Pages resolution, dpi, RGB, CMYK

Ben

There is a universal problem printing to .pdf from OSX. Apple's Quartz filters rasterise transparency at a very low 72dpi. This includes shadows, reflections and any text or other overlapping vectors.

One user has reported success in printing direct from Pages to his company's RIP, so if you can persuade a printer to do the same you may avoid the 72dpi problem.

There are other problems however. No crop marks, bleeds, spot colors, specials or slugs and Apple has muddied the waters with its half-half PDF-X/PDFX-3 output.

Further there are no tools to help ensure you are conforming to printer's requirements for color management, resolution, fonts etc etc.

If I was a printer faced with a Pages job containing any critical color work, I'd make the client sign up to take full responsibility for the result, because chances are it is not going to be pretty.

Apple has not been upfront about it, in fact their staff are suggesting to users otherwise, but Pages is really only meant for printing to your personal desktop printer.

Peter

You really do need to have either Adobe Indesign or Quark Xpress for professional work.

There is a lot of money to made selling pie in the sky. And plenty who will buy it.

Commercial printing is not easy, even if you know what you are doing. No matter what it says on the package, it is not going to be a push button operation.

Peter

Ben...

Peter is hitting the nail on the head. BUT, there are creative work arounds I've been employing for several years now, because, YOU'RE RIGHT. Layout is blisteringly faster in Pages than anything Adobe makes.

Have a look at I Work In Pagesfor a definitive workflow that should work with your current printer.

Secondly, I'd encourage you to strike up a relationship with a new printer who has a DIGITAL PRESS. Separations, trappings, CMYK conversions can be a thing of the past, since digital technology has more than eroded the time-honored craft of prepress.

I'm thinking that for your work, Digital Printing makes the most economical sense, even sacrificing a SMIDGEN of quality. (In the filmmaking world...think "HD" instead of 16mm. Does ANYONE but Hollywood and NFL Films shoot on film anymore?

Good luck, and join me in prayer that God will inspire Apple to release "Pages Pro" for those of us who love Pages but want MORE in the likes of what Peter mentioned (crop marks, registration marks, true CMYK support, etc).

So glad to help. Seriously...after years of using Adobe products, and just accepting their inadequacies in User Interface Design, Pages was a THRILL to come across, even as a "toddler" in it's relatively short software lifespan.

My workflow often entails a combination of Illustrator/Photoshop in concert with Pages (and even the humble Preview app).

So...say you create a logo in Illustrator, with typographic and shape elements. Get it the way you want it, then select all, copy, and switch to Pages to drop it in. I use a variety of layering techniques within Pages to design textured page backgrounds, quickly, and quickly get to the point of adding copy to the layout.

When I'm done, I export as a PDF to show my clients. I can FLY in Pages, whereas ANY Adobe program keeps me hamstrung. Largely, it's about playing to strengths. Pages is NOT an image editor or vector illustration app...but in a pinch, you can get some impressive results with it's built in tools. Illustrator and Photoshop are NOT layout tools (and I'd be so brash as to argue that InDesign isn't much of one, as sluggish as it is).

Together, there is harmony!

There is a possible light at the end of the tunnel.

Beta versions of OSX 10.6.3 are reported to have fixes for ColorSync filters. One hopes that Apple has finished torturing its users and fixed the elementary but crippling settings.

Peter

Look at this link: _[PDF/X Problems in Leopard|http://pagesfaq.blogspot.com/search/label/pdf%2Fx]_

It should help (Peter Breis wont agree). If you try it could you tell me how you could see the difference. The shadow I put on an image looked fine on my computer but that isn't a real test.

10.6.3 isn't out yet.

fruhulda wrote:
It should help (Peter Breis wont agree).

LOL 😉

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) lundi 25 janvier 2010 10:08:23

Ben...

Peter's right, and that Pages FAQ site looks like a terrific resource. The only help I can give you is to recommend you do a sample test with your printer...create a quick document that includes some of the pitfalls anticipated, and heed the advice about PDF/X from the other site. I too have run into quality issues with how drop shadows are rasterized.

Your success is COMPLETELY contingent on the type of printing you're anticipating doing (offset vs. digital), and even then, the PRINTING ENGINE/PRINT CONTROLLER used by your print shop to "rip" your PDF in order to print it. And working with them through a test document is the fastest way to determine how the workflow from Pages to finished deliverable will look.

So....do you test layout in Pages, export as a PDF, send it to the print shop, and they'll "rip" it, and can send you back an updated PDF...if they're local...ask for a sample hard copy. Compare the two digitally and/or hard copies before proceeding.

A secondary bit of counsel I can offer concerns the IMAGES you'll be using in your layout. If you're including any rasterized artwork (photographs, or rasterized logos and other artwork), you should convert ALL THESE IMAGES from RGB to CMYK before you proceed with your Pages layout. I think you can use AUTOMATOR to do a batch conversion.

Presuming your figure out a workflow with your print shop that doesn't cause them undo grief, and you're happy with the quality of your CMYK images and the test document, you should feel like you can move forward with confidence.

However, snags you might encounter would likely have something to do with the things Peter addressed by linking to the article at the Pages FAQ blog.

Ben Low wrote:
And, out of curiosity, is there a way to set the color palette to CMYK in Pages? I seem to remember that there is...

Hi Ben,

In the Colors pane, click the icon with the sliders, just to the right of the Color Wheel icon.

Jerry