Pages and professional print shop
I have been a Quark user for five years (currently using v 6.5) and I am familiar with the file formats and preflight requirements for press ready files. When I first started using iWork, and specifically Pages, I was disappointed there wasn't some level of assistance in preparing files for a professional printer. I think an Export option to TIFF image at 600dpi would be easy to implement. The Export to PDF function only produces a file suitable for a desktop printer.
However, I really love Pages and I find myself using it more often than Quark for small projects. I have had great success sending these projects to digital print shops using some of the following tips:
1) Bleeds: Use the Manage Custom Sizes option in Page Setup to create document sizes with a 1/8" bleed all the way around. An 8.5x11 document becomes 8.75x11.25. Then set guide marks at .13 inches at the top/bottom, right/left of the page. Extend any color you want printed to the edge beyond those marks so the printer will have room to trim.
2) Exporting: Using the Export to PDF function will not work. If you have Acrobat 6.0 or better, I suggest using the Distiller. Just choose Acrobat as your printer and choose Press Quality for the setting. If you do not have Acrobat, but you do have Tiger, you can click on the PDF button and choose Save as PostScript. The print shop can distill that PS file into whatever PDF settings they require. This also preserves shadows and transparencies.
3) Colors: Your monitor only uses three colors when creating the images you see: Red, Green and Blue (RGB). Digital presses use four colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK (CMYK). The colors you see on your screen will NOT look the same on the printed page. There are some things you can do to make them closer, however. Use darker tones and avoid bright, vibrant colors in your design. Or be prepared that all bright tones will be muted when printed. You can also use a Pantone/CMYK to RGB converter table (Google it, they are out there on the web) and see what the RGB equivalent is for your particular color. These can get you a lot closer to the desired output.
4) Image quality: Make sure that any image you insert into your document is at the highest possible resolution (DPI). I suggest 300dpi at a minimum. If you are using images you download from the web, resize them to the smallest size possible. If you are unsure of the resolution of your images, use the free Graphic Converter (www.lemkesoft.com) to determine resolution and to adjust it as well.
Hope this helps a bit. I put way too much time into experimenting with various settings just to find a way to make Pages a viable part of my document workflow. It was worth it, though.
However, I really love Pages and I find myself using it more often than Quark for small projects. I have had great success sending these projects to digital print shops using some of the following tips:
1) Bleeds: Use the Manage Custom Sizes option in Page Setup to create document sizes with a 1/8" bleed all the way around. An 8.5x11 document becomes 8.75x11.25. Then set guide marks at .13 inches at the top/bottom, right/left of the page. Extend any color you want printed to the edge beyond those marks so the printer will have room to trim.
2) Exporting: Using the Export to PDF function will not work. If you have Acrobat 6.0 or better, I suggest using the Distiller. Just choose Acrobat as your printer and choose Press Quality for the setting. If you do not have Acrobat, but you do have Tiger, you can click on the PDF button and choose Save as PostScript. The print shop can distill that PS file into whatever PDF settings they require. This also preserves shadows and transparencies.
3) Colors: Your monitor only uses three colors when creating the images you see: Red, Green and Blue (RGB). Digital presses use four colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK (CMYK). The colors you see on your screen will NOT look the same on the printed page. There are some things you can do to make them closer, however. Use darker tones and avoid bright, vibrant colors in your design. Or be prepared that all bright tones will be muted when printed. You can also use a Pantone/CMYK to RGB converter table (Google it, they are out there on the web) and see what the RGB equivalent is for your particular color. These can get you a lot closer to the desired output.
4) Image quality: Make sure that any image you insert into your document is at the highest possible resolution (DPI). I suggest 300dpi at a minimum. If you are using images you download from the web, resize them to the smallest size possible. If you are unsure of the resolution of your images, use the free Graphic Converter (www.lemkesoft.com) to determine resolution and to adjust it as well.
Hope this helps a bit. I put way too much time into experimenting with various settings just to find a way to make Pages a viable part of my document workflow. It was worth it, though.
