Photoshop for Print

T
Posted By
teka
May 12, 2005
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409
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8
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Hello,

I’ve been using photoshop for the Web but never for print. I need to create an ad (5×3 inches) and I have no idea what settings I have to use. What questions do I need to ask those who will print it?

It is always 300dpi? Do I work in CMYK? In which format is it usually saved? TIFF? PDF? Other?

I’m a complete beginner in this area… so if you could give me any tips, it would be greatly appreciated (ie, resolution, mode, saving options). Are there settings that are more often used than others?

Thanks for any help!! If you know of any good tutorials about this, please let me know as well.

Thanks!

teka
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V
vroom
May 12, 2005
Yes you need to work with resolution of 300dpi and in CMYK. You can always preview the colour shift through menu "VIEW>PROOF SETUP> WORKING CMYK. Generally if you work in the RGB mode and then convert the image to CMYK is also OK if you are not using shades with combination of more than 3 colours.
Saving the file in the native .psd format is ok , just remember to rasterise text layers. Ideally merge the layers and save a copy in TIFF format to reduce size.
T
Tacit
May 12, 2005
In article ,
"teka" wrote:

I’ve been using photoshop for the Web but never for print. I need to create an ad (5×3 inches) and I have no idea what settings I have to use. What questions do I need to ask those who will print it?

Ask them what format they want the submission in and what CMYK settings they prefer.

It is always 300dpi? Do I work in CMYK? In which format is it usually saved? TIFF? PDF? Other?

I’m afraid you are already walking down the wrong path.

Photoshop is an image editor. It is not a page layout program. If you try to create an ad in Photoshop, you are using the wrong tool for the job. It’s like trying to pound nails with a screwdriver–sure, you can do it, but it is difficult, frustrating, time-consuming, and the results will be inferior.

Use the right tool for the job. Edit your pictures in Photoshop, create logos and other vector artwork in a vector program such as Illustrator, then put the ad together and add your type in a page layout program like QuarkXPress or InDesign. Don’t try to do it all in Photoshop; you probably won’t like the way it looks in print, and you’ll waste lots of time and aggrevation.

I’m a complete beginner in this area… so if you could give me any tips, it would be greatly appreciated (ie, resolution, mode, saving options). Are there settings that are more often used than others?

Save your images as CMYK TIFF, 300 pixels per inch. Place them in your page layout program that way.

Thanks for any help!! If you know of any good tutorials about this, please let me know as well.

You won’t find a "tutorial" on making ads for print; this is generally something you’ll spend rather a lot of time learning.

Publications such as magazines have spec sheets for their ads. that’s the best place to start.

—
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
T
teka
May 12, 2005
Thanks vroom and Tacit. I liked vroom’s answer better. haha 🙂

Yeah.. I was afraid I was in the wrong group! Thanks for confirming! 😉 This ad is for a newspaper by the way. I talked to them again and for format they said "Illustrator". Quark was OK but they prefered Illustrator. So is it OK to edit the photos in Photoshop and do the layout and type in Illustrator? Actually it’s probably only going to be vector illustrations and type now… so is it OK to do it all in Illustrator?

For color they just said CMYK… so what do you mean when you say "which CMYK settings they prefer"? Yikes, what did I get myself into.

Thanks again for any addtional help and comments!!

teka
T
Tacit
May 12, 2005
In article ,
"teka" wrote:

Yeah.. I was afraid I was in the wrong group! Thanks for confirming! 😉 This ad is for a newspaper by the way. I talked to them again and for format they said "Illustrator". Quark was OK but they prefered Illustrator. So is it OK to edit the photos in Photoshop and do the layout and type in Illustrator? Actually it’s probably only going to be vector illustrations and type now… so is it OK to do it all in Illustrator?

Yes. You can build the ad completely in Illustrator, though frankly I find that working in a page layout program is considerably easier.

For color they just said CMYK… so what do you mean when you say "which CMYK settings they prefer"? Yikes, what did I get myself into.

When you take something and convert it from RGB to CMYK, there are many ways to do it; there is more than one "right" CMYK breakdown for an RGB color. Which one you should use depends on the kind of printing press being used, the type of paper, and so on; uncoated (non-glossy) paper soaks up more ink than glossy paper, for example, which means that if you print the same picture with the same settings on both glossy and non-glossy paper, it will look darker and muddier on the non-glossy paper.

Generally speaking, when you ask a publication what CMYK settings to use, you want to know the black generation type (which will be either GCR or UCR), the black generation amount, and the total ink limit. A magazine might say "GCR, medium black generation, total ink limit 280" whereas a newspaper might say "UCR, light black generation, total ink limit 240". You would then enter these settings in Photoshop’s CMYK Setup dialog before you convert an image from RGB to CMYK.

If you are working entirely with vector art in CMYK, this is not as important; just use CMYK builds that represent the colors you want. (One way to get an idea of what colors you can expect is to use a PANTONE solid to process color guide, which shows all the PANTONE colors, tells you the CMYK values that most closely match the colors, and shows you how they look when printed.)

—
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
T
Tacit
May 12, 2005
In article ,
"vroom" wrote:

Saving the file in the native .psd format is ok , just remember to rasterise text layers.

Not a good idea for print.

When you rasterize text, it is broken up into pixels. On press, this means it will not print as smoothly as it would have had it been left as vector.

—
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
C
Corey
May 13, 2005
"tacit" wrote in message
In article ,
"vroom" wrote:

Saving the file in the native .psd format is ok , just remember to rasterise text layers.

Not a good idea for print.

When you rasterize text, it is broken up into pixels. On press, this means it will not print as smoothly as it would have had it been left as vector.

Exactly. It’s much better to convert text to lines (a vector shape) by going to Layer > Type > Convert to Shape. This not only keeps the text crispy clean, it also means you don’t have to worry about the printer having the font you used. A PDF file with the checkbox "Include Vector Data" checked may be a better choice than a PSD.

Peadge 🙂
T
teka
May 14, 2005
Tacit…

Ok, so now I’m doing it in Illustrator… which I’ve never used before but I like it so far. I know this is a Photoshop group but you seem to know Illustrator too, so here I go:

More newbie questions:
1. Is it at 300 dpi by default in Illustrator? because I can’t see where to change the image resolution if it isn’t.

2. When they said "Illustrator" for format… does that mean I save as ..ai or .eps?

3. Are there some things I need to do before/as I save the final version (ie. saving options)? I’m guessing I should do a "flatten artwork", but other than that? When I try to save it there’s a Spot Color transparency alert…

I know these are beginner questions so I’m sorry if they’re annoying. Thanks again!

teka
O
Odysseus
May 16, 2005
In article ,
"teka" wrote:

Ok, so now I’m doing it in Illustrator… which I’ve never used before but I like it so far. I know this is a Photoshop group but you seem to know Illustrator too, so here I go:

More newbie questions:
1. Is it at 300 dpi by default in Illustrator? because I can’t see where to change the image resolution if it isn’t.
Each raster image or flattened effect in Illustrator has its own resolution, which you can check with Document Info. There’s a Preference for setting the resolution of effects when flattening. Vector objects are resolution-independent, but Illustrator (older versions did, at least) treats them as if they’re to be rendered at 800 ppi.

2. When they said "Illustrator" for format… does that mean I save as .ai or .eps?
That would be .AI, but note that some people ask for "Illustrator EPS".

3. Are there some things I need to do before/as I save the final version (ie. saving options)? I’m guessing I should do a "flatten artwork", but other than that? When I try to save it there’s a Spot Color transparency alert…

That all depends on how the piece will be reproduced and through what kind of prepress system. It’s very hard to generalize.

—
Odysseus

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