How to change length of crop marks in InDesign?

[joek38143129]

I am the graphic designer for my print company. I am trying to automate some processes and we produce a lot of full bleed print products. An issue I have encountered between InDesign and Illustrator is that it seems they have two different sized crop marks. I have all of my export settings the same, however when I export the files from each of the programs, the finished file size is different. Yes the trim size is correct for both, however it becomes an issue when creating n-up print templates. Any suggestions to help correct this?

Illustrator Document Setup Settings:

Illustrator Export Settings:

Illustrator Finished File Size (bottom right: 4.50in x 3.00in):

InDesign Document Setup Settings:

InDesign Export Settings:

InDesign Finished File Size (bottom right: 4.17in x 2.67in):

Am I missing something super obvious? Any ideas how to correct this and keep them consistent?

Thanks,

Kaitlyn Monsivais

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

ID, and as far as I know, all the other apps draw crops from the beginning of the bleed out a standard length. The thickness is adjustable, but not the length or positioning. I've never noticed the variation in overall output file size, though.

You could embed crops in your layout and use a standard template or layer for them. I don't think there is any option to adjust them otherwise, although one of the script wizards might have found a way.

You could crop one size or the other of the PDFs in Acrobat, probably with some automation.

[Robert Tkaczyk]

What kind of software are you using for your n-ups?? Professional ones shouldn't have a problem with how much bleed you set or the length of the cropmarks. 

[joek38143129]

We use Fiery Command WorkStation. When I do n-ups using files exported from Illustrator (since it's an even 4.50in x 3.00in) when we print 25 business cards per press sheet, the cutting is very easy and we can adjust it so there's an even .25" between each card, making trimming/cutting more efficient and quicker. When using files exported from InDesign, the crops on the press sheet fall on 5/8ths or another tricky measurement making the finishing take longer than necessary.

[rob day · Accepted solution]

Hi Kaitlyn, You could add a .5" slug to your ID Document Setups and include it in the export preset, that would export the ID doc as a matching 4.5" x 3.0" .

Also, Marks Type can be customized, but it’s tricky see this CreativePro articlefrom 2006:

https://creativepro.com/creating-custom-printer-marks-in-indesign/

The InDesign .mrk file is saved here on OSX:

⁨Startup⁩ ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Application Support⁩ ▸ ⁨Adobe⁩ ▸ ⁨PrintSpt⁩

I can’t figure out where AI’s marks are saved.

[rob day]

I just tested a custom .mrk file and setting the length of the FourBleedMarks to 27 points (.375") produced a 4.5" x 3.0" ID export without adding a Slug

//pgmk.v02.00
< 
Style (My Marks) 
MarksArray
[ 
< 
	Type FourCropMarks 
	Length 18
	Weight 0.24
	CropMarkOffset 6 
> 

< 
	Type FourBleedMarks 
	Length 27
	Weight 0.24
	CropMarkOffset 9 
> 
 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Circle marks Top-bottom left
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 3  // Filled inner circle.
        OuterRadius 6  // Outer circle.
        OutLength 10
        AlongLength 0
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom]
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 20	
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Circle marks Top-bottom Right
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 3  // Filled inner circle.
        OuterRadius 6.125  // Outer circle.
        OutLength 10
        AlongLength 0
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom]
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 20	
	    OverDirection Right
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Circle marks Left-right top
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 3  // Filled inner circle.
        OuterRadius 6.125  // Outer circle.
        OutLength 10
        AlongLength 0
        Location < 
            Side [Left Right] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
            OverDirection Top
	    OverOffset 20
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Circle marks Left-right bottom
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 3  // Filled inner circle.
        OuterRadius 6.125  // Outer circle.
        OutLength 10
        AlongLength 0
        Location < 
            Side [Left Right] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 20
            MarkCorner MarkCenter
        >
     > 


 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Side marks
        Count 4 
        InnerRadius 3  // Filled inner circle.
        OuterRadius 6.125  // Outer circle.
        OutLength 10
        AlongLength 24
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom Left Right] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor Center
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Extra Lines TL, LB, BL, RB 
        Count 4 
        InnerRadius 0  // No inner circle.
        OuterRadius 0  // No outer circle.
        OutLength 0
        AlongLength 27
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom Left Right] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 32
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Extra Lines LT, RT, LB, RB 
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 0  // No inner circle.
        OuterRadius 0  // No outer circle.
        OutLength 0
        AlongLength 27
        Location < 
            Side [Left Right] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
	    OverDirection Top
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 32
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

 < 
     Type RegistrationMark //Extra Lines TR, BR 
        Count 2 
        InnerRadius 0  // No inner circle.
        OuterRadius 0  // No outer circle.
        OutLength 0
        AlongLength 27
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom] 
            OutAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OutOffset 20 
	    OverDirection Right
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
	    OverOffset 32
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

    < 
        Type StarTarget //Corner Sunburst
        Count 3 
        InnerRadius 0  // No inner circle.
        OuterRadius 9  // Radius of outer circle.
        Spokes 36
        Location < 
            Side [Top Bottom Right] 
            OutAnchor MidCropMark
	    OutOffset -10
            OverAnchor MidCropMark
	    OverOffset 10
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

    < 
        Type StarTarget //Corner Sunburst Top Right
        Count 1 
        InnerRadius 0  // No inner circle.
        OuterRadius 9  // Radius of outer circle.
        Spokes 36
        Location < 
            Side [Top] 
            OutAnchor MidCropMark
	    OutOffset -10
            OverAnchor MidCropMark
	    OverOffset 10
	    OverDirection Right
            MarkCorner MarkCenter 
        >
     > 

   
   // Page information, at the top of the page.
    < 
        Type MarkText 
        TextSize 7 
        AllPlates true 
        SamePositionOnAllPlates    true 
        FormatString (%s   %s   %s   - %s -    (%s\))
        InfoValues [PubName Date Time PageLabel PlateColor] 
        Location < 
            Side Top 
            OutAnchor OuterBleedMark 
            OverAnchor EdgeOfPage 
            OverDirection Left 
            MarkCorner MarkLL 
        > 
    > 
    //End of page information definition.

]
//End of MarksArray 
>
//End of custom printer's marks file. 

[Peter Spier]

Another thing you can do is adjust the offset of the marks in InDesign. I have a PDF export preset for my favorite printer that sets the bled to .125 and the crop mark offset to .2917 which adds a total of .5 inches outside the trim on each side.