Printing Tips and Techniques November

This is the first in a series in articles from me, Brett McIntyre in tips and techniques you can use to help you in your printing business or getting things printed correctly at the printers. Brett McIntyre has over 12 years of printing experience, from traditional print to variable print programming. Brett has seen it all in tenure in the printing industry.

This section will go over the correct way to set up a .pdf for your printer. I once talked to a gentleman from Adobe and this is the way he told me to create a .pdf to create the best color quality and sharpness that clients will appreciate.

For this one needs a .pdf writing program. We use Adobe Acrobat, but there are some free .pdf writers that work fine (click here). These programs enable you to print from any program to create a .pdf capable for print. These programs will install a driver that you can print just like any printer at your home or office.

After you have installed one of these programs and of course after creating your print piece, here are the steps for creating a hi-res print.

1. Select print from the program you are using. Then click the properties tab.

2. Then click the Adobe .pdf settings tab. I am using Acrobat, but other programs perform the same. Click the edit conversion tab.

3. Next select (it should default to this screen) and make sure the setting match below.

4. Select the compression tab at the top, then match the settings below.

5. Almost done. Select the Fonts tab at the top and make sure the setting match. This embed fonts so you wont have any problems printing.

6. Your done. Just save the .pdf to a folder that you'll remember. Viola, that's it!

You will also want to make sure that all color correction is OFF. Go to the Color Tab and make sure that it is OFF.

Brett is currently employed with Coastal Impressions on the Outer Banks, NC.