PDF documents can be exported using many different settings depending on the desired output destination (print, web, working file, etc.).
PDF Tips
There are many ways to create a PDF file, but not all of them work well for professional printing and/or file sharing. The way in which you create a PDF can dramatically alter the quality of your printing.
The Imaging Center recommends using PDF/X-1a for most print submissions.
PDF/X-1a
All transparency and layers are flattened
Spot colors are maintained
RGB content is converted to CMYK
PDF/X-4
This is a newer PDF standard that takes advantage of modern prepress processes.
Retains live transparency & layers
Retains CMYK, RGB, LAB, and spot colors
Intended for workflows that support live transparencies
Definitely worth trying to use!
Recommended Changes to Settings
Marks & Bleed: Only include crop & bleed marks if the file set up for that item requires it. Click ‘Use Document Bleed Settings’ to include previously setup bleed, usually should be set to 0.125″(1/8″)
Output Color Conversion: Change to No Conversion & Include all Profiles
A bleed is printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet after trimming. It is the portion of the background that will be trimmed off after the file is printed and cut down to the finished size. A bleed gives the printer a small amount of space to account for the movement of paper and design inconsistencies.
Artwork, background colors, and other non-critical design elements are often extended into the bleed area.
When a document does not have a bleed, there is a good chance that either:
there will be a small white gap between the edge of the printed area and the cut line OR
your image will be cut into; thus important design elements or text will be cut into
Bleeds are usually 1/8” from where the cut is to be made.
The Imaging Center has a cutting tolerance of 1/16”. Anything that comes within 1/16” of the cut line could potentially be cut off. Text or other design elements that you want to ensure are not cut off, must be placed more than 1/16” away from the expected edge of the design.
What is a Border?
By default, the Imaging Center will print your image in the center of the sheet or roll of paper. If you want a white border surrounding the image, you need to build that into your file. Border thickness is important because if the border is too thin, it may look uneven after trimming. The thicker the border, the better the finished cut print will look.
Note: The text that is near the “cut line” in the second image will be trimmed off.
Check out an i1Display Pro from the IC to correct the color on your monitor, tablet, or mobile device. For information on how to profile your device, please visit our step by step instructional guide by clicking HERE.
Checkout Policy
To calibrate your laptop or device, make a reservation appointment via Calendly to check out a device from the Imaging Center.
Equipment can only be checked out in person by appointment. The IC does not accept ‘walk-ins’.
Imaging Center equipment checkouts are free for current CCS students, staff, and faculty.
Patrons must present a current CCS ID in order to check out equipment. No ID = No Checkout.
Students may keep the equipment for no more than 24 hours for each checkout and can renew the items one consecutive time. Students cannot check out equipment over weekends and school breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, etc.).
The patron is fully responsible for the care and safeguard of all equipment that they check out. The student is responsible for paying close attention during the time that the equipment is being checked out to them. Read and sign the check-out agreement to avoid mistakes.
The patron must check for equipment damage before they take it. Report any faulty equipment and return it immediately.
Paige S. (former work-study student) calibrates her laptop in the 2018
Return Policy
All equipment must be returned on time.
A return time & date will be agreed upon when you check out the item. A calendar appointment will be made on your behalf as an appointment for you to return the item.
All equipment must be returned in the condition in which it was checked out (cords wrapped, cases packed neatly and clean).
It is encouraged that the patron stays and observes the IC staff while they check in returned equipment.
All checkouts returned to the Imaging Center before 3:30pm on Fridays.
Equipment will be sanitized upon return to the Imaging Center.
IC computer being calibrated in Fall 2020
Overdue Equipment Policy
Students, Staff, and Faculty are subject to late fines and replacement fees. Emails are sent via CCS email to notify the patron of overdue equipment.
Equipment overdue by more than 24 hours will result in the suspension of checkout and potentially printing privileges.
Equipment overdue by more than 72 hours will result in a replacement fee and indefinite suspension of check-out & printing privileges. Students will have a hold placed on their academic accounts.
Lost, stolen, or damaged equipment will result in a mandatory, non-negotiable, full replacement or repair charge.
An official police report must be submitted for stolen equipment or we will assume that you, the patron, stole the equipment.
Consecutive overdue returns may result in the semester suspension of check out and/or printing privileges.
Threatening or rude conduct toward any IC staff member will result in the permanent loss of your checkout and/or printing privileges.
Check out an i1Display Pro from the IC to correct the color on your monitor, tablet, or mobile device.
If this is your first time calibrating your computer, download the i1Profiler application from the X-Rite website and install it onto your computer by clicking HERE
Open the .dmg package and follow the prompts on screen for installation. Installation will include a computer restart.
Profiling Your Device
Before you begin
Ambient light affects profiling outcomes. Set your computer in a place you plan to work often.
Make sure your screen has been on for 20-30 minutes. Turn off any settings that could possibly change the normal temperature or brightness of the screen while in use. (i.e. Night Shift, Low Power Mode, Screen Saver, etc.)
Don’t forget to clean your monitor so that it is free from fingerprints!
Quit any applications and turn off all settings that might interfere with calibration, such as pop up notifications, flashing updates or messaging services.
In System Preferences, ensure the following preferences are set:
Accessibility > Display > Set Contrast Slider to “Normal
Energy Saver > Uncheck any power savers that would affect the calibration process
Calibrating Your Monitor
Open the i1Profiler software & connect the calibrator to your computer using the USB cord.
User Mode > Basic
Application Settings > set the Default display device to i1Display
From the Workflow Selector (left column), select the Display Profiling button.
Display Settings
Select the display you are profiling and the type of monitor. In most cases, the program will automatically select it for you.
White Point > CE Illuminant D65
Luminance > 120 cd/m2
Gamma > Standard (default) | 2.20
Uncheck > Adjust profile based on my ambient light
Select the Next button
Note: D50 and D65 are the most common temperatures. D50 is a warmer white used for commercial CMYK printing (IC laser printing) and imitates the yellow-cast of paper. D65 is cooler in color and is best for inkjet printers (IC inkjet printing). D65 is also a good setting for photography and digital output. If you are undecided, use D65.
80 cd/m2 is the lowest level and 250 cd/m2 the brightest. 80-120 are the preferred luminance levels to see shadows. If you prefer to keep your current screen brightness level, select “Native.” The program will retain your current level of screen brightness and profile accordingly. If you are unsure, 100-120 is recommended.
Display Hardware Setup
If your computer has Automatic Display Control (ADC), check the ADC box. If you are unsure, undecided, or know your computer does not have ADC, use the manual mode.
Check > Adjust brightness, contrast, and RGB gains manually.
Select > Start Measurement
Measurement
Place the measurement device onto your screen using the counterweight provided on the USB cord.
Follow the instructions on the screen to adjust your brightness. Get as close as you can; the brightness is usually not a perfect match, but the device will calibrate according to your brightness.
The computer will then flash different colors and the spectrophotometer will calibrate based on these colors.
When prompted by the program, remove the i1Display device from the screen, turning the diffuser back over the lens.
Once finished, the program will display a series of patches split into before and after triangles. Each triangle pair should only differ in value. If any pair are a completely different color, it is likely that a screen pop up interfered with the calibration process, and the measurements must be taken again.
If the patches are correct, click Next or select ICC Profile.
Name your profile; include date and monitor type. Example: 2018-01-30-Macbook-Office.icc
Set user access for the profile.
Set up a Profile Reminder of 1-4 weeks. If you are doing color-critical work, profile every week. Otherwise, every 2-4 weeks should be sufficient.
You can view results and select “before” and “after” images as examples of your improved color.
By converting a color profile, the color numeric numbers change. Converting your color profile permanently moves your image into that color space. It is the last step prior to saving the file for print.
Edit menu > Convert to Profile.
Under Destination Space, choose the color profile to which you want to convert the document’s colors. Under Conversion Options, specify an engine and a rendering intent.
Toggle on the Preview option. Click OK.
What is a rendering intent?
A rendering intent is a method or set of instructions for mapping or translating color values from one color space to another, generally when converting from a color space with a larger gamut to one with a smaller gamut.
Absolute Colorimetric:
Leaves colors that fall inside the destination gamut unchanged. Out-of-gamut colors are clipped. This intent aims to maintain color accuracy at the expense of preserving relationships between colors and is suitable for proofing to simulate the output of a particular device.
Relative Colorimetric:
Compares the extreme highlight of the source color space to that of the destination color space and shifts all colors accordingly. Out-of-gamut colors are shifted to the closest reproducible color in the destination color space. Relative Colorimetric preserves more of the original colors in an image than Perceptual. This is the standard rendering intent for printing in North America and Europe. The Imaging Center’s RIP is also set to use this rendering intent.
Perceptual:
This method may shift all colors slightly in order to retain the tonal and color relationships throughout the image. It may sacrifice absolute color accuracy, but it is good for preserving tonality and natural hues in an image. Good for photographs. This is the standard rendering intent for the Japanese printing industry.
Saturation:
This method maps saturated colors in the source space to fully saturated colors in the destination space at the expense of tonality and color accuracy. This is only good for “business presentation” type applications where bright saturated colors are more important than the exact relationship between colors.
Assign Profile allows you to tag an image with a specified profile or untag an image by removing it. No color numeric conversions are made; it simply applies an interpretation to the numbers in the image.
Edit menu > Assign Profile.
Toggle on the Preview option. You will most likely see the colors shift on screen.
In the Assign Profile dialog box you will see three options:
Don’t Color Manage This Document Removes the existing profile from the document. After you remove the profile from a document, the appearance of colors is defined by the application’s working space profiles.
Working [color model: working space] Assigns the working space profile to the document.
Profile Selecting this option allows you to toggle between different color profiles. Adobe assigns the new profile to the document without actually converting colors to the profile space. This may dramatically change the appearance of the colors as displayed on your monitor.
Examples of Different Profiles
Notice in the examples below – how the colors appear richer or duller depending on which profile you are assigning the image.
sRGB
sRGB is a color space that defines a range of colors that can be displayed on-screen and in print. It is the most widely used color space and is supported by most operating systems, software programs, monitors, and printers
Adobe RGB (1998)
The Adobe RGB color space is a color space developed by Adobe in 1998. It was designed to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK color printers, but by using RGB primary colors on a device such as a computer display
ProPhoto RGB
The ProPhoto RGB color space is an output referred RGB color space developed by Kodak. It offers an especially large gamut designed for use with photographic output in mind. Most printers cannot achieve some colors of this gamut and may not print as bright.
CMYK
The CMYK color model is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four ink plates used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key
The print process starts as soon as you create a file. It is a good idea to set your color preferences before starting to work. A color space is a range of possible colors.
The IC works in both an Adobe RGB 1998 and U.S. Web Coated CMYK (SWOP) v2 color space.
What is a Color Space?
A color space in general is a set of colors that has been defined in some way. Typically they are colors that a given device is able to display or print.
The set of all the colors that can be found in a given color space is called its gamut. If a color is outside of this range and thus for example cannot be displayed or printed, we say it is out of the gamut
How to Change your Color Settings
How to Change your Color Settings in Photoshop
Edit menu > Color Settings Settings > North America Prepress 2
Do not change the color space by toggling between RGB and CMYK via Image menu > Mode. You will lose critical pixel data by using this method.
How to Change your Color Settings in Adobe Bridge
It’s good practice to synchronize your color settings in Adobe Bridge.
With Bridge open, do the following:
Edit menu > Color Settings North America Prepress 2 > Apply
To streamline the printing process, please combine multiple like-sized PDF (or .jpg) files into one single PDF file.
Option 1
File > Create > Combine Files into a Single PDF
Please note, the Imaging Center cannot print a PDF portfolio.
Option 2
Select the Add Files button in the left-hand corner of the Combine Files dialog box. In this dialog box, you will be able to select additional files to be included in the combined PDF.
You can drag and drop files to make sure that the files are in the correct page order.
Select the largest file size via the icons within the Options menu located in the center of the dialog box.
Select Combine.
Video Tutorial
IC Quick Tip | Combining Multiple Files into a Single PDF file
In order to qualify for black & white pricing on the plotter printer (Epson T5270D), your image must first be converted to grayscale. If your image is submitted in color, you will be charged for the color price.
For the best results, you should always work from a duplicate file. You don’t want to toggle back and forth between different color spaces (especially on an original file) as you can lose critical pixel data.
Before converting images, it’s best to do the following:
Do as much editing as possible in the original color mode
Save a backup copy before converting. Be sure to save a copy of your image that includes all layers so that you can edit the original version of the image after the conversion.
Flatten the file before converting it. The interaction of colors between layer blending modes changes when the mode changes.
Open file in Photoshop
Image menu > Mode > Grayscale
Click Discard
Photoshop converts the colors in the image to black, white, and shades of gray.
NOTE: The technique above minimizes file size but discards color information and can convert adjacent colors to the exact same shade of gray. Using a Black & White adjustment layer increases file size but retains color information, letting you map colors to shades of gray.
In order to qualify for black & white pricing on the plotter printer (Epson T5270D), your image must first be converted to grayscale. If your image is submitted in color, you will be charged for the color price.
For the best results, you should always work from a duplicate file. Illustrator preserves editing capabilities but to keep yourself organized, it’s in best practice to save a separate grayscale IC print file.
Open file in Illustrator
Select all of the objects whose colors you want to convert.
To select all objects in a file, choose
Select > All. (To deselect all objects, choose Select > Deselect)
Don’t forget to unlock all layers & objects on your artboard!
Object menu > Unlock All
Edit menu > Edit Colors > Convert To Grayscale
NOTE:Use the Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors command to convert objects to grayscale and adjust the shades of gray at the same time.
Your Illustrator file is now ready to save as a PDF file! Happy printing 🙂
