How to prepare an Adobe InDesign CS4 file

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Here is some assistance on preparing your Adobe InDesign CS4 file. This page is not comprehensive, but does offer some informatioon os:

  

Create a New Document

InDesign CS4 is the latest if Adobe InDesign's programs, and it is very 'user-friendly'.

 

Start by choosing "File", then hold your mouse over the "New" option (File > New).
A new menu should appear — click on "Document" (File > New > Document).

 

You will then be presented with a dialogue box. If the dialogue box that you get is rather limited with its options (like the below image), then press the the "More Options" button.

 

Your dialogue box should now be the same as the below image (but without any of the red numbers).

You need to fill in the dialogue with some information, and the information is:

  1. The number of pages.
    • If your job is a single sheet of paper, and it is single-sided, then place the number "1" inside the box.
    • If your job is a single sheet of paper, and it will be double-sided, then place the number "2" inside the box.
    • If your job is a booklet, then enter the number of pages that you have in your booklet — please note that one leaf of paper is NOT a page — a page is one side of the leaf of paper, and the other side of the same leaf is a different page. If you have any 'blank' pages, then create a blank page on the file.
  2. The size of your job, and please choose either the Landscape or Portrait option.
    The standard sizes of our products are:
    • A0 — sixteen times the size of A4 — 1,189mm x 841mm
    • B1 — about ten times the size of A4 — 1,000mm x 700mm
    • A1 — eight times the size of A4 — 841mm x 594mm.
    • A2 — four times the size of A4 — 594mm x 420mm.
    • A3 — twice the size of A4 — 420mm x 297mm.
    • A4 — size of a standard business letter — 297mm x 210mm
    • A5 — ½ the size of A4 — 210mm x 148mm
    • DL — 1/3rd the size of A4 — 210mm x 99mm
    • A6 — ¼ the size of A4 — 148mm x105mm
    • A7 — 1/8th the size of A4 — 105mm x 74mm
    • Appointment cards — 54mm x 89mm
    • Business cards — 54mm x 89mm
  3. The number of columns. Almost all products will have "1" column.
  4. The saftey margin line.
    • If you are creating a small product, like a business or appointment card, or a small fridge magnet, then set the saftey margin at 5mm.
    • If your product is anything bigger than a business card, then set the margin at 6mm or 7mm.
  5. The bleed line. This should always be set at 3mm.

 

You can now click the blue "OK" button.

 

Your screen will now display a new blank document. It will look similar to the below image.
The different lines have different names and purposes. Each line is:

  1. The inside 'pinkish' box is the safety margin line.
  2. The middle black box is where your job will be trimmed to size.
  3. The outer red box is the bleed box.

You can start drafting your printing job. However, please follow two simple rules.

  1. Keep all your written text and important images inside the inner purplish-coloured box. Why? Well, just imagine the following:
    • Our computer processes your file, and the computer is just 0.5mm out-of-scew.
    • Our printing plate manufacturing machine creates your job on the plates, but the printing plate manufacturing machines is just 0.5mm out-of-scew.
    • Our printing plates are placed upon our press, but they are just 0.5mm out-of-scew.
    • The paper runs through our press, but when it does, it is just 0.5mm out-of-scew.
    • The printed paper is trimmed down to size, but when this happens, the paper is just 0.5mm out-of-scew.
       
      Well, if everything above happened on the one print job, the you would be the second-most-unluckiest person in the world. However, if just a couple of the matters described above happened, then your job would look unbalanced (i.e.: your written text would appear to be closer to one side of the job than it was on the other).
      So, if you keep ALL your written text inside the safety margin, then the page will ALWAYS look balanced, even if there is a 0.5mm or 1.0mm movement on the file.
        
      So, keep all important text and images inside the inner puplish-coloured inner box.
      If you have a look at the below image, you will see that the text and the company logo have been kept inside the saftey margin line.
       
       
  2. If you are going to have any background colours or background images that will print right to the very edge of the page, then please continure those background colours or background images all the way to the red bleed line. The reason for this rule is the same as the reason for the safety margin rule. If we are just a fraction out when we process the file, or create the plate, or place the plate onto the press, or run the paper through the press, or trim the page down to the correct size, then you might end up with a white strip down one side (or across the top or bottom).
      
    The below two images shows the background colours continuing to the bleed lines.

 

Once you have created your file, and you have done so in accordance with the above two rules, then you can send your file to your commercial printing company.

However, we suggest you do two more things to your file, and this will increase the chance of your job proceeding with no problems, and that increase will be to about a 100% chance of there being no problems.

The two matters we suggest you do are.

  1. Convert ALL the written text to an outline.
  2. Convert the InDesign CS4 file into a press-ready PDF.

 

Outlining Text

First, highlight the text that you want outlined (put your mouse over the text box that you want outlined, and "double click").
A quick way of selecting the text is to choose "Select", then choose "All". This should highlight everything on the page.
Please remember, to ensure all text is selected, you will need to use pick one item on the page (e.g.: click on the background colour), and this will ensure you are operating on that specific page. Then choose "Select" and "All", then choose ""Type" then "Create Outlines".
This must be done on each page.
This is shown in the next two images.

 

 

Your text is now outlined. This is shown in the below picture, where the letters seem to have a mottled outline in a bluish colour.

 

To make sure that the text has been outlined, examine the text closely after it has been outlined.
What you should notice is that the text has many small 'points' around it. This can be seen in the company name below.
If there is NO outline on any letters, then select just one letter with your mouse, and that one letter should then show the outline.
If this does NOT happen (e.g.: the whole text box is shown with no 'pointers'), then the text has NOT been outlined.

 

Once ALL the text has been outlined, you then 'Save' your file and use a different name.
You MUST follow this rule when you 'Save' the file — give your file a new name (e.g.: "Miller Business Cards" could become "

 

Miller Business Cards Outlined").
TWhy?, Well, you might want to change some details at a later time, and you cannot change this if all the text has been outlined.

 

You can, if you wish, now send your file to your commercial printing company. However, if you want to speed up the job, then we suggest you convert the file to a press-ready PDF — this will speed up your job.

 

Converting an InDesign file into a press-ready PDF

Choose "File", then choose "Export" from the drop-down menu.

 

Your screen wil, now show the Export dialogue box.
You must do two things here:

Identify who the product is for ("Leslie" in this example) and what type of product it is ("Business Card" in this example).

  • Make sure that the Format drop-down menu is set at either "PDF" or "Adobe PDF".
     
    Once those details are entered, click on the blue "Save" button.

 

Your screen will now show the "Export Adobe PDF" box.

  1. Have the Adobe PDF Preset menu is set at Press Quality.
  2. Select the All pages radio button.
  3. Click on the Compression tag (under the General tag).

 

You will now go to the Compression page of the dialogue box. 

Make sure the colour images box is set at 300 pixels per inch, and the "for images above" box is set at 450 pixles per inch.

  • Make sure the greyscale images box is set at 300 pixels per inch, and the "for images above" box is set at 450 pixles per inch.
  • Make sure the monochrome images box is set at 1200 pixels per inch, and the "for images above" box is set at 1800 pixles per inch.
  • Click on the Marks and Bleeds tab.

 

Your screen will now display the Marks and Bleeds page.

  1. Tick the Crop Marks box, and make sure no other box is ticked in the "Marks" area of the dialogue box.
  2. Set the Bleeds at 3mm — and ALL four boxes must be set at 3mm.
  3. Click the Export button.

 

Great! You now have a 100% press-ready PDF to send to your commercial printing company.