Digital Repro & Prepress

Course Overview

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, storing, proofing and transferring files, separating your artwork and everything you need to know about sending your artwork to a printer or bureau.

Audience

You should be familiar with the Macintosh or Windows operating system and have a working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop.

Course Outline

DAY ONE

Introduction

• Understanding file formats
• The relationship between layout, image editing and drawing programs

Working with fonts

• Font substitution
• Fixing font ID clashes
• Type 1, TrueType and OpenType fonts

Image resolution

• Scanning artwork
• Determining the right resolution
• Working with pixels
• 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 algorithms and what they mean
• JPEG, MPEG et al

Transparency

• Understanding clipping paths
• Understanding alpha channels and layers 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 models

• RGB vs CMYK
• Understanding the difference between RGB and CMYK
• When to use one and not the other
• When to convert to CMYK

Image editing

• Cropping an image
• Changing image size
• Tonal correction
• Image retouching
• Colour correction
• Image sharpening
• Using a non-destructive workflow

Colour management

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

Preparing print-ready PDFs

• Exporting from InDesign
• Using Acrobat Distiller
• Using PDF export presets

Preflighting and packaging

• Fixing broken links
• A preflight checklist

Practical exercises

Questions and answers