I've noticed that when I export my InDesign made portfolio to PDF for printing the colors saturate considerably. Is this simply showing you the colors you will get with the CMYK printer? If I choose the "Leave Unchanged" option in the advanced (color) section of the export menu it doesn't saturate in the PDF file. But does this mean that it will still have the saturated colors when printed with my CMYK printer, and its just not showing me in the PDF? Does that make sense? I can't get around to printing tests until later, so I was hoping someone could help me with this now. If I don't want the saturation do I have to change it all the way back in photoshop and wait until I export to PDF to see what colors I will get? There must be a better way but color management confuses the hell out of me.
a lot depends on which version of indesign you run. adobe has been progressively pushing for a rgb workflpw with a final conversion to cmyk when you transfer to pdf.
i think that "leave unchanged" should avoid saturation, but unless you have a top of the range printer, that is hardly going to make a difference. i know it doesn't make any on my epson 1290
also, if you work on a mac, try to create the pdf from the print dialog, it usually gives the best results.
how long can it take to print a page once from indesign and once from acrobat?
Not long. I'm just not going to be near my printer for a bit, but I am working on my laptop for most of the day. I am using a Canon i9900 (9900i US version?) and InDesign CS perhaps? I'll have to try the leave unchanged thing later when I can make a test print. Can anyone give the standard process they feel is best for printing their portfolio? I imagine Im on the right track with the InDesign exported to PDF method, but obviously there are snags in color management and such.
P.S. What EXACTLY are postscript files? And what are they used for? Should I conisder them, or is it something completely different?
yep- ID to pdf is the best way, but you may have to just do some experimenting if you're not going to bother with setting up proper color management. It could be as simple as ID being set to CMYK workspace and acrobat to RGB. Remember your monitor is RGB, so each program must translate to RGB for display. Print tests are really the only way to see EXACTLY what you're going to get.
Remember to uncheck "compress vector art" in the PDF options. you want all the line resolution you can get when printing.
Postscipt (technically) is a computer language. PDF, .eps, and others all make use of it to varying degrees. In most of my experience, a reference to a "postcript file" usually means .eps (eps: Encapsulated PostScript), but lately I've seen it more and more in reference to pdf.
how about printing directly from indesign? never had a problem, because let's face it, pdf's are still a for of compression, so it's easier to lose quality along the way. there's a "composite leave unchanged" option in the output pannel of the print dialogue window, so if you're printing photos you'll be sure they come out as they were meant to.
you only need to print to a postscript file if you have a postscript printer, because then you will send that file to the printer itself, so unless you do, don't worry about them.
Dec 4, 05 8:41 pm ·
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Exporting from InDesign to PDF
I've noticed that when I export my InDesign made portfolio to PDF for printing the colors saturate considerably. Is this simply showing you the colors you will get with the CMYK printer? If I choose the "Leave Unchanged" option in the advanced (color) section of the export menu it doesn't saturate in the PDF file. But does this mean that it will still have the saturated colors when printed with my CMYK printer, and its just not showing me in the PDF? Does that make sense? I can't get around to printing tests until later, so I was hoping someone could help me with this now. If I don't want the saturation do I have to change it all the way back in photoshop and wait until I export to PDF to see what colors I will get? There must be a better way but color management confuses the hell out of me.
a lot depends on which version of indesign you run. adobe has been progressively pushing for a rgb workflpw with a final conversion to cmyk when you transfer to pdf.
i think that "leave unchanged" should avoid saturation, but unless you have a top of the range printer, that is hardly going to make a difference. i know it doesn't make any on my epson 1290
also, if you work on a mac, try to create the pdf from the print dialog, it usually gives the best results.
how long can it take to print a page once from indesign and once from acrobat?
Not long. I'm just not going to be near my printer for a bit, but I am working on my laptop for most of the day. I am using a Canon i9900 (9900i US version?) and InDesign CS perhaps? I'll have to try the leave unchanged thing later when I can make a test print. Can anyone give the standard process they feel is best for printing their portfolio? I imagine Im on the right track with the InDesign exported to PDF method, but obviously there are snags in color management and such.
P.S. What EXACTLY are postscript files? And what are they used for? Should I conisder them, or is it something completely different?
yep- ID to pdf is the best way, but you may have to just do some experimenting if you're not going to bother with setting up proper color management. It could be as simple as ID being set to CMYK workspace and acrobat to RGB. Remember your monitor is RGB, so each program must translate to RGB for display. Print tests are really the only way to see EXACTLY what you're going to get.
Remember to uncheck "compress vector art" in the PDF options. you want all the line resolution you can get when printing.
Postscipt (technically) is a computer language. PDF, .eps, and others all make use of it to varying degrees. In most of my experience, a reference to a "postcript file" usually means .eps (eps: Encapsulated PostScript), but lately I've seen it more and more in reference to pdf.
how about printing directly from indesign? never had a problem, because let's face it, pdf's are still a for of compression, so it's easier to lose quality along the way. there's a "composite leave unchanged" option in the output pannel of the print dialogue window, so if you're printing photos you'll be sure they come out as they were meant to.
you only need to print to a postscript file if you have a postscript printer, because then you will send that file to the printer itself, so unless you do, don't worry about them.
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