Adobe InDesign Printing Guide

chapter 11. printing 697
Excerpted from
Real World InDesign CS2
by Olav Martin Kvern
and David Blatner
Published by Peachpit Press
Buy this book!
Customizing Printers’ Marks
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about our fellow desktop publishers
over the years, it’s that you’re picky about printer’s marks. You want
to control the offset of the crop marks and bleed marks from the edge
of the page. You want to use star targets instead of, or in addition to,
the standard registration marks. You want the color bars to print at
the top, the bottom, the left, or the right of the page.
There is utterly no way for a page layout program to provide for
all of your individual preferences—what’s right for one person is not
just wrong, but is probably offensive to another.
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InDesign, in recognition of this fact, provides a way for you to
define your own printer’s marks. The trouble is—no one knows how
to do it. Until now.
InDesign uses printer’s marks definition (also known as PMD)
files to customize the way the program prints printer’s marks. They’re
text files that can be edited with any text editor (BBEdit and Notepad
work quite well). Once you’ve saved a PMD file to a specific folder on
your system, a new entry will appear in the Type pop-up menu in the
Marks and Bleed panel of the Print dialog box. Choose the option,
and InDesign will print using the marks defined in the file.
Most previous attempts to provide custom printer’s marks were
based on hacking the PostScript output stream of a program—
Ole wrote custom files to provide this feature for FreeHand and
PageMaker. InDesign’s PMD files are not only easier to create (they’re
not PostScript), but they’ll also print on non-PostScript printers. For
that matter, the custom marks will also appear in exported PDFs, if
you want them to.
Inside a PMD File
InDesign PMD files have a fairly forgiving set of rules, but they have
rules all the same. First, an InDesign PMD file must begin with the
following line:
//pgmk.v02.00
Inside the printer’s marks definition file, “//” indicates a comment—apart from the comment in the first line, all other comments
are ignored by InDesign.
The body of the file is surrounded by “<”, which opens a printer’s
mark “dictionary,” and it’s closed by “<”. Inside the angle brackets,
you set global values (if any) and then create a set of custom printer’s
marks with the following line:
MarksArray
Following this line, square brackets (“[” and “]”) enclose the
actual printer’s mark definitions. The skeleton of the file, therefore,
looks like this:
//pgmk.v02.00
<
//Global definitions go here.
MarksArray
[
//printer's mark definitions go here.
]
>
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 699
There are currently four global definitions you can add. They’re
all optional, one of them is not used, and most of them are overridden by settings in the InDesign Print dialog box. We never use them,
but, just in case you do, for some reason, Table 11-3 shows the global
definitions you can use.
Once you’re inside the angle brackets, however, things get much
more exciting (if you’re as easily excited about printer’s marks as we
are). This is the place where you define the appearance and location
of the marks that will appear when you print.
Most of the mark definitions inside the file look like this:
<
Type FourCropMarks
Length 24
>
An entry for a custom registration mark is a little bit more complicated, as shown in the following:
<
Type RegistrationMark
Count 4
InnerRadius 3 // no inner black-filled circle
OuterRadius 6 // radius of outer circle
OutLength 12 // half of the length of the crosshair mark
// perpendicular to the closest edge of the page
AlongLength 24 // half of the length of the crosshair parallel
// to the closest edge of the page
Location <
Side [Top Bottom Left Right]
OutAnchor MidCropMark
OverAnchor Center
MarkCorner MarkCenter
>
>
The PMD file can support a variety of predefined mark types, and
can place the marks in a variety of locations. The mark types are
shown in Table 11-4, the location keywords can be found in Table
11-5, and a list of the keywords you can add to a page (date, time,
separation name, and so forth) appears in figures 11-9 and 11-10.
Note: Many of the measurements in the PMD file are based on the
Length and Offset settings for the FourCropMarks mark type and on
the Length and BleedMarkOffset settings for the FourBleedMarks
mark type, so you should define these marks at the beginning of the
Marks Array section of the file.
Note: If you’re using the JCornerMarks mark type, the distances will
be based on the Length setting. In addition, JCornerMarks overrides
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table 11-3
Global Settings
Mark Type Name: What It Means:
Style
The name of the printers’ marks file. Optional.
DefaultWeight
The default stroke weight, in points. Not used
by InDesign.
DefaultCrop­
The default offset for crop marks. Over­rid­den
MarkOffset
by the corresponding field in the Marks and
Bleed panel of the Print dialog box.
DefaultBleed­
The default offset for bleed marks. Overridden
MarkOffset
by the corresponding field in InDesign. Can
be overridden by using the BleedMark­Offset
parameter.
both FourCropMarks and FourBleedMarks, so omit those marks in
files using JCornerMarks. Finally, add the IgnoreMarkOffsets value
in the Globals section of the file and set it to true if you’re using
JCornerMarks.
Disclaimer: Fiddling with PMD files is something that you do
entirely at your own risk. Adobe does not support this practice (in
fact, we’re not completely certain we should be telling you about it),
and is in no way responsible for any problems you might run into
during the course of experimentation. That said, the authors will try
to help you if you run into trouble—just drop us a line!
Saving a PMD File
Save the PMD file as a text-only file with the file extension “.mrk”
to the PrintSpt folder. The location of this folder varies—the best
thing to do is to search your system for a folder with this name. Once
you’ve done this, the name of your custom printer’s marks file will
appear on the Type pop-up menu in the Marks and Bleed panel of
the Print dialog box (see Figure 11-11).
You can also select your custom printer’s marks when exporting
files to PDF using the Type pop-up menu in the Marks and Bleed
panel of the Export PDF dialog box.
If you want to print your custom printer’s marks on another
system, you’ll have to take your PMD file with you and install it on
that machine.
Example PMD Files
The PMD file shown in Figure 11-12 adds printer’s marks in an
arrangement similar to that used by QuarkXPress. Figure 11-13
shows a sleazy way to get page information for a page to print on the
page itself, rather than in the bleed area. This is handy when you’re
printing letter-size pages on letter-size paper.
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 701
table 11-4
Mark Types
Mark Type Name:
FourCropMarks
What It Means:
Draws a vertical and horizontal crop mark at
each of the four corners of the page.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
Length
Length of the crop
marks, in points.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
crop marks, in points.
Overridden by the
Weight field in the
Marks and Bleed
panel of the Print
dialog box.
CropMarkOffset
Distance from the
edge of the page, in
points. Overridden
by the Offset field in
the Marks and Bleed
panel of the Print
dialog box.
FourBleedMarks
Draws a vertical and horizontal bleed mark
at each of the four corners of the bleed area.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
Length
Length of the crop
marks, in points.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
crop marks, in points.
Overridden by the
Weight field in the
Marks and Bleed
panel of the Print
dialog box.
CropMarkOffset
Distance from the
edge of the page, in
points. Overridden
by the Offset field in
the Marks and Bleed
panel of the Print
dialog box.
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table 11-4
Mark Types (continued)
Mark Type Name:
JCornerMarks
What It Means:
Draws Japanese-style corner marks (a
combination of crop and bleed marks) at the
corners of the page.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
Length
Length of the marks,
in points.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
marks, in points.
RegistrationMark
Draws a registration mark at a specified
location.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
Count
The number of registration marks to draw.
InnerRadius
The radius of the filled
circle at the center of
the registration mark.
OuterRadius
The radius of the
unfilled outer circle of
the registration mark.
OutLength
Half the length of
the crosshair mark
perpendicular to the
edge of the page.
AlongLength
Half the length of
the crosshair mark
parallel to the edge
of the page.
KnockoutWeight
The weight of the
crosshair mark inside
the inner circle of the
registration mark.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
mark, in points.
Location
Location of the registration marks. See
Table 11-5 for a list of
locations.
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 703
table 11-4
Mark Types (continued)
Mark Type Name:
StarTarget
What It Means:
Draws a star registration mark.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
InnerRadius
The radius of the filled
circle at the center of
the registration mark.
OuterRadius
The radius of the
unfilled outer circle of
the registration mark.
Spokes
Number of spokes in
the star target.
Location
Location of the registration marks. See
Table 11-5 for a list of
locations.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
marks, in points.
ColorBar
Draws a range of color/gray swatches.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
NumberOfCells
Sets the number of
cells in the bar.
CellSize
The size of each cell.
CMYKValues
An array whose
length is equal to
the NumberOfCells
parameter. Each array
element contains an
array of four values.
See the example files.
RegistrationValues
An array whose
length is equal to
the NumberOfCells
parameter. Each array
element contains a
single value between
1 (solid) and 0 (white).
See the example files.
NumberOfCells
Sets the number of
cells in the bar.
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table 11-4
Mark Types (continued)
Mark Type Name:
ColorBar
What It Means:
Continued from previous page.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
CellSize
The size of each cell.
CMYKValues
An array whose
length is equal to
the NumberOfCells
parameter. Each array
element contains an
array of four values.
See the example files.
RegistrationValues
An array whose
length is equal to
the NumberOfCells
parameter. Each array
element contains a
single value between
1 (solid) and 0 (white).
See the example files.
Weight
Stroke weight of the
marks, in points.
Location
Location of the color
bars. See Table 11-5
for a list of locations.
CMYKStrokeValue
The color of the stroke
surrounding the cells
in the color bar, as an
array of four values.
Registration­
StrokeValue
The color of the stroke
surrounding the cells
in the color bar, as a
value from 1 (solid)
to 0 (white).
Count
The number of color
bars to draw.
SeparationsOnly
If true, draw color
bars; if false, omit
color bars.
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 705
table 11-4
Mark Types (continued)
Mark Type Name:
What It Means:
MarkText
Informational text, such as the date and time
a page was printed.
Parameters
Name:
What it is:
TextSize
The size of the text, in
points.
RegistrationA value between 1
TextColor
(solid) and 0 (white)
defining the color of
the text.
CMYKTextColor
An array of four
values defining the
color of the text.
AllPlates
Prints the text in
a solid color on all
plates; changes the
location of the text on
each plate.
SamePositionOn­
Set this value to true
AllPlates
to print the text in the
same position on all
plates when you are
using the AllPlates
color.
FormatString
The text to print.
This can be a string
(“From the Desk of”)
or “%s”, which is a
placeholder for an
InfoValue. Each string
must be enclosed in
parentheses.
InfoValues
An array of predefined
page information. You
can use Date, Time,
PubName, PageLabel,
Screen Frequency,
ScreenAngle, and
Plate Color.
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table 11-5
Locations
Name:
What It Means:
Side
The side of the page on which to draw the
mark. You can use Top, Bottom, Left, or
Right. The position of the mark on the
defined side of the page is set by the
OutAnchor parameter.
OverAnchor
Sets the position of the mark along the edge
of the page. You can use Center, EdgeOfPage, InnerCropMark, MidCropMark,
OuterCropMark, Bleed, MidBleedMark, or
OuterBleedMark (see Figure 11-9).
In addition, you can adjust the location of
the mark, relative to the location you specify,
using the OverDirection and/or OverOffset
modifiers.
OverDirection moves the mark relative to
the the side of the page (as defined by the
Side parameter)—if the Side parameter is
Top or Bottom, OverDirection can be either
Left or Right; if the Side parameter is Left or
Right, OverDirection can be either Top or
Bottom.
OverOffset moves the mark relative to the
OverAnchor position. Negative values move
the mark away from the center of the page;
positive values move it toward the center of
the page.
OutAnchor
Defines the distance of the mark from the
edge of the page using a range of predefined
positions. You can use EdgeOfPage, InnerCropMark, MidCropMark, OuterCropMark,
Bleed, InnerBleedMark, MidBleedMark, or
OuterBleedMark (see Figure 11-10).
You can adjust the position of the mark
using the OutOffset parameter.
MarkCorner
Specifies the alignment of the mark relative
to the location you’ve defined. You can
use MarkCenter, MarkRight, MarkUR
(upper right), MarkTop, MarkUL (upper left),
MarkLeft, MarkLL (lower left),
MarkBottom, or MarkLR (lower right).
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 707
figure 11-9
OverAnchor Positions
You can think of OverAnchor
positions as being on the
horizontal axis of the page.
OuterBleedMark
MidBleedMark
InnerBleedMark
Bleed
InnerCropMark
MidCropMark
OuterCropMark
EdgeOfPage
figure 11-10
OutAnchor Positions
You can think of OutAnchor
positions as being on the
vertical axis of the page.
OuterBleedMark
MidBleedMark
InnerBleedMark
Bleed
OuterCropMark
MidCropMark
InnerCropMark
EdgeOfPage
figure 11-11
Choosing Custom
Printer’s Marks
Once you’ve created a PMD file and have saved
it to the PrintSpt folder, the new mark type will
appear on the Type pop-up menu.
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figure 11-12
QuarkXPress-Style
Printer’s Marks
You can download
this text from
David’s Web site:
www.blatner.com/rwid/mrk.zip
//pgmk.v02.00
<
Style (BarsOnTop)
MarksArray
[
<
Type FourCropMarks
Length 24
>
<
Type RegistrationMark
Count 4
InnerRadius 0 // Omit the inner target.
OuterRadius 6 // Radius of outer circle.
OutLength 12
AlongLength 24
Location <
Side [Top Bottom Left Right]
OutAnchor MidCropMark
OverAnchor Center
MarkCorner MarkCenter
>
>
// Color bar, on the upper left.
<
Type ColorBar
NumberOfCells 12
CellSize 16
CMYKValues[0 0 0 1 // black
0 0 1 0 // yellow
0 1 1 0// magenta + yellow
0 1 0 0 // magenta
1 1 0 0 // cyan + magenta
1 0 0 0 // cyan
1 0 1 0 // cyan + yellow
1 1 1 0 // cyan + magenta + yellow
.5 0 0 0 // 50% cyan
0 .5 0 0 // 50% magenta
0 0 .5 0 // 50% yellow
0 0 0 .5] // 50% black
Weight 2 // Width of the stroke around each cell
CMYKStrokeValue [0 0 0 0] // Color of the stroke (white)
Location <
Side Left
OutAnchor MidCropMark
OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
OverDirection Top
OverOffset 4
MarkCorner MarkTop
>
//Threshold and AltMarkDefinition tell InDesign
//what to do with the marks when the page size becomes
//too small to fit the marks along the top/bottom
//or left/right side of the page.
ThreshHold <
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
chapter 11. printing 709
figure 11-12
QuarkXPress-Style
Printer’s Marks
(continued)
MinPageHeight 448
>
AltMarkDefinition <
Location <
Side Left
OutAnchor OuterCropMark
OutOffset 2
OverAnchor Center
MarkCorner MarkRight
>
>
>
//End of color bar definition.
//Gray bar, at the bottom left.
<
Type ColorBar
NumberOfCells 10
CellSize 16
//The array of tints printed in the cells:
RegistrationValues [1 .9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1]
Weight 2 // Stroke width the cells.
RegistrationStrokeValue 0 // Stroke color of the cells (white).
Location <
Side Bottom
OutAnchor MidCropMark
OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
OverDirection Left
OverOffset 4
MarkCorner MarkLeft
>
ThreshHold <
MinPageWidth 448
>
AltMarkDefinition <
Location <
Side Bottom
OutAnchor OuterCropMark
OutOffset 2
OverAnchor Center
MarkCorner MarkTop
>
>
>
//End of gray bar definition.
// Page information, at the top of the page.
<
Type MarkText
TextSize 7
AllPlates true
SamePositionOnAllPlates true
FormatString (%s %s %s - %s (%s\))
InfoValues [PubName Date Time PageLabel PlateColor]
Location <
Side Top
OutAnchor MidCropMark
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figure 11-12
QuarkXPress-Style
Printer’s Marks
(continued)
figure 11-13
Printing Page
Information
on the Page
You can download
this text from
David’s Web site:
www.blatner.com/rwid/mrk.zip
OutOffset 4
OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
OverDirection Left
OverOffset 3
MarkCorner MarkLL
>
>
//End of page information definition.
]
//End of MarksArray
>
//End of custom printer's marks file.
//pgmk.v02.00
//Prints page information inside the page area.
//Not useful for prepress work, but quite useful
//when you're printing letter-size drafts on a
//laser printer. Make sure that this PMD file is NOT
//selected when you create your final printout!
<
Style (PageInfoOnPage)
MarksArray
[
<
Type FourCropMarks
Length 15
>
//Page information.
<
Type MarkText
Count 2
TextSize 6
RegistrationTextColor 1.0
//Feel free to replace our shameless advertising with
//your own shameless advertising.
FormatString [(%s %s * Real World Adobe InDesign)(%s
InfoValues [PubName PageLabel Date Time]
Location <
Side Bottom
OutAnchor InnerCropMark
//Move info up--36 points is enough to
//get it onto the page for most printers.
//Adjust this value as you see fit.
OutOffset -36
OverAnchor EdgeOfPage
OverDirection [Left Right]
OverOffset [10 0]
MarkCorner [MarkLL MarkLR]
>
>
]
>
%s)]
©2006 by olav martin kvern and david blatner — posted on indesignsecrets.com
">