Licorice and True Black.

Colour Viewer with Crayon Box

For print projects, especially when you deal with commercial (professional) printshops, consider changing default black colour in Pages to whay they call 'true black.'

It gives better quality.

Default black colour in Pages is in fact a composite colour.

In text inspector click on the Colour wheel to open Colour Viewer. It shows the Crayon Box.



Click on Sliders (second icon from left), then click on the drop down menu and choose CMYK.
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (Key colour).

Licorice in CMYK

Drag C, M, Y to zero and K to 100%.

Click away to deselect text and save.

True black

When a PDF 'Scales Down', Truncates or Appears with a White Band of Empty Space

Here is a curious problem that hits iWork users occasionally. A reader of this blog, Carles, wrote to me a few days ago: 

I am trying to create a magazine. I am using Pages in spite of everybody telling me to use InDesign. Pages is easy and gives the documents a unique look. The printer asked me for a pdf in cmyk. I use Pages '09. I followed all of your instructions and read all the comments. I created a PS and then I processed it through the Distiller. But a white band appeared around the document. I tried to change the sizes but it didn't work. Here you can see the screen shot: (Editor: see picture of the PDF, black lines indicate margins of the document after processing). I don't know what to do.

That looked familiar. I had this problem with my magazine and couldn't find a solution for some time.


This is how to tackle it.

1. First of all, if you have other documents or a multi-page document like a brochure or a magazine, check if the same thing happens to all the pages. In my magazine, out of 32 pages two or three suddenly started producing PDFs that 'scaled down' – appeared smaller, truncated with a white band of empty space around a section of the PDF.

If other documents appear ok, then there is some bug hiding in the document – a code, a corrupt font, something else that you don't even realise is there. 

To get rid of it, create a new document from scratch reproducing or copy-pasting the elements of your design in the new document. Process via Distiller and see if the problem is gone. 

2. Try making PDFs at each stage of designing your document. Create a coloured shape and make a PDF, import the photo – and make a PDF, type in text - and make a PDF. Check at what stage this 'scaling down' occurs. 

In my case it was a corrupt font. I deleted it from the Font Library and then reinstalled a fresh file with the same font. 

3. If this doesn't help, try using someone else's Distiller, the printers' for example, to see if the problem is with your version (or copy) of Distiller.

4. And of course the simplest solution is to crop your PDF as it came out. Cut out the white band and only leave your document. Acrobat has a Crop Document tool. 

5. And another trick: import your PDF with the white band into a new blank Pages document, resize it so that it fills the whole page, with the white band outside of the document, and produce a new PDF from that document. That's what one of my printers did when I had this problem. I gave up and just took the 'scaled down' PDFs to them - they 'scaled it up' without reprocessing or doing anything else to it.

Read this earlier post from 2007 about a different problem with corrupt fonts.


Carles posted his question as a comment on From Pages to CMYK PDF article, his image is used with permission.

'True Black' (how to avoid fuzzy text)

Here is how to change black text in your Pages document to 'true black':

- select all text in your document,
- in Text Inspector click on the colour well (the bar with which you change colour)
- when Colour Viewer opens, click on the Slides option (second from left),
- choose CMYK in the drop-down menu and set CMY to zero, and K (black) to 100 percent. Repeat the same for text boxes and captions. 

That should give you what they call 'true black'. Default black, Licorice for example, can be composite, i.e. consisting of several colours. It may look nice on the screen, but in professional printing it comes out slightly fuzzy. To avoid that problem change black text to 'true black'. 

If this is too techy, ask the printers to show you how to do it, or ask them to adjust your PDFs themselves. Usually they would do it for an additional fee, or, if you are a regular client with large, long-term project, they just waive the fee.

Photo: Apple blossom, 2011, ©A.Anichkin

PDF Settings for Professional Printhshops and a Few Tips

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 (Acrobat Pro 7):

- 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.

This is an excerpt from the longer article 'From Pages to CMYK PDFs'. I am republishing it in short version just to give the settings.

A few additional tips:

- If you are planning to use a professional (commercial) printshop for your project, arrange for a visit to sync your settings with them.
- If that is not practical, send them a test sample of your PDF to check that it's ok.
- Always ask for press-ready proofs, especially for larger projects such as books or magazines, preferably on paper, but surely in PDF form.
- It is not difficult to produce press-quality PDFs from iWork/Pages. But avoid getting into too much technical detail, decide early at what stage your work is finished and you hand it over to others. You may find a printer who would take the Pages document and convert them for you. Or 'print' your Pages project to PostScript and take PostScript files to the printer.
- Avoid those who tell you Pages can't be used for professional printing, they can. 

Read more in my new book 'iWork for Mas OSX Cookbook' 

Follow me on Twitter at iworkinpages  

Like my page I Work in Pages on Facebook 

and add me to your circles on Google+  

Teamwork: Build Physical Networks

Some time ago I wrote about the importance of building physical networks as opposed to relying just on virtual help. I want to make this point again: whatever your project, find real people to meet and talk to - and avoid those who say 'you can't do this' rather than looking for a solution.

I myself come from the hot type generation – just. I was trained to do layouts with crayons, scissors and glue, and graphics was a black-and-white print you take to the girls in zincography.

In the age of computers many of us get isolated and look into screens rather than into faces. I know a couple, man and wife, who live together, but, having studies in the opposite ends of the house, talk to each other via Scype.

I have a friend in Colorado, also from a hot type generation, but older than me, with whom we worked on a newspaper project in the early 90-s. After our work was finished and handed over to printers we used to go to the shop floor and spend some time with the web off-set press boys to run through the pages and point out various features in the paper which we thought could be difficult or needed special attention, both technically and editorially. 

My printers here invited me once for a cup of coffee in the back-room. A poster was hanging on the wall there: "Tout le monde apporte de la joie dans cette enterprise, certains quand ils entrent d'autres quand ils sortent". (Everybody brings happiness to this enterprise, some when they come, others when they leave).  Nobody likes it when a client or a supervisor watches over your shoulder, but when it's done in such a way that people feel you came to show respect and appreciation, – it always helps. 

I think I'd never been able to achieve good results with Pages if I didn't invest in running through the whole production process with printers, graphic designers and photographers who work with me.

Tips and suggestions on working with professional printers and computer support shops are in this earlier article: Networking: Physical vs Virtual (same post as linked above).

Property Buying and Selling Guide (Normandy, France)

I have a few copies left of the Rendezvous property guide (64 pages, A5 format.) I produced it in iWork/Pages and had it printed here in Normandy. If you work in Pages (or you are an estate agent) and would like to have a physical printed product to check out, please contact me (a.anichkin at gmail.)

All original content, unique chapters with advice on subjects that estate agents often avoid.

Use estate agent or notaire? What the price means? The compromis, the acte de vente, inheritance issues, local taxes... This guide takes you step by step through the process of buying or selling your house in Normandy

The guide also offers pages of tips on making the most of your new life including learning French, meeting neighbours, settling the children plus a unique directory of English-speaking local services.

(3€/£/$ plus p&p.)

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

Putting together a book in Pages

Mihail Stelios asks if it is possible to make a book in Pages.

Of course you can make a book in Pages. I have been producing a magazine and guides of up to 64 pages.

There are many things to consider. I think the main one is to plan thoroughly all stages of your work.

Here are a few pointers:

- start with deciding on the format (A4 or A5? or custom size? portrait or landscape orientation?), check dimensions with printers if you are going to print the book professionally. Normally, you add 3 mm all around to allow for printers' edge cutting. Calculate margins carefully allowing more space if the book is going to be bound. Set dimensions in a Pages document and save it to duplicate for all other pages of the book.

- calculate production costs, including packaging and delivery. Weight of paper and type of binding (stapled, ring or hard spine) affect the final cost and quality. Heavy paper allows for better quality, but may put your publication into a higher postal tariff bracket. Lighter paper saves on cost, but may make images show through paper on adjacent pages which would upset artists or advertisers. Check with printers and ask for quotes and look at samples. Don't be afraid to ask 'unprofessionally' sounding questions. Nobody knows everything in full detail.

- decide how you are going to deliver finished pages to printers. Most take PDFs, many are happy to bundle them themselves, some will ask you to do it. Make sure you have the software to convert Pages to press quality PDF (e.g. Adobe Acrobat) and check the settings with your printers. In my experience it is best to establish physical, face-to-face contact with printers you are going to work with. But if this is not practical, test run sending large files via File Transfer Protocol programmes, such as Zipper of SendIt.

- make a 'map' of your book. Put all pages as boxes on one page or on a double page and mark what goes where. Then print it out or keep the file in the Dock or in the side panel of an open window to have quick access to it. Mark finished pages as you go, it will save a lot of hassle later.

- make sure all files/pages are clearly named (e.g. page number, what's on it) and don't change them until the work is finished. It's very easy to loose track of where you are on each particular page. Make folders for each stage in work - e.g. 1 draft, 2 draft, 1 proofs, 2 proofs, printers proofs etc. and move pages from one folder to the next only when the work is finished.

- break all work into manageable chunks: front page/cover, back page/cover, contents, index, sections, don't work in large files. It is best to work page by page, or on two facing pages. However, if your book is one continuous body of text, e.g. a novel, pre-edit and pre-proof it BEFORE breaking into chunks for layout. Read more in 'Editing Large Texts' article.

- first design two facing pages of the main body of the book and then use them as templates for the rest. Pay special attention to small design elements - lines, clipart, page headers and footers. They should be the same, in exactly the same position on the page throughout the book. Metrics Inspector allows fixing co-ordinates down to a fraction of a millimetre. Remember that repeating lines, boxes, clipart are used to align pages when the finished work is bundled for the printing presses.

- use one, maximum two fonts for all of the book. For headings, sub-headings and notes use font variations, not different font.

- don't rush to finish, check finished work at least three times for typos and other mistakes, such as page numbers. Contents and index pages are especially important - page number in Contents must correspond to the page in the body of the book. It may seem obvious, but that's where mistakes often occur. It's worth checking the whole finished work for just one element - for instance page  numbers: go through the whole book to make sure you haven't lost any pages or haven't repeated page numbers. Then take another element,  for instance, font size of headings, and check that it is the same throughout the book. Then, check co-ordinates of lines, logos or clipart in headers or footers. They must be the same throughout the book too. This may seem unimportant, but if style is not consistent it creates an impression of sloppy, unprofessional product. 

- make sure you know and understand certain rules that are used in particular types of publications. For example, if you work on an arts catalogue, you should know that descriptions of  works of art follow a particular set of rules. Take a catalogue of a reputable fine arts firm and follow the pattern - for example, first, title (bold), then name of the artist (regular), date of the work, media (italics), position of author's signature (semi-bold), notes (light, smaller font size), provenance (regular font, but indented). Suggested price/deposit etc.

Have a look at Books in iPhoto on your Mac, you may get good design ideas from there - or even decide to make a book in iPhoto. I haven't used it myself, but have friends who have. The results are very good, but the costs are high, so it's only worth using for special occasions - family book, gift etc.

Read more in 'Working With Professional Printshops' and 'Networking: Physical vs Virtual'

Check other articles on this blog under Press quality PDFs and professional printing (in the side-bar)

...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+

Black vs Licorice: fuzzy text in CMYK

Many of the Pages templates including stationery templates use composite black colour by default. Instead of 100 percent black it is a combination of cyan (blue), magenta (purple), yellow and black (in CMYK mode.)

For desktop printing and for use in RGB (red-green-blue) computer screen mode there is no problem. In fact various shades of black look nice and create attractive design effects.

However for high-end publishing projects where professional print shops are involved composite black colour may not be suitable, because text pixilates creating a visible fuzzy effect after converting to press quality PDF.

Standard black in many Pages templates is called Licorice. Open Colour window (Command+Shift+C) or click on any of the colour tabs in Inspector (text, object, frame etc.). The Crayons palette shows colours with their default Apple names. Click on the black crayon to get Licorice. Then click on colour sliders (second icon from left) and from the drop down menu choose CMYK sliders. Now you can see that Licorice has 74% Cyan, 71% Magenta, 64% Yellow and 87% Black breakdown.

To 'create' default black for continuous use later change your CMYK breakdown to 100% black by moving Cyan, Magenta and Yellow sliders to 0% and Black to 100 percent. Either save the '100% Black' document as a template or simply start your new projects with this document saving it as (Save as...) a new one.

To save your pure black colour in the custom colour palette click on the big colour pane at the top of the Colour window and drag it down into the colour palette.

CMYK sliders have many other useful applications. For example, please see this previous article on how to use CMYK sliders to synchronize colours with colleagues when working as a team.

A linked list of articles dealing with various aspects of producing press quality PDFs from Pages and CMYK separation is here.

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

PitStop and producing press-quality PDFs

The simple (and very quick) three step solution to producing high quality PDFs from Pages is the three step process: Pages - PostScript - PDF

1. 'Print' to PostScript
2. Launch Acrobat, then launch Distiller (my computer service technicians insist that Distiller must be active when you convert your PS files)
3. Drag and drop your PS files onto Distiller in the Dock

On machines with OSX Tiger 10.4.10 this process is very quick. On my Intel iMac it takes me less than two hours to process 24 pages of graphics heavy magazine.

At the PDF stage Enfocus PitStop is very useful. It is a pricely piece of software, but worth it. One brilliant feature is that it allows CMYK conversion of the whole file in one go, including PNG files. And it does a thorough checking and correcting of the PDF. You can change text, colours, CMYK percentage etc right in your PDF.

In one episode, a client called me on the mobile phone just as I was about to sign the magazine into press. Although she had given the final approval to her ad she later suddenly realised that the text could be construed in a such a way that she might lose serious money. I agreed with her point, went into PDFs and removed four lines of text right in the finished page.

On another occasion fonts got substituted in an text box. Thanks to Pitstop I could correct his at the very last minute.

Even without PitStop you can achieve very good results, but if you can afford it it's worth its price. Enfocus PitStop retails for $699.

Networking: Physical vs Virtual

I understand that like myself most readers of this blog are small businesses or individual users. I've learnt the hard way that you can't sort out all your technical needs on your own. You should build a supporting network – physical, not just virtual. Professional people physically close to you.

It is simply not possible to know all technical elements. If you try your end product suffers.

I live and work in deep countryside. Nearest house is a mile away, nearest small town with an electronics shop is 6 miles away. And nearest Apple Centre is an hour's drive. But even if you are in a large city, I think the tips below are relevant.

So try this:

• for printing services find small or medium size professional print shop, close to you geographically and preferably not part of a huge chain. You need to be able to deal with the same people face to face, get them interested in your project and excited about breaking new ground with new software or new creative possibilities. If you deal with large printing businesses with massive print-runs you often can't get that level of attention, quite often you have to deal with a different person each time you take your work for printing;
• have your printer use the same version of software that you use. My printer was using Acrobat 5 when I was using Acrobat 8, for example. It took us some time to realize that there could be a problem there. Layers technology was introduced with version 6 and it makes a big difference;
• synchronize your Acrobat settings with your printers;
• find a good computer service company, preferably a small specialised business, so you personally know technicians who will work with you, develop good working and personal relationship with them so when crisis comes they will go out of their way to help you;
• have technicians check your workflow, system and settings, they may find something you 'd missed;
• ask them to prepare a set of pre-press Acrobat settings and set your Distiller to use them as default. Save settings separately for back-up;
• if you are happy with your computer technicians, sign-up for a long term support/service so that you can call them on the phone or have them come and fine tune your machine;
• take notes describing your problem step by step so you could recreate it for a technician to see where the stumbling point is and find solution;
• take notes when you find a solution. My office is plastered with stickies where I scribble down ideas and solutions.

It is simply not possible to know and master all the technical elements of your hardware and software. If you try, your end product would suffer.

Pages cost 1/10 of Quark (79 euros/dollars vs 770 euros/dollars), even less if you count Pages as a separate program (79/3 = 26 euros/dollars). And far easier to use. Even after all upgrades to make Pages run smoothly (RAM should be 1Gb or higher etc.) it makes economic sense to stick with iWork.