[Paul]

got to design a a5 design for my company. never delt with print and our printers want the design in 300dpi.

any advice on what setting the file shoudl be and how to calcualte the dpi?

total noob at this stuff

ps: only got photoshop to work in

[steveb]

Just start out with a RGB 300 dpi canvas and make sure all other stuff you import is the same - RGB @ 300. I recommend you work in RGB mode - it's faster and the file sizes are 25% smaller. Use my "Black compensation" action when you convert the file to CMYK at the end to get total ink coverage down to about 280%.

Download (right click) http://www.kolumbus.fi/stephenb/BlackComp.atn

[Paul]

cheers steve

[steharg]

personally speaking i would work in cmyk from the outset so i know the colours are how i want them. i would never advise working in rgb for a print job - your asking for problems, especially from your printers perspective.

if your converting images to cmyk from rgb change it to lab colour first.

rgb > lab colour > cmyk

you should give yourself some 'bleed' on your page if you want images to run off the page or colour etc

for an A5 printed leaflet in photoshop i would set my page size as

154mm (w) x 216mm (h)
draw a 3mm margin on each side which will give you your 'bleed' and a final page size of 148mm x 210mm (a5)

the area inside the margins is what will actually get printed with the 3mm each side getting cut off after printing.

when its done provide them with the original photoshop file that you have worked with (provide the fonts as well), an uncompressed tiff and a pdf all cmyk

speak to your printer to avoid any problems.

[steveb]

CMYK also works!
What is the advantage of converting via LAB? I'm intrigued - never thought of that before.
I've never had to provide a copy of the original PS file to a printer in Finland, although I'd have nothing against it. Time constrictions prevent making a cd with the big PS files - usually the printer's gofer is standing next to me with his hand out twenty minutes before I'm finished. They all insist on work being delivered as print-ready PDFs, anyway. Too fucking bone-idle to work with anything else, imo, but I suppose they're as rushed as everyone else.

[steharg]

the rgb > lab > cmyk
i honestly cant remember the reason as it was that long ago i was taught it i just do it automatically now, im sure its something to do with how photoshop handles the colour conversion from rgb... i stand to be corrected though.
it will also depend on how the colour settings are set.

i always send press ready pdf's myself as well, but for his first print job its best to include everything incase of any problems

[Mandy Moo]

Definately work on CMYK rather than RGB, sometimes I forget to put it on CMYK and when I convert it at the end the colour changes which is bloody annoying so don't make that mistake.

I would flatten the Photoshop document and send it as an eps or tiff file just because I'm not sure about sending a Photoshop PDF (never done it before, has anyone?). I normally do send PDFs but then it's nornally a Quark or Indesign job that has been through Distiller.

[Do Gooder]

I think I remember reading that converting through LAB to CYMK is a trick to help preserve more colour luminosity.

[steveb]

I see, I'm going to conduct a few little tests here to see if I can see a difference. If I can, shall I construct a new action to convert from RGB to CMYK via LAB and incorporating black compensation to 280%? Any orders?!

[Do Gooder]

never spotted any difference myself but i still covert via LAB when i'm working with a good image... just incase my crap eyes can't make out the difference!

[Paul]

ta much, good post steharg just what i needed

[ropeyjoe]

I would flatten the Photoshop document and send it as an eps or tiff file just because I'm not sure about sending a Photoshop PDF (never done it before, has anyone?). I normally do send PDFs but then it's nornally a Quark or Indesign job that has been through Distiller.

Photoshop PDFs are easy to create, and meet all of the necessary standards.

You simply choose Print with Preview>> and set all of your relevant settngs to what you want them. Eg bleed at 3mm if thats what you want, crop and printer marks etc.

When you go to print, choose "Adobe PDF" as the printer. Once that's selected, goto "settngs" in the printer panel, and (this is important) select PDF X/1a : 2001

the X/1a standard is one that almost all printers are delighted with, and is specifically for print. (Image res is 300dpi, if you need greater than that, then use something else)

The sit back and watch it turn you 50 squillion megabyte .psd file into a nice compact and print-ready pdf.

One thing though, you will need to have adobe acrobat professional installed, otherwise "Adobe PDF" wont be an option in your printers menu.

[pedge]

I'd normally work in CMYK so you can more accurately judge your colours on the screen. Also, if you decide at the end to convert it from RGB to CMYK you may find that any adjustment layers will also be altered and that can make things go very strange - if you really must work in RGB first, you may have to save as an EPS (or such) first, then open that file and do the conversion - the problem with that is if any colours need tweaking then you'll need to go back to the PSD file, alter it and go through the process again.

I wouldn't be too worried about working in CMYK rather than RGB because the filesize is smaller; at A5 size you won't be working with a file of hundreds of mb...

[Paul]

i actually created the file in CMYK but it turn out to be fuking massive. obviously did something wrong. think the images that i used in the file were massive so going to have to alter it. however when i send it off to be printed it won't matter if it really massive will it? I mean, its better that the printers get it in the best quality?

like i said i'm a total y print noob, been thrown in at the deep end in my job interesting learning curve tho

[pedge]

When you set up your file, did you enter the resolution as pixels per inch or leave it at pixels per cm? If you left it at pixels per cm, that could explain why it was huge - entering 300 pixels per cm would give you 762dpi...

[steveb]

Do you mean the final pdf? What size is it, in megabytes? If it's only a few pages but still enormous, maybe you should try again and make sure all the resolutions are no more than they need to be.

[Paul]

pledge: think your right. bet you thats what i've done. will check it when i'm in work tomorrow.

steveb: not the pdf, the printers want it sent over in eps. think the file size was about 250mb or something.

will rework it tomorrow

ta much guys

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