Custom Dimensions: Remember to Change Settings in Preview

Pages and Preview show
the same set of Paper Size options

Problems with setting custom dimensions in Pages projects  seem to be quite common. 


I’ve suggested one way of dealing with it in a previous post ‘How to Set Custom Dimensions for Pages Document’,  but it doesn’t seem to work if you don’t have ‘Adobe PDF printer’ in your print options. Here is what happens with a reader’s project: 

‘ My file is 17 x 11, for a full folded brochure. I created the custom size. When I open in Preview form PostScript it cuts my file directly in half, so I only see the left side. I don't have Adobe. I did try your suggestion. Adobe Reader is installed and in My Applications, and on my dock. But when I try print it does not appear in the drop-down. I did try to save as PostScript again, and dragged to preview just as you said to see if it worked, and it did not. Any ideas on why Adobe PDF does not show up even after installing it? Vicki’

I think I spotted where the problem is: changing the document dimensions in Preview too, not just in Pages. 

Let's forget the Adobe side of this for now and only deal with dimensions.

  

In Preview, open any document, for example your clipped brochure, go to File>Print Page Setup (see picture on the left). When Dialogue opens, click on Paper Size drop-down menu and choose your custom size 17x11, which you have already created in Pages and added to custom sizes in your Pages document (see previous article). Click ok and close the document. Then drag the PostScript file of the brochure onto Preview icon and it should open as a PDF with correct dimensions. 

Now, this PDF will not be press-ready CMYK file, but printers who use digital process may not require CMYK separation and still take it into work, and even those who use larger off-set presses may take your PS file to convert to CMYK themselves, perhaps with an additional charge.  (see this previous article on why the PostScript stage is important when you work with professional printshops).

You'll have to shop around where you are to see what's available. From my experience it's best to work with smaller printshops where you can talk face to face with someone who would understand your needs and the process you have used in creating your document. 

It's important to think through your production process and decide where your work stops and others take over and not to try to go where additional specialised knowledge and skills are needed. There is nothing wrong or demeaning with division of labour, it has existed for as long as we, humans, have been on this planet, not just since the first version of Pages was released.

Update: 

Several readers have asked me additional questions about setting dimensions and 'clipped' pdfs.  General advice: use Preview to check that your document is going to come out in the right dimensions. Open the print dialogue and click on the Preview button. 

And the picture is in reply to Lauren's questions (see comments). The screenshot is of the print dialogue, showing how to scale a large document to fit into a smaller paper format: click on 'Scale to fit paper size.'

Why CMYK PDFs are darker than Pages documents?

Chris Howard, a reader from California, wrote to me:

'I've followed the steps in your blog about converting Pages to high quality PDFs.  Does your work come out a little darker when converting to CMYK?  I'm also in pages 09'

Yes, it does a bit. It is not something to worry about, the print quality will still be good.

I am sure those who studied printing techniques in depth will have a better explanation, but for myself I've developed a simple  way of understanding this. RGB colours (red, green and blue) are for the generated screen light going straight into your eyes, and CMYK colours (cyan, magenta, yellow and black/key) are for the light reflected off the paper - that's how the human eye sees them. You have a desktop lamp, look at the things on your desk - that's reflected light. Now look straight at the lamp. Which is brighter?

It is good to keep this in mind when working on your Pages project: use lighter photos and adjust or avoid vibrant, 'neon' colours that look great on screen, but come out dull on paper.

Check this earlier article on converting Pages projects to CMYK-ready PDFs.
Photo: apple buds ready for spring blossom, © A.Anichkin, 2010

...if I don't have Distiller

The only reliable way I know to produce high quality CMYK separated PDFs from Pages is to process documents through PostScript to Acrobat Distiller.

So, what if I don't have Distiller? Numerous readers of this blog have asked me this question. I asked it myself when I was looking at Pages three years ago. I am still not aware of another way to produce CMYK separated PDFs without Distiller.

I can suggest a workaround though:

- if you need CMYK PDFs for a one-off, occasional project save your Pages document to PostScript, put it on a USB stick, CD or similar and take the PS files to a friend with full Acrobat Pro suite which includes Distiller. A computer service/shop or a small professional printer may do the distilling and colour separation from PS files for you for a reasonable fee;

However:
- if your project is of a continuous, long term nature - periodical print publication, posters, cards etc., my advice would be - get yourself full professional Acrobat/Distiller suite. I've just looked it up on Amazon - Pro version 9 could be as low as 200 dollars. When I did costings for my magazine I found that even after upgrading my Mac to Tiger, installing additional RAM (Pages are very RAM hungry!) and buying Acrobat Pro, I'd spend about half of what I'd have to, had I chosen InDesign or Quark.

And the ease of learning Pages, their elegance and intuitive behavior are a big factor too.

Nevertheless I agree with those who complain that there is a missing link between Pages and professional printing. Export to PDF or 'printing' to PDF with Preview is only good for small series digital printing, but not for bigger printshops which require four colour separation.

To read other articles on producing professional print quality PDFs from Pages please click here: Pages and professional printing on this blog.

From Pages to CMYK PDFs

The key here is to use the PostScript stage when converting Pages documents to PDF. Simple Export to PDF will not work with professional printers who use CMYK (four colour) separation.

- 'Print' Pages to PS
- launch Acrobat Distiller and process your PS files through Distiller

Acrobat Distiller has several settings. Choose Press Quality or Prepress, whichever settings are available in your version of Acrobat. Here is a summary of my settings which have given me consistently good results for over a year now:

- Under General set Resolution to 2400 dots per inch;
- Under Images set Sampling off and resolution for color and grayscale to 300 pixels per inch and 1200 pixels for monochrome;
- Under Color: Settings file none, Color management policies: set to 'Convert All Colors to CMYK';
- Under Fonts: check Embed all fonts checkbox.

These should give you CMYK ready PDFs and keep your printer happy.

If you regularly use the same printer, I strongly suggest that you arrange a session with them to synchronise all your settings. It's easy to overlook a minor difference in settings which can result in serious problems at one of the later stages in the printing process.

Most printers use specialised computer service companies to fine-tune their machines and processes. Find out who they use, get in touch with them and ask them to run through your workflow and settings.

I also highly recommend Enfocus Pitstop software which works like an extended set of tools to Adobe Acrobat. It allows you to convert your PDFs to CMYK in one go and thoroughly check the prepress quality of your PDFs.

Nearly two years ago I described a different process of creating press quality PDFs using Colorsync in an article on this blog . The Colorsync process worked great for me in the early stages of my project and allowed to produce good quality PDFs. However, with the iWork/Pages version 3 (2008) I found that there is no need for it. It is enough to Print a Pages document to PostScript and process it through Acrobat Distiller with Press Quality settings to create a CMYK separated PDF.

A linked list of other articles dealing with CMYK and PDF on this blog is here.

Read more in my new book 'iWork for Mac OSX Cookbook' (2012), follow me on Twitter at iworkinpages, like my page I Work in Pages on Facebook and add me to your circles on Google+

'Blue conversions' problem and a few workarounds

This problem comes out of the blue and there seems to be no pattern to it happening. An ordinary looking JPG or PDF would not convert properly from Pages to PDF, but instead appear as a solid blue (cyan) shape.

It happens sometimes even when existing graphic elements which had converted successfully before, are just updated. Files made in Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign could be affected.

I could not find out why this happens or how to resolve this.

If you are struck by the 'blue conversion' problem here are a few workarounds I've used:

- try converting again, sometimes the problem 'just goes away'
- ask the file to be resent to you in high-definition PDF
- try converting on another computer
- if all of the above doesn't work, ditch the file and find a different one which fits with your project.

A friend who works with me said: 'Sometimes it's best not to try and work it out - it fries your brain!'.

Still if anyone has an explanation or a solution I would like to hear very much.

This striking photo of 'champagne breakfast' turned into a solid cyan rectangle after conversion.

Photo by Shu Milne

Three steps from Pages to PDF - an addition

'Three steps from Pages to PDF' is a short article I published here on this blog 18 months ago while still working in the first version of iWork/Pages. The article has become the most widely read item on this blog.

I am still using this simple and efficient method and I am posting this comment today to point out that the same method works not just with Pages, but with most other applications, including MS Word. I recommend it to anyone who has to produce compact mailable PDFs and especially where the professional CMYK four colour separation is required.

iWork/Pages, press quality PDFs and CMYK separation on this blog

In this post I have put together a linked list of articles dealing with producing press quality PDFs for professional printshops - for quick reference.

From comments and correspondence I see that readers of this blog are often desperate to find a way of using Pages for professional printing which involves four colour separation - CMYK (CMJN in French).


I haven't covered all aspects of this issue here, this blog consists mostly of scribbles to myself where I describe solutions I've found and want to remember. Nor do I pretend to have a high degree of technical knowledge. I enjoy using Pages and I have been successfully publishing a full colour magazine, a project which is over two years old now. The accumulated experience of working on it is reflected here.




Thank you for visiting my blog, please leave comments with other ideas, solutions and questions.

PDF Settings for Professional Printhshops and a Few Tips

From Pages to CMYK PDFs
CMYK in Pages - no problem!

Three Steps from Pages to PDF
Three steps from Pages to PDF - an addition
...if I don't have Distiller
PitStop and producing press-quality PDFs
Pages and professional printshops: why PostScript

When a PDF 'scales down' or truncates

Why CMYK PDFs are darker than Pages documents?

Networking: Physical vs Virtual

Importing Word into Pages: use PDF

Quick JPEGs straight from Pages

Sending out Pages documents
Preparing colour separated PDFs using ColorSync
Measuring iWork/Pages - against what?

Working in team: file sharing across computers and locations

CMYK in Pages - no problem!

I work with a graphics designer who is a hundred miles away. We meet occasionally for brain-storming sessions or drinks, but when work rolls we need to co-ordinate what we do — fast!

One way of achieving full cohesion in colours we use is swapping CMYK breakdown.

Open Colour Inspector (the rainbow coloured wheel in the Toolbar, or click on the colour bar in any of the following inspectors — Text, Object or Chart, see the screenshot below left.)

In the Colour Inspector, click on the second icon with slides and from the drop-down menu choose CMYK sliders.

Here you can read the professional printshop breakdown of the colour which appears on your computer screen in WYSYWIG mode - what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Read it out to your working partner, write it down or make a screenshot (Command+Shift+4 - drag the crosshairs cursor over the Colour Inspector panel and get a mailable PNG.)

And they will be able to independently recreate your favourite colour in any programme — not just Pages.

In the top screenshot image you can see the breakdown of the Rendezvous magazine brand red. The highlighted text (word 'blog') is typed in Pages. The graphic panel 'Editor's blog' above it was created separately in Illustrator and imported into the Pages document as PDF.

I know that many Pages users struggle to achieve good professional print results, sometimes on the Internet forums you see claims that it is simply impossible. This is not true. Use the simple three step method I've been using and polishing for two years now: Pages - Print to 'Save as PostScript' - Create press quality PDF from PostScript.


This is also in answer to those who are complaining that Pages are difficult when teamwork is needed. With a little effort, groups of editors, designers and printers of any size can coordinate work and achieve excellent results with this inexpensive and elegant programme.

This is also useful when you need to verify colours and for use with Pantone tablets.

Please check these earlier articles on this blog:
Three Steps from Pages to PDF
Pages and Professional Printshops: why PostScript

Pages and professional printshops: why PostScript

Dealing with PDF production is one obstacle which most Pages users find difficult to overcome once they move beyond office or home printing.

The process I use involves going through the PostScript stage.

• 'Print' Pages to 'Save as PostScript'
• Create PDF, Open in Acrobat or just drag the PS file onto Acrobat or Acrobat Distiller icon in the Dock
  

Using PS stage appears to be the only path where CMYK colour separation is possible for PDFs produced from Pages.

Two years ago I was looking for an affordable publishing programme to start a magazine, glossy paper, full colour, mass-printed. Which meant going through professional printers with CMYK.

"using the PS stage seems to be the key element in making Pages work for professional printing"

I posted a request for advice on several Mac forums. Someone on the British Macuser forum recommended looking at Pages, a new suite of DTP software that had just been released by Apple. I looked at it and was immediately seduced by the elegant look of their templates, the apparent ease of use and, of course, the price.

I discarded drafts made in MS Word and AppleWorks and designed publicity brochure for a local estate agency and a pilot for the magazine - all in Pages.

The next stage was to see if Pages would work at professional printshops. The printer I had chosen assured me that he could work from PDFs. I made a set of PDFs using Pages>Print>Save as PDF path. The document looked fine on computer screen and on proofs printed on a digital printer.

However when those PDFs where processed to CMYK film the colours wouldn't separate. I am afraid I didn't take note of exactly which colour went blank and which completely black. The fact is neither 'Export to PDF', nor Print>Save as PDF worked.

Luckily the printer was as interested in making the project work as me. So we sat down and went through all possible options eventually discovering that Pages>Print>Save as PostScript>create PDF with Acrobat gave documents that could be CMYK processed with satisfactory results.

I've been fine-tuning this process ever since. But using the PS stage seems to be the key element in making Pages work for professional printing, i.e. when your finished project is to be put on a set of four films from which colour plates are made for printing Presses.

It doesn't seem to matter as much with digital printing where print-runs are limited, e.g. up to 500 copies. But even there you get better quality PDFs when the PS stage is used.

I am afraid I lack the technical knowledge to explain why that is so. From what I read it has something to do with Quartz technology used in Pages, layers and flattening.


Also check these earlier articles:

Three steps from Pages to PDF

and an outline of a slightly different process:
Preparing colour-separated PDFs using ColourSync utility