, 90-120 dpi will be enough, since such products are not looked at close up, but only from a long distance, which means they do not need detailing.

Fonts.

For this purpose, it is desirable to refer to the PostScript library.

Also do not use system fonts, such as Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times New Roman.

Different operating programs may have certain differences between themselves, which, in turn, can lead to a number of problems, for example, incorrect word wrapping.

Don't use hotkeys when you need to change the font (add italics, underline or make it bold) because given function can be performed in different ways, depending on the characteristics of the output device and the degree of resolution. In order to avoid such troubles, use only original styles.

Line thickness.

Different programs have their own characteristics, which subsequently affect the thickness of the lines. Also, this parameter depends on the resolution. Don't use thin hairlines.

As a rule, it is recommended to set the line thickness to 0.25 points/pt (0.1 millimeter). They don't have to be thin when you're making multicolor images. The mandatory minimum negative line thickness is 0.5 pt/pt (0.2 mm).

Color: RGB or CMYK.

The main disadvantage of a huge number of layouts is that they are designed and saved in RGB format. In fact, this option is only acceptable for electronic gadgets such as PC monitors, laptops, and so on.

What is RGB and how does it work? Three light sources are meant here - red (R), green (G) and blue (B). Changes in the ratio of their brightness indicators make it possible to obtain a variety of colors. For example, maximum value(255) for these three sources is white, in turn, the minimum is black, which implies a complete absence of light.

This scheme is typical only for electronics, and we are now interested in paper and derivative materials. For printing, they use a completely different system, CMYK, which includes cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and other primary colors (K). The last one is usually black.

When creating a layout in vector, it is recommended to use the color scheme, available to the system CMYK, because there is a risk of getting an overly bright image that does not match the original version, which does not look the best way and, moreover, dries for a very long time.

Also, during the prepress process, it is necessary to take into account the features of the color profile of a particular printing technique, then you can guess in advance how a particular device recognizes shades.

In the case when you work with offset printing, use the CMYK program, since it is designed for it. The picture is made on four canvases, which are subsequently superimposed on each other. In this case, RGB will definitely not please you with its results, unlike the situation when you use a home printer or make a layout for digital printing, whose devices fit this format perfectly.

Black color.

This hue in RGB looks great until the ink soaks into the paper, which has a certain level of transparency. Thus, the initially saturated color noticeably fades and does not match the finished sample at all.

In this case, you can use composite black, which is obtained by combining C:60, M:60, Y:60, K:100. But this option is not suitable when you work with small objects or fonts. Misalignment can occur during the printing process and you risk cyan or magenta smudges over the letters.

Grey colour.

As a rule, achieving this shade is also quite difficult. There are two ways to help you with this:

Black gradation values C:0, M:0, Y:0, K:50;
Combination of values С:47, M:37, Y:37, K:0.

The first method is more reliable, and in difficult situations add 5th color with Pantone.

Cut lines.

Here, the page size must strictly correspond to the parameters of the finished layout. The stock should extend 3-5 mm beyond the trim lines. Be careful if they are located closer than 10 mm to it, so as not to "chop off" a piece of text or other important element.

In the case when you are working with glue binding, consider the effect of the spine on the text passing through the spread. As a rule, a margin of 6 + 6 mm is enough. Also in such products, pay attention to how the side sizing affects the inside of the cover. It reduces the area of the front and back pages by 6 millimeters on the side where the spine is located. It is very important that the paper is firmly glued. To do this, it is necessary that part of the cover on the inside is not covered with paint.

Foil stamping and embossing.

This method is the most popular and consists in the selective application of a metallic coating on the impression. It draws attention to itself, allows you to contrastly highlight the part of the image that is of the greatest importance, helping to concentrate on the main thing.

Materials to be foiled must have the embossed area marked. The image is sent to the printing house as a separate file, or it must be marked with an additional color in the same layout.

Embossing elements should not be less than 0.15 mm in size, and the distance between them is 0.25 mm. In the process of making clichés for embossing, be sure to consult with a specialist (manager) whether you can get the desired result on the material that you plan to use.

Cutting, cutting (punching).

Cardboard packaging, various advertising structures, folders, pocket calendars, labels, postcards, envelopes and other printed products are made using punching, which is used to give the material a unique shape. It is obligatory to mark the contour of the cutting of the material in red, the creasing in green, and the perforation in yellow. It should be submitted to the printing house as a separate file or attached to the main layout.

Application of selective UV varnish.

This technology is used to achieve a three-dimensional image, to give additional gloss to the coating and to highlight the main elements of the layout.

The area to be varnished must be indicated on the print media. It must be submitted to the printing house as a separate file or highlighted in an additional color.

As a rule, an area of at least 0.5 mm is varnished, with a distance between fragments of 1 mm, and the creasing and the cut line of the manufactured product are left uncovered, especially when we work with a surface laminated with a matte film. In the area of \u200b\u200bthe fold and cut, the varnish will depart.

Laminating.

This option is used in a situation where high requirements for the quality of the layout are combined with high rigidity and thickness of the advertising structure. The image is then printed on an offset machine and glued onto the prepared substrate. Products such as laminated microcorrugated gift wrapping and POS materials are made using this method. When transferring the layout for printing, a margin of 25 mm is taken into account around the entire perimeter in a spread.

Overprint.

Offset printing uses four colors of ink - magenta, yellow, blue and additional black. During the manufacturing process, various situations occur. For example, we need to create black text on a pink background. To do this, we pre-print each of the four colors separately, on different paper, which are then combined. Thus, on one sheet there will be black text, and on the other - a pink background. There may be a certain error in the process of connecting them, which can be avoided if you work with small fonts. In this situation, we use Overprint, which means printing over the combined channels. Then there will be no empty gaps, because the black font will be located on a pink background. In addition, the shades will become more saturated.

Trapping.

This is an alternative variant of a competent combination of colors of different channels, which is a light overlay of one shade on another. Referring to the previous task, here we will use a barely noticeable stroke near the letters of the text, which will protrude beyond the pink background area. In this way, the likelihood of a gap can be minimized.

File formats.

If you are working with an open recording option, you should carefully ensure that all the material in this file remains with it: font, image, and so on. This approach will save time and facilitate the prepress process.

What are the features of prepress layout preparation for flexo printing?

In the process of preparing a raster image for flexographic printing the main problems are dot gain and "fine screen" printing(in the range of 1-4%). A set of actions is aimed at solving these difficulties.

Manufacturers of printing plates can provide screen output from 1%. However, if you are working with an image that has highlights of 1, 2, and 3 percent coloration, or the file has a transition from black to 0% through 3%, 2%, and 1%, then you may experience certain errors. The picture on the monitor screen and color proof looks correct: 1%=1%, 2%=2%, etc., but when the file is printed, 1, 2 and 3 percent can be added, and visually they are perceived as 4% . That is, the printed impression no longer corresponds to the planned sample.

To solve this problem, consider a number of tools and their application.. The specifics of the work of the printing house provides for printing large volume standard layouts. These can be the same images or similar ones, the variations of which are repeated in a huge number of orders. That is why the set of tools should be universal so that it can be used to work with any layout. Simply put, in order to edit two identical photos that differ only in size and layout, you need to use methods that allow you to quickly make changes from one file to another.

There are several possibilities:

Fix the 4% setting on each CMYK channel by creating a separate layer and filling it with the shape of the image, then using the Darken function.
"Trim" the raster to 4% by forming a separate layer with a correction curve, in which indicators up to and including 3 percent are cut off.

Both of these methods degrade the image quality: in the first situation, the picture will turn out with a grayish tint and the contrast of light tones will decrease. In the case where the second method is used, breaks appear in the light areas of the layout. The third method, called "Pure Colors", will help us avoid such problems.

For this conditionally parse the image into color sectors. Using the "Channel Mixer" tool, opened in a new layer, "polluting" channels are removed. Using a mask, select the desired area in the image. A separate layer is created for each color sector, then visual hue correction is performed. At the same time, some of the "polluting" channels go to Black, and the rest is distributed to other channels. After they are removed, an additional one is created on top of the existing layers, using Darken fills, into which 4% is “dragged” in other sources. Optionally, you can use existing masks.

To check the raster up to 4% in the image, use the Inpet 3 curve, which is located on top of all layers. So all layout values that have an index greater than 3% will look like a solid, and less than 4% - like a raster.

There are also a number of special cases to consider:

You can use the Channel Mixer to add detail to individual channels where there is less contrast.
Those images that do not contain deep and dark shadows can be produced without the participation of Black. In other words, distribute it over 3 channels, then "tighten" 4% in all CMY sources.
Image objects containing White color, it is desirable to process only in Black.
If you are using older devices, it is advisable to use no more than two channels.
In order to correct the color, brightness and contrast of an image, you can turn to a variety of tools. The main thing is that they have the necessary set of editing capabilities and the finished result can be transferred to another file.
You can change the Darken property to Multiply when the light detail is between 1 and 4%.
If a large area is allocated to dark shades in the file, it is necessary to take into account the Tolal ink limit criterion, which is 360%.
Composite black has a composition: C:90, M:87, Y:85, K:98.

What are the stages of book prepress?

This is a very time-consuming and lengthy process, consisting of several interrelated stages.

At the first stage layout making:

They form and approve the typing strip of the publication and design: the width of the margins, headers and footers, column numbers, determine the font, the presence of line and letter spacing, and other points. It should be borne in mind that the features of the selected and approved typesetting strip will affect the volume of the publication as a whole;
All primary material is transmitted: text (electronic or handwritten version), images, tables, diagrams, etc.;
Requirements are set for the design of the cover, as well as the arrangement and creation of illustrations.

At the second stage, after the rough (primary) layout is formed, it is printed out and transferred to the proofreader, which checks the text for errors (spelling, grammatical, repetitions, etc.). At the same time, work begins on the creation of sketches for the cover, and also engaged in image processing. The illustrator begins to prepare the drawings.

At the third stage, the finished cover and illustrations are approved. Then the checked materials are transferred to a specialist, who, in turn, installs them in the layout file.

At the fourth stage, the processed whole text, including illustrations and content, is printed out and submitted for re-checking along with the results of the first correction in order to correctly evaluate the changes made. Additionally, they control the added images, captions under them, the table of contents and pagination.

At the fifth stage, the finished layout material and the cover layout are handed over to the customer for his approval or comments. The text is then subject to final proofreading. The layout and cover are recorded as an imposition layout (in PDF format) and sent to print. This completes the pre-press preparation of the publication.

What difficulties do printers face if prepress is ignored

If you bypass such a significant stage in the creation of a product and transfer an unverified layout to production, then you risk discovering a huge number of errors, since any defect, error and inaccuracy in color and much more will directly affect the finished product during the printing process.

There are a few common mistakes that can be made:

Using OLE objects, in other words, elements pasted using the clipboard, such as Excel tables, Word charts, or Photoshop images. Apply this method during file preparation is prohibited. Through the clipboard, you can only paste text that is in typing mode. If OLE objects were used, then the material is sent for revision, or the printing house does not guarantee high-quality and correct printing during the production process.
Super high resolution (more than 300dpi). It is widely believed among some designers that good quality printout depends on how high the resolution level of the raster graphics is, while this significantly increases the print time of the product. In addition, if this indicator exceeds the capabilities of the printing device, you risk losing fine details, and, accordingly, the quality will decrease.
Lack of refills (bleed) is one of the most common mistakes. If the document has wide internal margins or you used vector graphics, then this problem can be easily solved using the scaling method. The situation becomes more complicated if the composition of the publication is disturbed when the layout is enlarged. In this case, it is necessary to reconsider with the client, and the layout is sent to correct the identified errors, or the printing house provides prepress for an additional fee.
Exceeding the total ink limit by 300%. Here we are talking about the total percentage of pigments that are used at a certain point in the image. The most convenient way to control the utilities is Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, Acrobat, and this function is also available in specialized programs that carry out prepress. A decrease in the amount of colors entails a decrease in the tonal range of the image, and an increase in this parameter, in turn, can result in contamination of the sheet turnover, especially when paper is used. high density or cardboard. Oftentimes, designers tend to go over the paint limit. But if digital printing allows this, then in offset this parameter is 300% or lower (260%), depending on the characteristics of the paper and its density. As a rule, the sum of colors in bitmap graphics is exceeded due to an incorrect RGB to CMYK conversion profile.
Using effects. Tools that regulate transparency must be converted to a raster, in particular this applies to the CorelDraw program.
Use of both raster and vector RGB objects. The main sources of RGB in vector graphics are office suites that correspond exclusively to this color model, and conversion of publishing software formats, usually from Illustrator to CorelDraw.
Using ICC profiles. When saving images in a layout, these tools should be avoided because they cause color distortion. This applies to regular profiles available in various image processing programs, and not to those used in the printing house. If your layout included any image that doesn't match the specific printing process, it should be resaved in Photoshop without being marked as embeddable.
The lack of trim margins is the most common mistake. The reason lies in the ignorance of the features of the technological process. If there are no objects on the strip close to the cut edge, then the material can be mocked up and a clean size can be set. It is important to take into account the fact that the distance from the main elements of the sample (for example, contact information, logo, etc.) to the cut line must be at least 3 millimeters. Otherwise, it may happen that you receive a product with a thin strip running along the edge. This happens if finished products(flyers, booklets) are cut in a pile, which is impossible to make perfectly evenly - there will always be several sheets that will move relative to each other in different directions. And in this case, even a small error of 0.5 mm will be noticeable, which will spoil the appearance of the product as a whole.

Layout: order a designer or do it yourself

Good design is expensive! Let's not go far for examples, remember the excitement around the red letter "P" in Perm.

Perm logo. Studio Art. Lebedev.

It was created by Artemy Lebedev's studio. Not so long ago, the same studio launched an express design service for a “small and poor” business for 100,000 rubles.

What? Are you seriously? Startup pay a hundred for the design?

Sometimes for a small business, 1000 rubles for the design of a leaflet is an expense item that can be waived. Make it on your own.

Words photoshop And Corel Draw for a long time do not cause bewilderment of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. After watching a few lessons and getting acquainted with the tools of the programs, you can make a layout yourself.

This logo was made by a girl after listening to a design webinar

We've made a layout, what's next?

We send the layout to the printing house. Here we may encounter the fact that the layout is not prepared properly. For example, if you chose manual layout upload when ordering on Smartprint.rf, then a prepress file preparation specialist will check your file for errors and correct them.

Usually our customers receive a similar letter after checking the layout.

The file has already been corrected. But what to do if the printing house requires you to make corrections yourself. In this article, we will talk about how to prepare a layout for offset printing. There are general requirements for preparing for all layouts and features for certain types polygraphy.

General requirements for layout preparation

Let's start with the formats in which files are accepted for printing:

—pdf(generally accepted publication format. It is possible to save the layout in this format in any graphic application);
—cdr(Corel Draw);
—tif(bitmap. It is possible to save the layout in this format in any graphic application);
—psd(Adobe Photoshop)
—ai(Adobe Illustrator)
—indd(Adobe InDesign)

Preparing for printing the layout of the euro booklet

We check the conformity of the size of the layout and the size of the printed print: 297 * 210 mm. Everything is okay!

Next step: check if all elements are in CMYK

File (File) - Information about the document (Document Proporties).
In the window that appears, view the information indicated under the headings:

Bitmap Objects.
Fills (Fills) - here are specified color models for filling vector objects.
Outlines - here are the color models of the contours (stroke) of vector objects.

Models can be specified: CMYK, grayscale, Pantone (only if printed with special inks), RGB and CMYK255 models are not allowed.

If they are available, they must be converted to CMYK, it is desirable to convert raster graphics to CMYK in raster editors (such as Adobe Photoshop)

Before translating, it is advisable to check the color profile of the program in order to avoid distortion of the color intended by the designer.
Converting to CMYK

If you know which objects have the wrong color model, then select the object - on the toolbar, selectFill - Uniform Fill, in the model tab, select CMYK - click OK.
Similarly, objects with a gradient fill are repainted, only the window is selected:"Fountain Fill"
If you cannot find RGB objects or there are a lot of them, thenEdit - Find and Replace - Replace Objects - Replace Color Model or Palette.
In the new window, set the necessary settings and click "done". Next, click: find all - replace all.

It's important to know:

1) Be careful with the text, if the text is colored in different colors, then the letters can change color to the color of the first letter of the block. Those. before such a replacement, it is better to convert the multi-colored text into curves. And still, carefully check if the color has changed.

2) Outlines and fills are replaced separately. Those. if RGB objects are in both fills and strokes, check the box next to the first replacement"Fills", with the second - opposite"Abris".

3) When converting from RGB to CMYK, black objects may not become 100% black, but composite black. In this case, after translation:

How to get rid of CMYK 255 in CorelDraw
For offset printing, the CMYK 255 model is not allowed. Detecting the presence of objects is easy in document details:
File (File) - Information about the document (Document Proporties) (described in more detail above).

If you remember exactly which objects were inserted from files of older versions (up to version 9 inclusive) or from version 15 of Corel, you can try to delete these objects and check the document information again.

The radical way to deal with CMYK 255 is to convert the entire layout to RGB. Close the file, open it and convert it to CMYK (the translation method is described above).

The disadvantage is that the colors after translation change their numerical values. Black becomes four-part, red, light green, yellow fade.

Therefore, it is better to find only CMYK 255 objects, copy them to a new document and convert them to RGB in the new document, then to CMYK, and then recolor the changed colors (using color search and replace).

Checking the quality of photos, bitmaps

You should take care of the quality of raster elements. If you are unable to do nice photos on your own, it is better to use images from photo stocks, photo banks.

If you use a low-resolution image in the layout, then after printing the result may disappoint you (blur, cubes). Especially when it comes to large format printing.

Do not forget about the fold line in the booklet

For the convenience of folding (folding the booklet), the width of the cover (1st page of the booklet) = 100 mm, the next 99 mm and 98 mm, respectively (according to the scheme). The inside of the booklet looks like a mirror.

The layout should be prepared in such a way that the images do not fall under the fold line, i.e. so that the logic of the space of each field is not violated. The person sees the booklet folded.

How to make indents and overhangs in a layout in Corel Draw

Booklets are printed on large sheets. Then the entire stack of printed sheets is cut into the desired format. If you do not leave any gaps on the layout, then white stripes may remain on the lower products after cutting along the edges of the sheet. To avoid white stripes in layouts with a colored background, you should leave overhangs - stretch the background beyond the product format by 2.5-3 mm, taking into account that 2.5-3 mm on each side will be cut off.

IMPORTANT:white fields are not departures. It is always necessary to reach right through the colored background, photographs and graphic elements that make it up. In addition to the fields right through in the layouts, one should take into account the “indents” from the edges of the product of 3 mm.

The distance from significant elements of the layout (words, phone numbers, lines, etc.) to the cut line must be at least 2 mm, otherwise the elements may be "cut".

Go to the menu "View" - "Settings" - "Setting guides"

In the menu that opens, select the section "Guides" → "Blanks" and at the top of the section that opens, check the item "Custom blanks".

Set the top and left margins to 3 mm, the rest are mirrored by default.

Thus, you will limit the margin for your layout - 3 mm from the edge across the entire width of the sheet. And no important layout information should go beyond these fields - text, tables, images, etc.

If it is not intended that the picture will go to the edge and be cut off, then all significant objects should be within these fields.

Create layouts with your own hands, learn new things, print printing that is useful for customers.

Sooner or later, but the process of witchcraft over the picture in Illustrator ends and it's time to print it. It would seem, but what's wrong with that - we write down the file and take it or send it by mail to the printing house. However, everything is not so simple, and so that later it would not be excruciatingly painful for the time and money spent, it is worth performing some actions before sending the files to print. About the necessary minimum and this will be a lesson.

Printing is known to be different. Let's put aside its specific types such as silk-screen printing and a banal printout on a home / office printer. It will mainly focus on color four-color printing, on an offset or digital printing machine.

The main thing is to start right

Although I was going to talk about what you need to do before sending the files to print, I'll start from the other end - with the creation of the file itself.

First of all, you need to decide what format the printed matter will be, and if these are not standard A3 / A4 / A5 formats, and if you are not going to print a circulation of 5,000 copies or more, then you should check with the printing house if they will undertake to print such a circulation in this format .

Preferred formats can always (and should) be found on the website of the printing house or from their advertising booklet. It's always worth it. For example, in the Colorit center, the A6 format is printed two millimeters narrower.

So, the format is known. Create a new file (File > New... or Ctrl + [N] ) and in the opened dialog box specify accurate the width and height of the newborn document's trim format. Do not forget to make sure that the CMYK color model is installed, and you can also give a name to the new document without leaving the cash register, then it will be more convenient to save it.

Making life easier

I will allow myself a small digression and tell you a little more about typographic printing. Printing machines work with A3 paper (number) and larger (offset). And the print format we need is almost always smaller. Therefore, several images are placed on one printed sheet at once, after printing the whole thing is cut. But since there is usually a lot of printing, and time is catastrophically short, they do not cut each sheet separately, but immediately a stack. At the same time, some sheets of paper will inevitably shift by a millimeter and a half. At the same time, the final format of the print does not change, since it left somewhere, it must have arrived somewhere else. But no one can guarantee you a hit exactly along the intended cut line.

What to do? Everything is simple. It is necessary that the images located at the edge of the sheet, as well as the background, protrude slightly beyond the cropped format, and important elements (logos, text) should not be close to the edge. The first is called background overhang (or bleed), and the second is indent.

Usually the background overhang is 3-5 mm, as well as the indent. You can check these values in the printing house itself.

In order not to try to frantically move the text away from the edge five minutes before submitting the file for printing, but to pull some picture out, you need to do the following immediately after creating the file - set the guides. We need four guides on the outside of the sheet and four on the inside. As always, there are several ways to create them.

Some versions of Illustrator CS2 have the following glitch: the origin point (0 on the rulers) is slightly offset from the bottom left corner of the sheet. In this case, you need to move the center of coordinates to the “correct” place by clicking at the intersection point of the rulers and dragging it to the lower left corner of the sheet border (it will snap automatically, you won’t miss it).

With the guides installed, it is much easier to make sure that all the necessary indents and cutouts are observed.

Putting everything in order

We begin the actual preparation of the file for printing. First of all, we will make sure that all the necessary changes have been made, since the file that is finally prepared for printing will be much more difficult to edit. It is best to save the file under a different name so that you can make adjustments if necessary (in fact, you should always save "working" files - they may come in handy in the future).

External objects

If any objects were inserted into the text with the File > Place command, then open the Links palette and see what we have there. We will be interested in objects opposite which there is no embedded object icon. Having selected such objects, we look at what is written in the control line above. So, it is necessary that the color model is CMYK, and the resolution is the one recommended by the printing house. In most cases, for photo images it should be 220 - 300 ppi (more needed only for high-quality catalogs), and for black and white line art - from 720 ppi. If the color model is different, or the resolution is something like 586ppi - press the Edit Original button and bring everything to the required form.

Theoretically, when embedding a raster image, Illustrator converts it to CMYK, but is it the best way?

Scaling and rotating bitmaps directly in Illustrator is strongly discouraged! After all the checks, select all non-embedded images and press the Embed button on the control line or the Embed Image item in the context menu of the Links palette.

Checking for "difficulty"

Now let's take a closer look at the Layers palette.

If there are blocked elements in it, we will unblock them. If there are hidden layers or template layers, we delete them as unnecessary. Special attention it is worth paying attention to the names of the layers - if they are written in italics- so for some reason they are made non-printable. If they should not be printed - delete them, if vice versa - double-click on the layer name to open the Layer Option window and check the box print.

Let's expand all the layers and groups and look at the "property target" of each object in our illustration. If it is “empty”, then there will be no problems when printing. If "black" - select this object and look at its properties in the Appereance palette. The reasons for the occurrence of "complex" properties are described as follows:

All these things (transparency, effects, etc.) make it possible to achieve an attractive image, as well as printing problems, if they are ... not destroyed.

Effective inefficiency...

Since the file is finally being prepared for printing and no one else is going to edit it, all objects to which effects or brushes are applied must be turned into a combination of simple objects. This is done elementarily: select the desired object and execute the command Object > Expand Appereance . And if it's too lazy, then select everything (Ctrl + [A] ) and Object > Expand Appereance .

In this case, all objects with effects are divided into groups of simple objects, gradient meshes are rasterized and placed in the Clipping Mask, symbols and objects with applied styles turn into ordinary objects.

and opaque transparency

To be honest, modern equipment handles translucent objects quite well. But only in our country it is far from being as common as one would like. Therefore, transparency must be simulated by opaque objects. There are two ways in this direction:

Rasterization. We select all objects, or the object containing transparency, and the objects covered by it, and execute the command Object > Raserize... However, in doing so, we lose all the advantages of vector graphics.
The right way. Select all objects and execute the command Object > Flatten Transparency...

In the Flatten Transparency... dialog box, select the HighResolution value in the Preset list, if the document contains text, then check the Convert All Text to Outlines checkbox, if you wish, you can check the Convert All Strokes to Outlines checkbox, but only if the strokes the custom Align Stoke option of the Stroke palette has not been applied. But it’s better to uncheck the box next to Preserve Overprint and Spot Colors if you didn’t intentionally install Overpint anywhere.

Be sure to perform the actions in this order - first destroy all the effects, and then do the flattening. Otherwise, the result will greatly upset you.

Tricky strokes

Illustrator CS2 finally has the ability to position the stroke of an object in three ways - outside the path, inside the path, and evenly along the path. Just don't take advantage of this opportunity. The result may be unpredictable. To achieve a similar effect, you need to use the command Object > Path > Offset Path or duplicate the object and remove the stroke from the object that lies above.

Work with text

All text must be converted to a set of curves. If you did not do this at the flattening stage, then execute the following commands: Select > Object > Text Object , then Text > Outline Stroke (or Ctrl + Shift + [O] ). In principle, you can select all objects at once.

Working with color

All objects in the document must be in the CMYK or Grayscale color model. To ensure this is achieved - select all objects and execute the command Filter > Colors > Convert to CMYK. A similar result can be achieved by deleting the checkbox next to Preserve Overprint and Spot Colors when executing the command Object > Flatten Transparency...

spring-cleaning

Sometimes, when working with curves or with text, so-called garbage is formed - single points and empty text blocks. You need to get rid of them. Execute the command Select > Object > Stray Points and delete the selected objects.

You can also execute the Select All Unused command from the context menu of the Swatches , Brushes , Styles and Graphic Styles palettes. This will slightly reduce the file size.

Last check

So, everything seems to be ready, you can record the final file. But it's better to check again. For this:

If all checks are done, you can write the final file.

Write file

The format in which it is worth writing a file is best found at the printing house where you are going to print. More specifically, the print shop needs to know if they accept Illustrator CS2 files?

There is a more universal approach - to write a file in *.eps version 10 or in *.pdf version 1.4. These two formats should be accepted without any questions in any printing house. If this is not so, such huts-printing houses are worthless, do not stand there and print.

It is also useful to know how this *.eps is going to be printed. In the notorious center for uprisings, they periodically try to print them by exporting them to Corel - this is absolutely impossible to do!

The file has been written, submitted for printing - now wait for the result! I hope he doesn't disappoint you!

How to prepare graphics for printing? Preparing a layout for professional printing is a breeze if you follow a few simple rules. When I started working with printing, the people instructing me gave much less information than I am going to tell you. In general, my instruction looked like this:

"Don't place text close to the cut lines, set it to 300 dpi,
work in CMYK and you'll be fine."

At that time, I already had some experience with preparing graphics for the web, but had never worked with print. Nevertheless, these couple of offers were enough to launch ready-made working PDFs files. In this article I will try to convey to you my practical experience avoiding unnecessary theory. Partially, I have already covered this issue in a series of articles, but what the hell? It does not matter at all what you are preparing for printing, flyers, covers or a magazine. You can easily get around most problems if you follow these simple rules.

Dimensions in print
or what to do the file size for printing?

If you are preparing graphics for print rather than for the web, follow a simple rule: work with actual dimensions. For example, if you want to print a 10cm x 20cm flyer, create a 10cm x 20cm file. If you want to create stickers with a radius of 3cm, create a 3cm x 3cm file. It's really simple. If you want to create an A4 document or graphic, create an A4 file. Standard A4 size is 210mm x 297mm. When creating a business card, you need to create a file with the physical size of the business card. Not by eye, not approximately, not in pixels, but exactly with the dimensions that a business card has in real life - 90mm x 50mm.

Remember the main thing: the monitor screen is measured in pixels. Finished printed products such as flyers, business cards, stickers or booklets are measured in millimeters or other physical units. To work with real dimensions when creating a file in Photoshop or Illustrator, immediately switch physical units.

Print Resolution
or what is 300dpi and how to make print resolution?

A standard printed photo has a specific physical size of 10 x 15 inches. But how many pixels is that? How many pixels are in one inch? 10, 20 or one hundred and five hundred? The “resolution” of the picture is responsible for this area. Resolution, also known as resolution, is measured in dpi or ppi. Stands for dots per inch (dots per inch) DPI or pixel per inch (pixels per inch) PPI. Most often, one dot of paint equals one pixel, but that's not the point. The more pixels in one inch, the more graphic information and detail it contains. If the resolution of a standard photograph were only 1 dpi, then 1 pixel would equal one inch, and the photograph would be only 10 by 15 pixels in width and height.

Just remember the magic numbers and everything will be fine.

High quality offset printing requires 300 dpi. That is, in one inch of the image there should be exactly 300 pixels. If we were to print an arbitrary flyer that was, say, 10 x 5 inches, then in pixel terms, such an image would have to be 3000 x 1500 pixels.

For printing photos on a digital printer, 150-250 dpi will do.

90-120 dpi is enough for printing street banners, which is logical, looking at such banners from a distance of at least 10 meters. Banners don't need the detail required of printing, which we look at from arm's length.

Color mode (CMYK or RGB)
or how to convert layout to CMYK?

RGB mode is screen mode, while CMYK is paper mode. In fact, the CMYK color mode on the monitor screen is just an imitation of what can be obtained on paper, which is logical. After all, the paint on paper cannot be as bright as the sun, so that it blinds the eyes. The sun emits light, and paper (like any material) reflects. This is the difference in the light reproduction of the two color models. Therefore, especially bright RGB images fade when converted to CMYK. RGB has a wider color spectrum than CMYK. By mixing it is impossible to get poisonous lime colors, but in RGB they are quite real. If you are going to print in offset, work in CMYK. Offset printing is sharpened for CMYK. The image is initially printed on 4 canvases, which are superimposed on each other. Using an RGB, 3-channel image for 4-color printing will lead to disastrous results. To put it mildly, the print run will be spoiled, as the output colors will be completely different.

If you are printing on a home printer or preparing an image for digital printing, leave it in RGB. Digital printing works differently. Basically, digital printers are designed to convert from RGB on the fly. At the same time, digital printers have a specific set of colors, similar to extended CMYK. But you, as a designer, do not need to break your head over this. Just get it - digital RGB, offset CMYK. And all will be well.

ICC color profile
or what are profiles for in preparation for printing?

An ICC color profile is a special file that describes how a particular device can work with color. Obviously, the ability of different monitors to display an image is different. Monitors with good matrices display color brighter and richer than monitors with inexpensive matrices. It's the same with the ability of printers to print colors. It differs significantly for different printers. If the printer is unable to print a certain color, it tries to match a similar one. It is important for the print designer that the printed product looks the same as it did on the monitor. In the same form and with the same colors as it was approved by the customer.

How to achieve this? Obviously, when creating a design, you need to use the same color profile that the printer uses when printing. To do this, you need to contact a specific printing house and ask for the requirements for the layouts provided. If you really don’t have such an opportunity, you don’t know where the customer will print the design, if the printing house is located on the other side of the earth, use standard color blanks. If printing will take place on the European part, put Europe Prepress. If the design will be printed in America, use the U.S. Sheetfed Coated, if in Asia, use Japan Color Coated and most likely everything will be fine. But it is more reliable to contact the printing house. Perhaps the printer uses its own individual profile for printing. In this case, they will just send you a file, and you use it to simulate the color at work.

Color correction
or how to make the picture on print be the same as on the monitor?

The most important part of preparing for printing is proper color grading. It is important to remember: the more channels with paint for one color, the darker it will turn out. The purest and brightest colors consist of one or two channels. C0M100Y100K0 = maximum possible red in offset. C100M0Y100K0 For darker reds, use the blue channel. Ideally, the black channel is used for contrasting areas of the photo, shadows or outlines. The fewer mixed channels, the brighter the image. This should be taken into account when creating bright colorful cartoon advertisements and illustrations. This should be taken into account when correcting color correction of portraits and human skin.

Photoshop has a lot of tools for working with channels. These are the well-known curves Curves, levels Levels And Channel Balances. It is important to understand that what is visible on the monitor, when printed, will turn out to be 20% darker. This must be taken into account when color correction. There are several solutions here. Either brighten the image with a margin, taking into account the subsequent darkening, or simulate printed darkening. You can do this for example in Color Settings - Advanced Controls

cutting lines

It is logical that after printing flyers, business cards, calendars and other materials, they must be cut out of paper. After all, this is not about standard A4-sized documentation, but about printing with arbitrary sizes. This is done with an ordinary printing knife. A pack of paper with printing is placed under the blade and zhah! In such a case, errors are unacceptable. If cut incorrectly, CD covers won't fit in boxes, postcards won't fit in booklets, and so on. Precise marks are needed, according to which the printer will be able to cut the printing. These marks are the cutting lines. How do you put them down is the tenth thing. It doesn't matter for printing. Manually or automatically by saving the PDF file, or using effects like Effect > Crop Marks in Illustrator.

When cutting paper, a pack of polygraphy goes a little beveled. There is a natural error, which means that gaps are needed to compensate for it, otherwise thin white edges of clean paper are formed along the edges of the print. When creating a design layout, this error must be taken into account. Important graphic elements should not be placed close to the edges. They can just be cut off. The thin frames around the cut lines are excluded, they can simply be cut off when cutting. Recently, I took a chance and drew myself business cards with a fairly thick dotted border around the edges. Those business cards that, when cut, were located on top turned out well, the lower part of the business cards went under the bevel and the frame turned out to be too uneven.

Any printer will be happy to provide their specifications for gaps there, but if you can't contact them, leave 4mm of gap on each side. For example, if you are printing a 100mm x 100mm graphic, create a 108mm x 108mm file, or put 4mm in the Bleeds of the file when you create it, and save the PDF with cutlines based on the bleeds. Of course, the size of your graphics should in any case exceed 100mm by 4mm on each side.

Overprint

As you already understood, offset printing is printed with 4 colors. Magenta, yellow, blue and optional black. Often in print the following situations. For example, we want to create a pink background with black text on it. How does the printer behave in such a situation? 4 colors are printed on different sheets. These sheets are then joined together. That is, a pink background will be printed on one sheet with magenta ink. Black text will be printed on the other sheet. When connecting different channels, errors can occur. The black text will jaggedly lie in the empty areas between the pink paint and white gaps will form. Highest value it has in cases of small size fonts. In this case, Overprint comes to the rescue. This setting leaves no voids, but prints over all ink channels. In fact, the black font will lie on top of the pink paint. On the one hand, as a result of the imposition of 2 colors on each other, the black itself will become juicier, and on the other hand, gaps and errors at the edges of the font will be killed.

Overprint is used not only for black paint, but also for interesting effects. In fact, the same effect mimics the Multiply blend mode.

Trapping

Trapping is another solution to the problem of matching the colors of different channels. You are unlikely to encounter trapping in conventional printing, but you will come across it closely when preparing graphics for T-shirts, cans of soft drinks and other non-standard printing options. The point is this. Trapping is the easy application of one paint to another. Take for example the same problem, pink background and black text. In this case, a light stroke is made around the letters of the text, which extends beyond the edges of the pink area. Thus, the possibility of a gap between two paints is minimized.

And I guess that's all you need to know to prepare graphics for printing. And once again very briefly:

work with real dimensions. If you are preparing a business card, create a 90 x 50 mm document.
set 300 dpi, lower resolution is used only for outdoor advertising
work in CMYK if you print in offset
ask your printer for a color profile
the printed image will be darker, keep this in mind
do not place important elements close to the cut lines and leave gaps
overprint black text