questions considering getting cs3

[bravedog]

Hi, I've been assembling a book in Acrobat but am advised by several people to instead use InDesign in spite of learning curve and my limited needs. I am not interested in a Cloud subscription and in fact don't want to spend much so am looking at buying a legal copy of CS3. I understand as the authentication servers have been taken down and it's necessary to download new copy from adobe with new serial number.

1]Assuming I did this, I want specifically to know whether the downloaded version and its serial number would be portable, that is, could be installed on other machines if needed for use during travel, when upgrading computer, etc? Or would this be single machine install only? Thanks

2] most threads indicate CS3 should function fine in Win8 I'm using but interested in reservations anyone has on this

3] I understand newer versions of InDesign should all open files created in CS3. I also wonder if someone with newest version, receiving a file I create in CS3, could easily change to new file version if this would be desired for printing.

4] If I want to create final pdf, I understand this can be done in InDesign, but I also own Acrobat Pro X which I think is newer and wonder if it would be preferable to convert to pdf using that.

I understand I will lose some features using a 10-year-old version like this but believe if there are no issues as listed above, it will be adequate to my needs, and other than problems with functionality am not soliciting comments on newer versions. Thanks!

[bravedog]

Say, MW, or anyone - discussing this with a friend, it appears my major problem is that of working with the large print-ready images which would create an enormous document impossible to work with on a home computer. He says ID or any layout app is specifically designed for this issue, subbing in low-res copies of the large images I import during my work, but then including the full size images at final export  to pdf within the program. And that my idea of individually subbing in low-res images even into Word or something, for a publisher to replace with the full-res images, might be something publishers did  decades ago last time I looked into these things, but no longer. So that I should definitely work throughout specifically for that reason within a layout program.

Will any layout program, including PagePlus or QuarkXpress you mention, definitely do this?. Barb, I also wonder if one of your suggestions, to complete it in Word and then maybe have someone familiar with ID finalize it, wouldn't still have the problem from the previous paragraph with image size and so be unworkable. Thanks

[BobLevine]

You are discussing a 1980s workflow here.

I'm going to make one final observation and then bow out. And that is to hire someone that knows what they're doing (As a side note, you should tell your friend the same thing). I could go to Home Depot and spend $10,000 on tools but that still wouldn't make me qualified to be a carpenter.

Good luck.

[Barb Binder]

Barb, I also wonder if one of your suggestions, to complete it in Word and then maybe have someone familiar with ID finalize it, wouldn't still have the problem from the previous paragraph with image size and so be unworkable. Thanks

InDesign can handle high-res images and can produce a good PDF for high-res printing, so yes, my recommendation still stands.

An experienced designer knows how to handle this workflow—allowing you to put low-res versions in your Word file as placeholders and then swapping them for high-res images in InDesign. But there's money involved in this workflow because you have to hire someone to do the InDesign layout and these folks are not inexpensive.

~Barb

[MW Design]

The low-res image applies only to Word and is for the benefit of someone actually laying it out. Word by nature lowers resolution of images and making them unsuitable for all but POD printing--and even then they are suitable for POD printing only if you change Word's preferences to allow the 266 (if I recall) dpi.

In any layout application, one places the images versus copy/paste or a word processor's "import" procedure which still embeds the images. A placed image in a layout application links to the full-res version of the image and provides on on-screen proxy image. But the full-res version is used for printing or for the creation of the PDF used in printing.

A layout application is made to handle large files automatically via the linking and, in general, there are not the problems with memory typical of a word processor. Do note, though, that the more hi-res images used over a long book can slow down operation depending upon the capabilities of the computer.

Mike

[bravedog]

Thanks much, MW and Barb!

[BobLevine]

I know I said I was bowing out but you’re incorrect about Word’s image handling.

https://indesignsecrets.com/get-the-full-picture-with-docx.php

[MW Design]

I'm often wrong, Bob.

Word keeps the image at whatever you embed it at, that's true. It does keep the profile, that's true. It can be extracted and compared and it is akin to the original, that's true.

But in the end, all that really matters is output. So go ahead import an AdobeRGB or Kodak ProPhoto tagged image in TIFF format in Word that has a resolution of 600 dpi. Then use the Acrobat plugin to create a PDF. Then make one using Word's Save as.

What you will likely find is that the Acrobat one now is using an sRGB profile and has been down sampled to 150 dpi.

The Word Save As version will likely be using deviceRGB and actually has a higher res than the Acrobat made one at about 200 dpi. And that after changing the preferences to use 240 dpi.

Now, just for fun, use the Print command and use the Acrobat print driver using the High Quality setting for Distiller. While an image is very likely to tile, the resolution will be 300 dpi for that 600 dpi image and the color will be deviceRGB.

The Acrobat plug-in is the worse choice for POD. Word's save as is marginally better. But then there is always the good ol' Distiller route.

But you were right, There is an option to link. But unfortunately, it will always actually embed no matter whether just the Link option has been used, the Insert or the Insert & Link option. At least on Word 2010. And no matter how hard I try and no matter what option I use, a linked image is not updated if the image changes.

But regardless of whether that lost point is unique to my copy of Word, the first image issues listed above are more important to me. Except in a "real" work-flow.

Mike

[BobLevine]

Ah, so you were referring to printing from Word? Sorry, I missed that part.

All of this actually goes back to my advice to the OP. Find someone that knows what they’re doing.

As the old saying goes, if you think a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.

[MW Design]

Well, yes and no, Bob.

If you hang out and/or help on the various publisher's POD forums, you will find a massive amount of misinformation as regards MS Word, its preferences as regards images and what one actually ends up with in a PDF produced via the first two options. Unless MickeySoft has changed what actually happens since Word 2010 as to how images are output, and if image "integrity" as regards images of sufficient resolution is at all important, the only real option is to use Distiller. And I personally don't like that option, but it does work to keep images at a higher resolution.

Anything can be learned. And the OP, if a traditional publisher doesn't bite, will be faced with either truly formatting for POD either in Word or another layout application. No matter the choice made, people like your good self are available on the weapon of choice's support mechanism to help the person overcome challenges as they arise. There are a bazillion books printed via PODs every year. Most of those people get help from the POD's peer support mechanism and on the respective layout application's peer support mechanism. It would be the same for the OP.

But hey, I'm winging most of this drivel about Word and its image handling and I haven't had enough coffee yet so yep, could still be wrong.

[BobLevine]

If you ever get to the Philly area, I’ll buy you a beer and we can discuss it.

But you do have me thinking. Maybe I’ll do dummy document with the current Office 365 version of Word and then check it out in Acrobat.

[bravedog]

I am a small publisher of cds and dvds, but this is the first book I'm working on. Self-publishing hard copy is out of the question due to cost, and unless end pricing for the buyer has changed for coffee-table type books, I don't anticipate offering POD either. If as is very possible I don't find a publisher, I'll create an ebook version which I'm already up to speed on and publish that way on amazon. But because of the detail of the images I'd greatly prefer a proper-res version which is only possible in hard copy, thus this attempt.