Digital Repro and Pre Press

Adobe Authorised Courses

This course is designed to give anyone involved in the creation of digital artwork an understanding of the whole process from layout to final printed work and to avoid the expensive mistakes and broken deadlines often caused by a lack of expertise in this field. This course provides a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the digital reproduction process. The course explores the terminology and techniques used by professionals in the digital repro industry. You will look at preparing, editing and proofing your artwork and everything you need to know about sending your artwork to a printer or bureau. If you have already attended our one day Trouble-free Printing course, we suggest you take a one day tailored version of this course instead.

Course Description

DAY ONE

Introduction
• Understanding file formats
• The relationship between layout, drawing and image editing applications
• Pixels vs vectors

Working with fonts
• Font substitution
• Font management software

Image resolution
• Scanning artwork
• Determining the right resolution
• Understanding screen angles
• Fixing moire patterns
• Actual ppi vs effective ppi

Document setup
• Working with bleeds
• Working with a slug
• Setting crop marks
• Setting up spreads
• Imposing pages

Spot colour artwork
• Working with tints
• Working with mixed inks
• Working with duotones
• Setting up a spot varnish

Compression
• Different compression techniques and what they actually do

Clipping paths and transparency
• Understanding clipping paths
• Understanding alpha channels and layer masks
• Using transparency effects
• Avoiding printing problems

Practical exercises

Questions and answers

DAY TWO

Trapping
• What is trapping?
• How to trap artwork
• How to avoid the need for trapping

Colour management
• What is colour management?
• Understanding colour settings
• Implementing a colour managed workflow

Image editing
• Cropping an image
• Changing image size
• Tonal correction
• Image retouching
• Colour correction
• Image sharpening
• When to convert to CMYK
• Using a non-destructive workflow

Preparing print-ready PDFs
• Exporting from InDesign
• Using Acrobat Distiller
• Using PDF export presets
• Preflighting and packaging
• Fixing broken links

Working with your printer
• Project planning and workflow
• Briefing your printer
• Getting the best prices
• Over and under-runs
• Ownership of materials

Practical exercises

Questions and answers