Inspiring

Answered

Best PDF export setting for fine art photography book?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 12, 2022
4 replies
5744 views

What is the best PDF export setting for a book that includes both text and fine art photography? My client sees "a very slight difference" between her original images and how they appear in a PDF generated with the High Quality Print setting. Is there a better setting I should be using? Press Quality, perhaps? This client has an eagle eye.

I'm running inDesign 2021 on a MacBook Pro with OS Big Sur (11.4).

Import and export

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Correct answer Jeffrey_Smith

If quality is essential for this project, the use of a lossy compression format like JPEG is not recommended. TIFF with LZW compression would be better a format to use. Any time an image is opened and saved as jpeg with compression, the image is forever altered.

In regard to resolution, the higher resolution may not always yield the best quality. The image resolution should be set where no resampling occurs during any part of the process, including PDF generation to the rasterization of file for output device. This would require consultation with prepress/printer and again, this suggestion is not meant for everyday printing, rather a measure to insure the utmost highest quality.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

I think some people are overthinking this straight forward job!

IMO the difference in quality between an uncompressed JPG and a TIFF is imperceptible, but the difference in file size can be significant.

(There's normally not a reason to keep resaving JPGs so degreation is unlikely.)

rob day

Community Expert

Hi Derek, I think there are other problems with placing JPEG—it’s a flattened format so any edits done via Photoshop layering would be lost on a save to JPEG. Multiple color corrections done directly to the pixels, and not via Adjustment layers could do real damage to an image. PSD also has the Object Layer Options feature, which is not available with TIFF.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

Well you always save your layered PSD in case you need to do further editing, but as I said as the first replyer in this thread, Place native PSD files in your InDesign document.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

If the client expects her book to stand next to Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz collections, there are many, many things to consider, the PDF export settings being among the midlist.

It will all come down to your printer and his/her very specific recommendations for prepress. If you are using a printer who is not sophisticated enough to be able to give you such meticulous instructions, fiddling with color profiles isn't going to make much difference.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

How is it to be printed?

You need to get the spec from your printer, if you haven't got the spec you would normally keep your images in RGB color mode, you can use native PSD images Placed in your InDesign document with an Effective PPI of around 300PPI. For the PDF for the printer select PDF/X-4, select single pages (not spreads), tick Crop Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings.

K

kathleend82868475Author

Inspiring

Thanks. I've had no contact with the printer - the book is going to be printed in Guatemala under the direction of the author/photographer (who is also in Guatemala), and I think she has not yet settled on a printing house there.

I did a test just now, replacing a few JPEGs for PSDs and using the PDF/X-4 export (which is what I use on all other books I do - this is my first fine-art photography venture), and the quality looks great. If I swap out all JPEGs for PSDs, can I leave it that way for the final PDF export? I've never placed native PSDs before, only JPEGs.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

IMVHO, you are riding for a very unhappy fall.

Art books depend ENTIRELY on the printer. You can do the most exquisite technical job possible and a printer working to different standards (or indifferent standards) will turn out a comic book.

I would refuse (politely) to complete the assignment until she has selected a printer and you are in contact with a technical representative. (And, as much as you can, determine their ability to print a work like this.) Any other path is likely to result in an unhappy customer and all the fallout that brings.

K

kathleend82868475Author

Inspiring

I'll add that the images in the inDesign file are all JPEGs generated from TIF originals, all at 400 dpi minimum.

J

Jeffrey_Smith

Correct answer

Community Expert

If quality is essential for this project, the use of a lossy compression format like JPEG is not recommended. TIFF with LZW compression would be better a format to use. Any time an image is opened and saved as jpeg with compression, the image is forever altered.

In regard to resolution, the higher resolution may not always yield the best quality. The image resolution should be set where no resampling occurs during any part of the process, including PDF generation to the rasterization of file for output device. This would require consultation with prepress/printer and again, this suggestion is not meant for everyday printing, rather a measure to insure the utmost highest quality.

K

kathleend82868475Author

Inspiring

Thank you - I've avoided TIFFs on other projects for file size considerations, but they were also not photos of this quality.

I've always been careful about JPEGs - save the original untouched, create a TIFF from the original and use the TIFF for making any alterations, then create a new insert JPEG (uniquely named) from the TIFF for insert, figuring that would prevent or at least minimize loss. Is this a safe routine?

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