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PREPRESS HELP PAGES Here are some useful tips and information on how to set up your files for trouble free output. Please contact us if you need any further help. We look forward to working with you on your next publication.Other Programs Before working with and creating PostScript print-to-disk (PTD) or Acrobat PDF files it is imperative that you be familiar with your applications, how to print, and have a good general working knowledge of your computer and its operating system. General Info In general if your program is not covered you will definitely have to create a PostScript print-to-disk or PDF file. If you've never created prepress type files for output before, we recommend you familiarize yourself with both PostScript and PDF file preparation (click the tabs above). Most programs will allow you to create these files relatively easily. Today's modern operating systems have built-in methods to create both PostScript print-to-disk as well as PDF files. One word of caution, however, PDF file creation is still in it's infancy and many programs do not properly handle these kind of files. If in doubt go the PostScript print-to-disk route. Be careful to understand the differences between EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) and PostScript print-to-disk, there are ways you can successfully use EPS files exported from your program, however they are not preferred (especially in multipage documents). In some cases you may also have an option to create Prepress files known as .sep files, these are primarily used in trapping environments and are not the standard file format we accept (although we do offer trapping as an option, contact us if this is the case). Generally you want your file (in Windows) to end in a .prn or .ps (or .pdf if PDF). General Guidelines The following are some general guidelines for setting up your job for our image setters as PostScript print-to-disk files. Usually you will need to set up a few things to successfully produce your job.
Photoshop settings for photographs Color Settings: CMYK Setup For coated stock Ink Options: Separation Options Separation Type - GCR Black Generation - Light Black Ink Limit - 90% Total Ink Limit - 275% UCA 30% For uncoated stock Ink Options: Dot gain - Standard 30% Separation Options Separation Type - GCR Black Generation - Light Black Ink Limit - 85% Total Ink Limit - 255% UCA 30% Photoshop settings For Cartoon Color (This should never be used for photographs) Ink Options: Dot gain - Standard 0% Separation Options Separation Type - GCR Black Generation - Maximum Black Ink Limit - 100% Total Ink Limit - 300% UCA 0% Grayscale Preparation - Film - Coated Paper Highlights should be around 1%. Shadows should be around 90% . Grayscale Preparation - Film - Uncoated Paper Highlight should be around 3%. Shadows should be around 85%. Unsharp Masking in Photoshop This filter is used to increase the sharpness of photos. Filter menu to Sharpen. Sharpen to Unsharp Mask. % = visually adjust to increase sharpness. Radius = 3 Threshold = 3 How to balance highlights and shadows in photoshop •When your image is open in photoshop, go under the image menu to adjust and then to curves. •Double click the highlight eyedropper ( right eyedropper) to bring up the color picker. Enter 4 in the Cyan field, 2 in the Magenta field, 2 in the Yellow field and 0 in the Black field. •Click on the OK button to accept. •With the highlight eye dropper selected, move your cursor over the picture and click on the lightest area in the photograph. This will balance the highlights. •For shadow balance, double click the shadow eyedropper to bring up the color picker. Enter 87 in the Cyan field, 82 in the Magenta, 82 in the Yellow field and 80 in the Black field. •Click on the OK button to accept. •With the shadow eye dropper selected, move your cursor over the picture and click on the darkest area in the photograph. This will balance the shadows. All pictures should be light and bright, not dark or color cast. Light pictures will reproduce well. Flesh tones should contain equal parts yellow and magenta, with a smaller amount of cyan and no or very little black. Copyright © 1994 Marrakech Inc. All rights reserved. |
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