#New DTP'r questions
7 messages in this thread
Tom,
Thanks! First of all, what exactly is pre-press? What are the most common
technical problems you have with DTP output from beginners? Does a common
standard exist which allows computer generated color graphics to match with
final output? Is there a typesetter's bible or some such which governs
spacing and punctuation? What does"rag" mean? I have some more, but
I'll ask tomorrow when I have more time.
Dennis –
Well, I'm not the *most* experienced in these parts (Kathleen & Co can
probably provide better answers), but here goes …
1). Pre-Press is just that. All materials leading up to printing:
imagestter (Lino, Varityper, CG, etc.) positives, negatives, separations,
etc.
2) I think the most common technical problem beginners have is trying to
do too much too early. You may want to get your feet wet on simple black &
white and spot color jobs before hitting color seps.
3) A common standard? I'm not sure I understand. For now, let me quote a
software developer friend who says, "That's what I love about computer
standards, you have so many to choose from."
4) If you're looking for a style guide, I recommend Strunk's "Elements of
Style"
5) "Rag" has different meanings depending on the context. It can be a
slang term for newspapers and magazines, or refer to the cotton/linen
content (25% +) of a paper stock. There may be others.
-Tom-
Tom –
Re:<5) "Rag" has different meanings depending on the context. >
I think the most common meaning as used in DTP is short for "ragged" — as
in rag right or rag left — as opposed to jusified.
— don
Dennis,
Pre-press includes compiling all of the elements of a page that the printer
needs for the actual print run. Different people take it to different
levels, but remember that sometimes the best person to do some of this
Pre-press stuff is the printer him/herself.
Technical problems from beginners include: extra blank pages in a file
which they don't tell you about but don't expect to pay for when you've run
them out; missing specialty fonts and graphics files which are often
necessary to have to get the job to run properly; the misunderstanding that
just because a page output fine on their laser printer, it should run out
on a Lino (there's a lot more info being calculated when you increase the
resolution dramatically).
4-Color separations are probably best left to the pioneers in the field
still. Spot color seps work pretty well, especially if you call for a
Pantone Color which you can look at in Pantones book of swatches.
Definitely don't trust your screen, and be advised that if you butt colors
up against each other that you may run into trapping problems when
printing. Use a printer who can compensate for his own press in this area.
You should defintely seek out the Chicago Book of Style if you're
unfamiliar with typesetting conventions. It's not cheap, but you'll have
more details than you know what to do with, and your customers will
appreciate it (one hopes) if you catch a misuse that their editor (assuming
they've bothered to use a professional editor, which they may not) has
missed.
And, lastly, "Rag" in typesetting means that at least one edge of column of
text is not set aligned with the surrounding text. Rag Left means that the
right hand edge of a column is not consistent (or "justified"), Rag Right
means the same for the left hand edge, Rag Center means neither of the
edges are aligned, and Justified means that extra space has been added to
the word and/or letterspacing so that both edges of a column align.
<BW>
Brad –
I always thought that was "ragged right" and "ragged left" When did we
lose the past tense? 🙂
-Tom-
And the new WordPerfect terminology is "Justified Right" and "Justified
Left" and "Full Justification." (They also have a "Justified Center," but I
won't mention it here<g>.)
There are currently two proposed standards for combining color images with
electronically generated layouts.
~ OPI (Open Pre-Press Interface) – proposed by Aldus
and
~ DCS (Desktop Color Separation Specification) – proposed by Quark
The DCS technical description has been uploaded and is available in one of
the libraries. (I believe it is in the Hi-Res lib. Brad, please correct me
if I'm wrong.)
Mark Niemann-Ross
Quark 3rd Party Marketing Manager