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Thank you for your help! I had one more question related to creating print-ready files.
All of my images and vectors have been imported as AI and PSD files. In their documentation, they mentioned Bitmap, and I was wondering if I need to do anything here. Should all images and vectors be converted to Bitmap?
Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question—I'm fairly new to all of this
Should all images and vectors be converted to Bitmap?
Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question—I'm fairly new to all of this
By Mateomono
Your image formats should be fine, and it would be a mistake to convert vector (.ai files) to bitmaps (pixel based fromat).
The charts you show above list the best resolutions for your pixel-based images (your .psd files). The term Contone means continuous tone, rather than only black or white (bitmap mode in Photoshop) which is the 1 bit reference.
AM screen would be a "conventional halftone, where the size of the dots varies to make the tone darker or lighter. FM, or stochastic, screening uses lots of uniformly sized smaller dots and varies how closely placed they are to regulate the tone. FM screening is a good choice for images that are more "art" than "information" in nature as they tend to be smoother in appearance.
Remember that the resolution reference here is for "effective resolution" at the size the image will be printed, not the resolution saved in the file. Scaling an image up on your page reduces the effective resolution in inverse proportion. It's a good idea to turn on the view of the effective resolution column in your Links Panel, and to include it as part of a pre-flight profile. Vector images have no pixels, so no resolution and are equally crisp at any scale.
Deviations from the recommended resolutions, especially small ones, are not necessarly fatal, depending on the type of image and level of detail, but you should be mindful of them.
As someone new to this you should try to maintain close contact with someone at the printer who can guide you.
@Eugene Tyson @Peter Spier Thank you both for your amazing explanations!
So it seems it won't be necessary for me to convert anything to Bitmap. However, I was wondering if this image here might be the exception? Could I also ask you guys some other small questions related to creating a print ready file?
Thank you very much again 🙂
@Eugene Tyson @Peter Spier Also, I just had one tiny question regarding print-ready files. What exactly are these formats referenced here(Image 1)? Is it the same as image 2?
Eugene Tyson Peter Spier Also, I just had one tiny question regarding print-ready files. What exactly are these formats referenced here(Image 1)? Is it the same as image 2?
By Mateomono
Unless specifically requested by the printer - use the last one on the list.
It's a version / format of the PDF standard.
I think they're refering to compatiblity which is on the right
When you choose PDFX4a it will jump to Acrobat 7 (PDF 1.)
PDF X is a family of ISO standards designed to make sure that print files come out exactly as intended. They are the no-nonsense way of packaging a document for reliable printing.
PDF X-1a is the go-to for archiving print-ready files. It locks in everything you need by embedding fonts and images and sticks to standard colour spaces like CMYK and spot colours.
So it doesn't support things like Transparency - all your images would be flattened and you get screen artifacts where it might look broken up - but these don't print.
PDF X-3 takes a more flexible approach to colour. It not only does what PDF X-1a does but also lets you use device-dependent colour spaces, such as RGB, provided that you embed the right colour profiles. This makes it handy when you want to keep your workflow colour managed and have more leeway with images.
It's this one that most people use
PDF X-4 is the modern kid on the block. It builds on the strengths of PDF X-3 but adds support for newer design features like transparency and layers. This means you can enjoy more creative freedom while still keeping the file print-ready and predictable.
So this does allow for transparency
Transparency flattening affects colours that are overlapping and merging to form new colours, anything this overprinting or have use of the Effects panel will be flattened.
Transparency Flattening effect - basically breaks up the image into the overlapping colours where new colours are being made
When Flattening is LIVE which is preferred the images are not broken down into the individual shapes
You can completely move them around the exported pdf
Flattened transparency, especially if it ends up getting rasterised which can happen, can lead to pixelation if the output resolution is higher than the rasterisation resolution = could be too low resolution on output for what's required.
Keeping it live means the printers RIP will keep it as high resolution as possible for output.
@Eugene TysonThank you for your input! Here, however, it seems like it should be PDF/X-1. But maybe this is referring to something else from the above-mentioned questions?
That's fine if they only accept PDFx1a - then you set your PDF compatibility to 1.3 - which it automatically picks - which they also accept
Most people prefer PDFx4a - but some have not moderinised their workflows, so PDFx1a is what they want.
Peter SpierIt's one image, and the content is a historic sketch that was drawn on a wall. The left version shows how it might have looked, and the one next to it shows it without the background. It's actually one image.
By Mateomono
Color Mode? What's the current effective resolution?
The right hand half would normally be considered line art and you would want it in bitmap mode at 1200 ppi effective resolution, while the left would be continuous tone grayscale. If you have sufficent image data to do it, dividing it into two images in the two modes would give you better reproduction.
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