New to Print Production?! Here's What You Need to Know

[@h0llyisawes0me]

You just boiled down and entire print production class to just 14 minutes. I love your use of the Link panel to double check color profile and PPI. THIS IS GOLD!!!

[@tirsogamboa]

Omg, truly the class no one ever paid attention to (myself included). I hope I was able to simplify it? Thanks so much for watching 🙏

[@SupernovaSites]

Hands down, the best KZbin video on preparing for print. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[@seananthonyjr.1595]

This video was a great refresher on print production. Removing unused colors from the swatches panel was the gem for me.

[@tirsogamboa]

Awesome! Hope the tiny gem was worth the watch 🙏 I should do a video on InDesign tips

[@djart4715]

This is so helpful! I just started learning how to implement this in one of my graphic design courses and I love how you broke all of this information down! ❤

[@tirsogamboa]

Amazing, so happy you found this helpful! ❤️❤️❤️

[@lydiaw1546]

So helpful, thank you :D

[@tirsogamboa]

Of course! Thanks so much for watching 🙏

[@chadwick1531]

Your videos are fantastic. Simple, right to the point, and explained in a no-nonsense manner. Thank you so much!subscribing

[@tirsogamboa]

Thanks so much! 🙏🙏🙏

[@jesspiala]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@tirsogamboa]

You got it, thank you for watching!

[@Dblup]

Subscribed! This was extremely helpful. Thank You!

[@tirsogamboa]

Amazing! Planning on covering more print, but let me know if there’s any areas I can cover ❤️

[@riccemorales9647]

This is amazing! Thank you!

[@tirsogamboa]

Thank you so much! ❤️

[@baranozer7913]

Great video, thank you.

[@tirsogamboa]

Thanks for watching ❤️🙏

[@devloowits]

This is an excellent video! It's a great refresh of print production tips and I learned a couple news things.

[@tirsogamboa]

Awesome! I’m leaning into more print design on the channel, so stay tuned ❤️

[@Puppies888]

thanks for the tips and advice, I learned a lot!

[@tirsogamboa]

Amazing! That’s all I care for. Happy to cover other topics you need help with

[@vidform]

This was expertly explained. Thank you. Can you do a video explaining - with advice - going on a press-check?

[@tirsogamboa]

Thank you so much! I am working on this, I will drop the link when it’s uploaded.

[@viktoria5310]

Thanks so much for this, very helpful!

[@Pokemon12345-n]

Nowadays it is not necessary to convert RGB to CMYK. The profile for that printer takes care of all conversions. So your design will remain same. Also RGB printers are also developed. There are many advantages in RGB printers. One of the most important advantage is the 4th channel is used for transperancy which is not supported in CMYK.

[@tirsogamboa]

I can acknowledge that this is an option… but CMYK printers are the most common by a large margin. The RGB printers you’re referring to aren’t actually printing in RGB because there's no light. They are still CMYK printers, but have additional color channels. I only promote proper process on this channel and what I mentioned in the video is industry standard. If designers follow the process I went over, this will provide them with the most consistent results.

[@DerToysoldier]

I agree that printers most commonly use CMYK, but I think nowadays a more used industry standard is to leave the pictures RGB or whatever in InDesign and only export with the the right color profile (in Germany we use different fogra or iso-standards for coated and uncoated materials). You save time converting those images and optimize for used paper.

[@loomonda18]

Super helpful, thank you!!

[@tirsogamboa]

I’m so glad! Thank you for watching ❤️

[@nmanjunathmanju2062]

please explain Imposition. for broacher, magazine, book

[@tirsogamboa]

I'm working on this. I will follow up with a link when the video is uploaded!

[@tirsogamboa]

I finally uploaded: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ2soJ2gYtSsqNU

[@itspolaris]

Oo very intricate and informative! Love the tips, keep it up! 🙌🏽

[@hurtysting4834]

nice. could you also do a video about print production tool in adobe acrobat? i'd love to see how the color separation checked.

[@tirsogamboa]

Let me try to work on this. I’m not “fully” versed in production, but i have a lot of production friends to put something together! Thanks so much for watching 🙏❤️🙏

[@uriahocean6968]

Love this channel

[@tirsogamboa]

Thank you so much for the support! ❤️

[@Brittany-Freedom]

I was recently offered a job for a print production lead, could you elaborate the qualifications and basic duties for this job role please?

[@tirsogamboa]

This job’s responsibilities would vary quite a bit depending on company structure, can you elaborate on the types of projects they work on?

[@chrisbaker5051]

Great info!

[@jacobpierce2548]

Great Video!

[@tirsogamboa]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@ManuelMartinezM2]

Very helpful info! Loved the detail explanation, keep it up man!

[@tirsogamboa]

Thanks for the support!

[@stephaniehopper9551]

Illustrator is totally fine as long as you know what to do. Only recommended for one or two page designs.

[@tirsogamboa]

I think that limitation alone is why you shouldn’t be using illustrator. But I as I mentioned in the video, you can’t preflight images unless you do it manually, which can be time consuming. Maybe I ask, is there a reason why the greater majority of the print industry uses InDesign but you prefer illustrator?

[@jakemath8975]

Video display resolution of an image is measured in pixels per inch (PPI) not (DPI). Dots per inch (DPI) is a measurement of the number of ink dots in a printed line per inch. As a general rule to determine the required resolution, one would take the dot per inch (DPI) of the printed piece, double it, and that should be the minimum resolution of the image you provide for the best quality print. So, if something is printing at a 150 dot per inch (DPI), the target image resolution should be at least 300 pixels per inch (PPI).

[@praetoriancorps]

when you say use the right program, in this case indesign. Would affinity publisher which also works with margins and bleeds be sufficient aswell?

[@tirsogamboa]

I’m not familiar with Affinity Publisher, but you would need to be able to check bleeds resolution and color space in order to preflight. if you’re able to do that, then that should totally work!

[@tamarar5661]

Thank you for the tutorial. I have a question, if we can only work from indesign, what is the best way to transfer your vector design from illustrator to indesign?

[@tirsogamboa]

It depends how complicated the vector is. If it’s simple, you can copy from Illustrator and paste directly into InDesign. This will allow you to change color and some easy alterations directly in InDesign. If the illustration is more complex, make sure the color profile in Illustrator is in CMYK, and then place the Illustrator file in InDesign (Command + D, then choose your file). With this method, in your links panel, you can right click (Control + Click) and go to Edit in Illustrator, which will allow you to make changes and when you save, it will update in InDesign, just make sure you don’t have the yellow triangle in the links panel, that means the file has been updated and you can update it by clicking the circle with two arrows in bottom right of the links panel or in the dropdown, there’s an option for “update all links” … I promise this is much easier and faster than it took me to type to all out. hope this helps!

[@tamarar5661]

Thank you so much! I will try this then

[@lumilikha]

Should I always convert all images to CMYK? What is the difference when I print some RGB images. We've been getting a ton of clients who only have JPEG and Canva files

[@tirsogamboa]

A lot of clients going the canvas route are likely not investing in designers who know the print production process, so that can be challenging; but you should still convert for proper practice. The difference is the processing. RGB is brighter because it’s backlit. CMYI tends to be duller. For some images in particular if there’s neon, by changing to CMYK you can see if there are any adjustments that need to be made, which will prevent any “surprises” after printing.

[@islamtemmam2451]

nice thank you!

[@SupernovaSites]

Should you make the background white like add a white block or just leave it blank and it will be the page behind? Question 2: Why PDF/x-1a2001? I hear High Quality Print a lot or 2008?

[@tirsogamboa]

Hi! The background can be blank. Printers don't have white ink, so it won't print anyway. The PDF/X-1a, has been the standard I've used for the past 15 years. Most offset printers require it because the settings keep the print production process consistent.

[@jojo-qu1qj]

do you know of any online courses i can take to print production? more specifically pre press preparation is what im most interested in...

[@tirsogamboa]

I haven't looked into this, so it'd hard for me to confidently recommend one. I would imagine you can fine a more robust class on Skillshare. A lot of the learning will come from designing for print and working directly with a printer. Like I said in the video, we barely paid attention to production in design school. I did a lot of learning on job throughout the years.

[@rahulsakariya3564]

I have two questions- 1. Is it a good idea to design a book or something in Photoshop and then transfer it to InDesign to set bleeds and trims. 2. Why don't you use the ''High Quality Print '' option while exporting the file?

[@tirsogamboa]

1. Unfortunately this doesn’t work for print because photoshop rasterizes the images to whatever your document is set to, but it’s not true to their original resolution. Also, you want your type to be vector so it’s clear, photoshop turns it into in image, which can pixelate. Basically, you can’t preflight for a printer and it’s significantly more work to redo everything properly in InDesign. 2. High Quality Print is a high-res PDF, but it doesn’t have the correct settings for a printer. You can certainly send it that way, but again, it’s not proper. How I went through the steps in the video is the only true way to send files. You won’t have any issues, you’ll get the results you want, and will save you more time in the end.

[@Ellenator]

hi there! thanks for the great video. I was wondering tho. First you set up a document in web or print format, then apparently you have to set all your swatches and images from rgb to CMYK and then you have to export it AGAIN to CMYK... why do you have to do all this in all these different stept? Should there not be a simpler and faster way to just say 1 time if you want it in rgb or cmy and that's it? Or am i missing something here ? :D

[@tirsogamboa]

Hi! When designing in InDesign, it is intended for print, but often times people bring in RGB elements, which is why you have to convert them if you didn't originally. For example, if you place an image from the web, it will be in RGB, and if you eyedrop from the image, the swatch will also be in RGB. Printers use CMYK, which is why you have to convert everything. It probably seems like a lot of steps if you haven't preflighted before, but in your design process, you can do some of the steps along the way. If you send out a project for review, you can also convert your swatched to CMYK. For photoshop, you can create an option to convert to CMYK, which should make the process faster. This way, you won't have to do it all at the end. Once you get used to all the steps 1. Convert Swatches to CMYK 2. Convert images to CMYK 3. Check for bleed 4. Export as PDF:x1a, it becomes second nature eventually.

[@cathyamp]

hi! i have facing pages for a paperback, but when I export it as an pdf in the middle i have a line with the extra image from the other page (have bleed) is this normal? amazon didnt found some error but when i lunch preview just show odd with that line from prev page

[@tirsogamboa]

Hi Cathy, yes, in order to do this you would have to separate the pages, not by changing it single, but instead there’s an option in the drop down of the pages panel where it says, “allow document pages / spreads to shuffle”. Click that off and it will allow you to separate the pages and maintain the left and right. The bleed will not show the page on the right or vice versa.

[@KaiteGalligher]

Thank you for such a wonderful video! When dealing with photography in a magazine that will be printed in a offset printer do you bump up the saturation of your photos or do any prepping before converting to CMYK? Sometimes when i convert it, the photo then looks a touch dull.

[@tirsogamboa]

I usually send out all of the images for post-production and the imaging team makes sure the conversion to CMYK is close or exact to the RGB. I haven’t found a solution myself on a fix for this since you lose the brightness from RGB

[@bridgestreetdesign]

If you’re doing color work in RGB on an image that will be (or even might be) converted to CMYK, be sure to have gamut warning and cmyk preview in photoshop turned on. This will show you how much the color will be dumbed down when the file is converted to cmyk. Also, if you are using adobe programs you want to have your color management set up correctly. Incorrect setup can cause a significant shift in the color when converting to cmyk. Hope this helps.

[@davidjackoLUFC]

@@tirsogamboa you can open up the mid tones once you convert the pictures to CMYK. Make sure you use curves in photoshop and you can then add colour back in to specific colours such as blues reds etc to make them brighter. you can use the saturation tool to do this, select red for example then drag all of the cyan out of and increase the yellow and red until you’re happy with the contrast. This should open up the picture and increase brightness when printed. Good video. Covered the basics well.

[@tirsogamboa]

@@davidjackoLUFCthank you!! I’m going to try this out 🙏

[@paulisarts]

This was a helpful video, but I have so many questions about the printing process -- I never know where to start. I'm creating self published comic books and I can never seem to find the info I'm looking for. I worry about the colors looking muddy when printed as well as marrying the colored art (psd) and lettering (eps), that the letters won't be black enough. I think I have heard of the 60/60/40/100 before. They use words like "trapping" (where colors meet beneath the line art, before flattening layers) and "overprinting" when referring to the blackness of the letters. Hear of anything like this? Should I even worry about it? Any direction someone can point me in is more than appreciated.

[@tirsogamboa]

For the colors looking muddy, unfortunately the colors will dull because CMYK is a subtractive process vs. RGB on screen with us additive since it adds light. The only way to come close to that same richness is to print with a Pantone, but it can get pricey. Trapping deals with alignment, I’ve never had any issues with this, but it mostly applies to illustration. For overprint, that’s what I was mentioning with the 4-color black. Use that for any elements that overlap other colors elements and you should be ok!

[@paulisarts]

@@tirsogamboa thanks for taking the time to reply. This was helpful!

[@studiotodd]

It's dangerous to suggest that one should create a 4-color black to use in your mechanical without explaining that it should not be used for text. Text should be 100K to avoid potential registration problems that would make your printed piece difficult to read.

[@tirsogamboa]

Yes you are correct! I didn’t mean to leave this note out of the video. Presumably most people will use the default black since it’s already there. In the example I showed, I was only suggesting a 4 color black for elements, like the black bubble, when you need more ink so it prints a true black.