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A slight deviation....


S

Susie

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I realize this area is for Photoshop and the web but I was wondering if there was an area discussing the topic; Getting Photoshop images ready for print? I'm trying to teach myself this particular area of photoshop from a book and thought it would be nice to be able to ask questions or maybe get tips/hints/direction/help [excited]

I don't get the chance to visit these boards as much as I would like to but I would really appreciate feedback or perhaps links to where I might make the learning curve less stressful!

Thanks
Susie

on another note...how do you make those icons below your forum names..some are animated....they are some of the coolest and most creative I've seen.
 
Susie you can add an avitar in your profile..... look at the top of this page and you will see the link to your profile just create an avitar and upload it into your profile :righton:
sfm
 
Julie:
Thank you for the link. I will check it out as soon as I can.

Stickdiesel:
Thanks for offering to answer my many questions!
I see that this thread has already been moved to the General Subject area...Apologies to the moderators.

sfm:
Are Avitars created in PS and animated in ImageReady? AND what would the final size of the image need to be?

Thanks all ....you've been wonderful
Susie
 
Hi Susie,

When it comes to advice on printing, it would be helpful to have you narrow down the field by specifying what sort of printing you are intending to do. There is a big difference in creating files which will be printed on your own ink jet printers as opposed to sending files to an image setter for example. Then if you are printing on your own ink jet printers, there is a difference between Windows or Mac workflows.

Welcome to the forum!

An avatar is most likely created in Photoshop and ImageReady (if animated) but other programs work well too, for example Gifmation on a Mac. The avatar size limits are not to exceed 75 pixels square and no bigger than a 10K file size.

Cheers
 
Thanks Welles
Not to bore you with my aspiring career goals, but I am trying to pursue a career (and get a job) as a Web/Graphic designer. I have most of the requirements that companies seem to want in a graphic artist/desktop publisher...except....getting images ready for print...is that pre-press?

I have PS7, Illustrator 10, QuarkXpress, and PageMaker (all pc platform) so I was hoping that I could create business card templates, letterhead, etc and print them on my ink jet printer as well as prepare them as if I were sending to an outside printer.

My main goal here is to be able to confidently enter an interview with enough knowledge in getting images/documents ready for print. ( most job ads don't really specify if the printing is done inhouse, but I would have to believe that it usually isn't).

I understand that the world of print is very dependent on platform and type of printer the documents are going to.

I'll get a couple of templates created/finished and post them so you can see what I would like to do.

I appreciate any and all help!
Thanks again [excited]
Susie

oh yeah...thanx for the info on the avatars
 
Me too, I work on a win-based PC.

http://www.prepressure.com/

a very good site to read on various stuff concerning print. I know the guys: it's really info straight out of practical experience, no books being retold.

First of all you have to aqcuire a good basic knowledge on RGB (monitor), CMYK and spotcolors (print). You think you have that?

Imo, it's best to start in black and white, in which both colours can be any colour you prefer (ie: black ink on white papaer, and red ink on blue paper). Simple things. Once you have a fairly good insight in how these are printed, you can start with colourwork, which hhas two main departments: CMYK, or full colour prints like photographs in magazines, and spotcolors, mostly Pantone, to print special colours that can't be mixed with CMYK.

With QuarkXPress you're fairly safe because many printers have it, but the pdf format is used more and more because it's more reliable and less complicated that Postscript.

Then there's the calibration of your scanner and your monitor, and getting acceptable results out of your home printer.
Which scanner do you have, and which printer?

Be shure that you can get all the help you need, or i-adresses where you find additional info, and be prepared that sometimes people may differ in opinion. You will meet that too: many printers and pros use duifferent methods. But finally, what they want from you is something they can work with, that enters into their workflow and that gives predictable results.

The biggest mistakes (hey guys, add what you consider big mistakes, ok?) are:

1/ Thinking that you can see CMYK on your monitor. No, you can't Photoshop can simulate them, but a monitor always displays RGB, and there are CMYK colours that fall outside the RGB set.

2/ Thinking that you can print spotcolors with your desktop printer. No, you can't. And thinking that you can choose spotcolors on your monitor. The only way to choose spotcolors is to take the book (ie Pantone) and choose your colour in there. That is the correct hue. If you don't: you're in for surprises.

See: the ONLY problem is that what you design on your puter has to come out of that big press and be as good as identical.

etcetcetc
 
Eric,

May I suggest you post the http://www.prepressure.com/ URL on the Links Forum as well? I'm an ignoramus when it comes to prepress as my workflow is from my own computers to my own printers and I think the PrePressure site is a superb resource.

Thank you!
 
Done!

I also print much of my paintings etc on my home printer, and I've been looking for a decent way to calibrate things together. I'll post my experiences shortly, and I look forward to exchange insights and evt. tricks.

:righton:
 
And dont forget when chosing a spot, consider what paper stock you will have. In fact always consider paper stock then adjust colour settings accordingly.

There is a book I want to get called "The Designers Manual." I cant remember author off hand. It covers alot of material, including all the terms used in publishing and printing, like correct names of pages in books etc. I have a really poor memory today hehe.
 
Erik, fabulous link and great "food for thought", as far as Susie (or anyone getting into print) is concerned! :righton:

stickdiesel, too, makes a really good point re "output" medium! ;)

:D Man, I love this place... it's sooooooooooooooo informative!

[shhh] Yep, Susie... I moved your topic over to the "General Forum" as I figured that you would get more feed-back over there!
 
i get my prints done at a printer, I have a crappy BJ atm, but when I can afford it going to get a laser, and two designer jets, 1 for a2 prints.

Thats alongside a new digital camera and recorder...

My xmass wish list just gets longer and longer lol
 
Erik, what happened to your avatar? you've been assimilated by Stroker?

I hope you don't mind if I share the link at PST?
 
Whouaaaaaahhhhhhh...it finally happened....indeed: all resistance is indeed futile.





of course you may spread that link. that's what the net is for! :righton:
 
Eric
Thank you for the link..I will check it out ;)

As far as having a 'good basic knowledge' of RGB, CYMK, and Spot Colors.....ahhhh This is what I know....RGB colors only are displayed on your monitor. Photoshop simulates CMYK but viewing these simulated colors on screen and printing them on paper aren't going to necessarily produce identical results...am I right so far?

I currently have an Epson Stylus Photo 820...not exactly professional...actually not even close! My scanner is a Memorex SCF 612OP. It actually produces some nice scans.

I don't know anything about Spot Colors. However, I am very familiar with the Pantone book...I used to work for Tiffany's and we used to use the book(they looked more like swatches)to pick out the Tiffany Blue...
Is the reason you can't pick a Spot Color using your monitor because the color you pick will only be a 'representation' of that color and in print the 'real' spot color you chose will be different? (did I just babble or did that almost make sense?)
I might be totally offtrack on Spot Colors cause I just reread your post and you said that not only can you NOT pick a spot color on your monitor, you also can't print it.....why?

If your monitor only simulates CMYK, then how do you compensate for the discrepencies between what you see on your monitor and what prints out?

I really am going to try to visit these boards daily. I've always received the most insightful and helpful advice or direction.
Welles, Erik, Stickdiesel, wbiss, Applecider
Thank you !
I'm determined to learn/experiment all I can...of course alittle professional experience wouldn't hurt.....of course my timing could have been better too...trying to enter a field thats flooded because of economic circumstances........I have great timing [stuned]

I'm bleary eyed now...its late...past my bedtime [sleepy] ....have a great night..or day...depending on which side of the globe your located 8[


ps. I really do have an understanding......I just need to fill in the gaping holes [confused]
 
Erik: Whouaaaaaahhhhhhh...it finally happened....indeed: all resistance is indeed futile.
Click to expand...
:bustagut: :bustagut: :bustagut: Erik! 3[

Susie: If your monitor only simulates CMYK, then how do you compensate for the discrepencies between what you see on your monitor and what prints out?
Click to expand...
Your printer should have some software that will allow you to run a test for this purpose, Susie... check your printers manual! ;)
 
This is a very difficult matter to grasp. I am working on a chautauqua on it, but to give you an idea:

What your computer calculates in the background does not correspond necessarily with what you see on your monitor. Some colours simply cannot be reproduced on a monitor because they fall outside the range of what it can display. The same goes for printing with four inks: many colours that you can see on your monitor cannot be printed. These colours are said to be "out of gamut". While much depends on the quality of your monitor and then how well it is calibrated, it cannot expand beyond the capabilities of monitors. A printer can use more than four colours. Not only a dektop one that uses six or more inks (they add PhotoCyan and PhotoMagenta to have a more exact reproduction of what one can see on the monitor), but some offset printers also use more colours. Yet these are exceptions. Most only use CMYK.

As for spot colours: when for example making an invitation or a poster, you can choose your colours in a book like the Pantone one. Then the printer knows how to mix that ink, based on a set of basic colours. Yet most of these colours cannot be reproduced by CMYK, and thus also not by your desktop printer. Also, many of them cannot be exactly reproduced on your monitor.

What Photoshop does, when displaying CMYK is on one hand limiting the RGB colours to those that fall inside the CMYK colour space, and on the other hand, saturating the ones that are close to those your monitor cannot reproduce. Yet, if your monitor isn't well calibrated, you get a totally wrong indea.

Print consists of two different items: photographs and photographic documents are reproduced with the four (or six, or..) colours of the CMYK space , whilst fills and text etc is often printed with so-called spot colours. Pantone has a book in which you can see the differences between the Pantone set and its "equivalent" in CMYK. Shocking...

And then there's the different kinds and hues of paper etc etc etc...
 
Erik

Wow....thats quite abit of information to absorb. Its great to get feedback from people who know much about the subject your interested in.

Erik wrote:
What Photoshop does, when displaying CMYK is on one hand limiting the RGB colours to those that fall inside the CMYK colour space, and on the other hand, saturating the ones that are close to those your monitor cannot reproduce. Yet, if your monitor isn't well calibrated, you get a totally wrong indea.

So if your monitor is descent and well calibrated, what you see is pretty close to what will print. Is that the right idea?

Is RGB primarily reserved for the web? I know that this might sound kinda...stupid... [saywhat] ..but I have always created my images in RGB and even though I usually put them inside html...I never really gave RGB and CMYK much thought...until now ofcourse!

When it comes to artistic design....my tablet, monitor and software are my only way to recreate what I envision.....my eye - hand coordination isn't there :( ....I saw some of your images and was toally blown away by your visions...your images are absolutely beautiful. Maybe in my next life the big guy up there will bestowe me with the ability to draw/paint by hand instead of digital pen/mouse [excited] That would be nice...

I think I need to callibrate my monitor as best I can...Photoshop can do that can't it? and visit your suggested website and then start printing..oh yeah...I need to look at my printer manual...

Thanks again
Susie :)
 
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