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Preparing files for print service providers
With Corel DESIGNER, you can prepare a print job for sending to a print service provider.
This section contains the following topics:
• Preparing a print job for a print service provider
• Working with imposition layouts
• Working with color trapping and overprinting
• Specifying In-RIP trapping settings
• Working with a print service provider
Preparing a print job for a print service provider
You can print a drawing to a file, which lets the print service provider send the file directly to an output device. If you are unsure about which settings to choose, consult the print service provider.
To print to a file
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the General tab.
3 In the Destination area, enable the Print to file check box.
4 Click the flyout arrow, and click one of the following commands:
• For Mac — saves the drawing to be readable on a Macintosh computer
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• Single file — prints all pages in a document to a single file
• Pages to separate files — prints each page to a separate file
• Plates to separate files — prints each plate to a separate file
5 Click Print.
6 Choose one of the following from the Save as type list box:
• Print file — saves the file as a PRN file
• PostScript file — saves the file as a PS file
7 Choose the folder where you want to save the file.
8 Type a filename in the File name box.
9 Click Save.
If you prefer not to prepare PostScript files, print service providers equipped with the application in which you created your work can take the original files
(for example, Corel DESIGNER files) and apply the required prepress settings.
Working with imposition layouts
Working with imposition layouts lets you print more than one page of a document on each sheet of paper. You can choose a preset imposition layout to create documents such as magazines and books to print on a commercial printing press; produce documents that involve cutting or folding, such as mailing labels, business cards, pamphlets, or greeting cards; or print multiple thumbnails of a document on one page. You can also edit a preset imposition layout to create your own layout.
You can select a binding method by choosing from three preset binding methods, or you can customize a binding method. When you choose a preset binding method, all but the first signature are automatically arranged.
You can arrange pages on a signature manually or automatically. When you arrange the pages automatically, you can choose the angle of the image. If you have more than one page across or down, you can specify the size of gutters between pages; for example, you can choose the automatic gutter spacing option, which sizes gutters so that the document’s pages fill the entire available space in the layout.
When printing on a desktop printer, you can adjust the margins to accommodate the non-printable area of a page. If the margin is smaller than the non-printable area, the edges of some pages or some printers’ marks may be clipped by your printer.
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To choose a preset imposition layout
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Layout tab.
3 Choose an imposition layout from the Imposition layout list box.
The layout you choose does not affect the original document, only the way it is printed.
To edit an imposition layout
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Layout tab.
3 Choose an imposition layout from the Imposition layout list box.
4 Click Edit.
5 Edit any imposition layout settings.
6 Click File Save imposition layout.
7 Type a name for the imposition layout in the Save as box.
When editing an imposition layout, you should save it with a new name; otherwise the settings for a preset imposition layout will be overwritten.
To select a binding method
1 Click File Print preview.
2 Click the Imposition layout tool .
3 Choose Edit basic settings from the What to edit list box on the property bar.
4 Type values in the Pages across/down boxes.
If you want the page to be double-sided, click the Single/double sided button .
5 Choose one of the following binding methods from the Binding mode list box:
• Perfect binding — cuts apart individual pages and glues them at the spine
• Saddle stitch — folds pages and inserts them into one another
• Collate and cut — collates and stacks all signatures together
• Custom binding — lets you arrange the pages that are printed in each signature
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If you choose either Saddle stitch or Custom binding, type a value in the corresponding box.
When you click the Single/double sided button for double-sided printing, and you are printing on a non-duplex printing device, a wizard automatically provides instructions on how to insert the paper into the printer, so that you can print on both sides of the page.
To arrange pages
1 Click File Print preview.
2 Click the Imposition layout tool .
3 Choose Edit page placements from the What to edit list box on the property bar.
4 Click one of the following buttons:
• Intelligent auto-ordering — automatically arranges the pages on a signature
• Sequential auto-ordering — arranges the pages from left to right and top to bottom
• Cloned auto-ordering — places the working page in each frame of the printable page
If you want to arrange the page numbering manually, click on the page and specify the page number in the Page sequence number box.
5 Choose an angle from the Page rotation list box.
To edit gutters
1 Click File Print preview.
2 Click the Imposition layout tool .
3 Choose Edit gutters and finishing from the What to edit list box on the property bar.
4 Click one of the following buttons:
• Auto gutter spacing — sizes gutters so that the document’s pages fill the entire available space in the layout
• Equal gutters — lets you set equal horizontal and vertical gutters
5 Click one of the following buttons:
• Cut location — places cut marks between pages
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• Fold location — places fold marks between pages
If you click the Equal gutters button, you must specify a value in the Gutter
size box.
You can edit the gutters only if you’ve selected an imposition layout with two or more pages across and down.
To adjust margins
1 Click File Print preview.
2 Click the Imposition layout tool .
3 Choose Edit margins from the What to edit list box on the property bar.
4 Click one of the following buttons:
• Auto margins — sets the margins automatically
• Equal margins — lets you make the right margin equal to the left one, and the bottom margin equal to the top one
If you click the Equal margins button, you must specify values in the Top/left
margin boxes.
When preparing a job for a commercial press, the print service provider may request minimum margin sizes, such as for page grippers and printers’ marks.
Printing printers’ marks
Printing printers’ marks lets you display information on a page about how a document should be printed.The available printers’ marks are as follows:
• Crop/fold marks — represent the size of the paper and print at the corners of the page. You can print crop/fold marks to use as guides to trim the paper. If you print multiple pages per sheet (for example, two rows by two columns), you can choose to print the crop/fold marks on the outside edge of the page so that all crop/fold marks are removed after the cropping process, or you can choose to add crop marks around each row and column. Crop/fold marks ensure that marks appear on each plate of a separated CMYK file.
• Bleed limit — determines how far an image can extend beyond the crop marks.
When you use a bleed to extend the print job to the edge of the page, you must set
a bleed limit. A bleed requires that the paper you are printing on is larger than the
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size of paper you ultimately want, and the print job must extend beyond the edge of the final paper size.
• Registration marks — are required to line up film for proofing or printing plates on a color press. They print on each sheet of a color separation.
• Color calibration bars — are color scales that print on each sheet of a color separation and ensure accurate color reproduction. To see calibration bars, make sure that the page size of the print job is larger than the page size of the work you are printing.
• Densitometer scale — is a series of gray boxes ranging from light to dark. These boxes are required to test the density of halftone images. You can position the densitometer scale anywhere on the page. You can also customize the levels of gray that appear in each of the seven squares on the densitometer scale.
• Page numbers — helps you collate pages of an image that do not include any page numbers or do not contain page numbers that correspond to the actual number of pages
• File information — prints file information, such as, the color profile; halftone settings; name, date, and time the image was created; plate number; and job name
To print crop and fold marks
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the Crop/folds marks area, enable the Crop/fold marks check box.
If you want to print all crop/fold marks, disable the Exterior only check box.
To print crop and fold marks, ensure that the paper on which you print is 0.5 inches larger on all sides than the page size of the image that you are printing.
To set crop and fold marks, see “To edit gutters” on page 722.
To print composite crop and fold marks
1 Click Tools Options.
2 In the list of categories, double-click Global, and click Printing.
3 Choose Composite crop marks (PS) from the Option list.
4 Choose Output on all plates from the Setting list box.
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To set a bleed limit
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Layout tab.
3 Enable the Bleed limit check box.
4 Type a value in the Bleed limit box.
Usually, a bleed limit of 0.125 to 0.25 inches is sufficient. Any object
extending beyond that uses memory needlessly and may cause problems when you print multiple pages with bleeds on a single sheet of paper.
To print registration marks
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the Registration marks area, enable the Print registration marks check box.
4 Choose a registration mark style from the Style picker.
To print registration marks, ensure that the paper on which you print is 0.5 inches larger on all sides than the page size of the image that you are printing.
To print color calibration bars and densitometer scales
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the Calibration bars area, enable any of the following check boxes:
• Color calibration bar
• Densitometer scales
If you want to customize the levels of gray in one of the densitometer scale squares, choose a number from the Densities list (lower values represent lighter squares), and type a new density for that square.
To print page numbers
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
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3 In the File information area, enable the Print page numbers check box.
If you want to position the page number inside the page, enable the Position
within page check box.
To print file information
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the File information area, enable the Print file information check box.
4 Type a job name in the Print file information box.
If you want to position the file information inside the page, enable the Position
within page check box.
To position printers’ marks
1 Click File Print preview.
2 Click the Marks placement tool .
3 Click the Auto-position marks rectangle button on the property bar.
4 Type values in the Marks alignment rectangle boxes.
You can also change the position of printers’ marks by clicking a printers’ mark
icon in the print preview window and dragging the bounding box.
If you want to affix printers’ marks to the object’s bounding box instead of to the page bounding box, click File Print, click the Prepress tab, and enable the Marks to objects check box.
Maintaining OPI links
Open Prepress Interface (OPI) lets you use low-resolution images as placeholders for the
high-resolution images that appear in your final work. When a print service provider receives your file, the OPI server substitutes the high-resolution images for the lowresolution placeholders.
To maintain OPI links
1 Click File Print.
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2 Click the PostScript tab.
3 Enable the Maintain OPI links check box.
The Maintain OPI links option is available for PostScript devices only.
You can reduce your work time by using OPI and print management server
solutions, such as Creo® Color Central®. Low-resolution samples are
automatically created from the high-resolution originals and are placed in
Corel DESIGNER. These files contain their own OPI comments, which the
Creo Color Central server recognizes when it receives the job and then substitutes the high-resolution version of the file for the low-resolution version.
Low-resolution images must be flagged as OPI images (this must be done using third-party software) before you can import them into a document.
Printing color separations
When you send color work to a print service provider or printing shop, either you or the
print service provider must create color separations. Color separations are necessary
because a typical printing press applies only one color of ink at a time to a sheet of paper.
You can specify the color separations to print, including the order in which they print.
Printing presses produce color using either process color or spot color, or both. You can
convert the spot colors to process colors at printing time. For more information on spot
and process colors, see “Choosing colors” on page 337.
When setting halftone screens to print color separations, we recommend that you use the default settings; otherwise, screens can be improperly set and result in undesirable
moiré patterns and poor color reproduction. However, if you are using an imagesetter,
the screen technology should be set to match the type of imagesetter the print service provider uses. Before customizing a halftone screen, consult the print service provider to determine the correct setting.
If you have overprinted areas, you can choose how you want those areas to print. For
more information about overprinting, see “Working with color trapping and overprinting” on page 729.
To print color separations
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
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3 Enable the Print separations option.
If you want to print specific color separations, click the Separations tab, and
enable the corresponding check box in the list of color separations.
You can change the order in which color separations print, by enabling the Use
advanced settings check box in the Options area. In the separations list at the bottom of the dialog box, click in the Order column next to the color separation that you want to change. Chose a new order value from the list box.
If you want to print separations using a color profile that is different from the document color profile, you can click the Color tab and choose a color profile from the Correct colors using color profile list box.
To convert spot colors to process colors
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print separations option.
4 Enable the Convert spot colors to check box.
Changing the spot colors to process colors does not affect the original
Corel DESIGNER file; it affects the way colors are sent to the printer.
To customize a halftone screen
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print separations option.
4 Click the Separations tab.
5 In the Options area, enable the Use advanced settings check box.
6 Click Advanced.
7 Change any of the following settings:
• Screening technology
• Resolution
• Basic screen
• Halftone type
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You can set the screen frequency, screen angle, and overprint options for spot
colors as well as process colors. For example, if you have a fountain fill made up
of two spot colors, you can set one to print at 45 degrees and the other at 90 degrees.
Working with color trapping and overprinting
When colors are trapped, they are intentionally overlapped so that misalignments of print separations are not noticeable. In manual trapping, one color must overprint the other. Overprinting is achieved by printing one color over another. Overprint trapping works best when the top color is much darker than the underlying color; otherwise, an undesirable third color may result (for example, cyan over yellow results in a green object). In some cases, you might actually want to create a third color; for example, you can overprint two spot colors to create a third color.
How overprinted colors mix depends on the type of colors and ink you are mixing and the types of objects you are overprinting. For example, an object that uses a CMYK color overprints differently from an object that uses a spot color. Bitmaps also overprint differently from vector objects. You can preview a simulation of how overprinted colors will mix by enabling the Enhanced viewing mode and the Simulate overprints
version may occur, depending on the printer you use.
When you are ready to print, you can choose to preserve overprint settings if you want
to trap objects in a document, or if you want to mix the overlapping colors for effect.
You can also choose to knock out the overprinted areas so that only the top color is
visible. If you want to print a proof version of the file, you can simulate overprints.
Simulating overprints rasterizes the file, and it prints using process colors only.
You can set a group of objects to overprint. You can allow text to overprint overlying
objects. You can also overprint bitmaps; or each vector object’s fill, or outline, or both.
In addition, you can overprint specific color separations and specify in which order they
will print, as well as whether you want to overprint graphics, or text, or both.
The two methods for automatic color trapping include always overprinting black and auto-spreading. Overprinting black creates a color trap by causing any object that contains 95% black or more to overprint any underlying objects. This option is useful for artwork containing a lot of black text, but it should be used with caution on artwork
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with a high graphics content. You can adjust the threshold, if the print service provider recommends a black threshold value other than 95%.
Auto-spreading creates color trapping by assigning an outline to an object that is the same color as the object’s fill and having it overprint underlying objects. Auto-spreading is created for all objects in the file that meet three conditions: they do not already have an outline, are filled with a uniform fill, and have not already been designated to overprint.
For advanced trapping options, see “Specifying In-RIP trapping settings” on page 733.
To preserve or ignore overprints when printing
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Choose one of the following options:
• Print composite
• Print separations
4 Click one of the following tabs:
• Separations
• Composite
5 From the Document overprints list box, choose one of the following options:
• Ignore — does not overprint areas; color on top prints and underlying colors are
• Preserve — preserves overprinted areas
To print a simulated overprint
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the Composite tab.
5 From the Document overprints list box, choose Simulate.
The Simulate option rasterizes the file; the file is printed with process colors.
To overprint selected objects
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2 Click Edit, and choose any of the following:
• Overprint outline
• Overprint fill
• Overprint bitmap
You can also set an object to overprint by right-clicking the object and choosing an overprint option from the context menu.
To overprint selected color separations
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print separations option.
4 Click the Separations tab.
5 In the Options area, enable the Use advanced settings check box.
6 Click Advanced.
7 In the Advanced separations settings dialog box, choose a color separation from
the Screening technology list box.
8 In the Overprint column, click one or both of the following icons:
• Overprint graphics
• Overprint text
The icons appear darker when the separation is set to overprint.
You can change the order in which color separations print by selecting a color separation and choosing an order from the Order list box.
To trap by always overprinting black
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Choose one of the following options:
• Print composite
• Print separations
4 Click one of the following tabs:
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• Separations
• Composite
5 In the Options area, enable the Always overprint black check box.
To set the overprint black threshold
1 Click Tools Options.
2 In the list of categories, double-click Global, and click Printing.
3 Choose Overprint black threshold (PS) from the Option list.
4 Choose a number from the Setting list box.
The number you choose represents the percentage of black above which black objects overprint.
To trap by auto-spreading
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Choose one of the following options:
• Print composite
• Print separations
4 Click one of the following tabs:
• Separations
• Composite
5 In the PostScript trapping or Trapping area, do one of the following:
• Enable the Auto-spreading option, and type a value in the Maximum box.
• Enable the Fixed width option, and type a value in the Width box.
6 Type a value in the Text above box.
The value that you type in the Text above box represents the minimum size to which auto-spreading is applied. If you set this value too low, small text may be rendered illegible when auto-spreading is applied.
The amount of spread assigned to an object depends on the maximum trap value specified in the Maximum box and the object’s color. The lighter the color, the greater the percentage of the maximum trap value. The darker the color, the smaller the percentage of the maximum trap value.
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Specifying In-RIP trapping settings
In-RIP trapping allows you to specify advanced trapping settings. Before selecting In-
RIP trapping, ensure that your PostScript 3 printer supports In-RIP trapping options.
You can select a trap width — the amount that one color spreads into another. You can also specify image trap placement, which determines where the trap occurs. You can, for
example, specify whether the trap is a choke or a spread, depending upon the neutral
densities of adjacent colors. Neutral density indicates the lightness or darkness of a color and helps determine how adjacent colors spread into one another.
You can specify a threshold at which a trap is created by specifying a step trap limit. If
trap colors are of similar neutral densities, the trap placement adjusts accordingly. The step trap limit specifies a threshold at which a trap adjusts.
Before trapping, you can set the inks; for example, you can set an ink to opaque, as in the case of a metallic ink, so that nothing shows through it. To reduce the visibility of a trap, you can decrease the amount of ink color in a trap. This is especially helpful in the case of pastel colors, contrasting colors, and colors with similar neutral densities.
To select a trap width
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the PostScript tab.
5 Choose PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box.
6 Click the Composite tab.
7 Enable the PostScript level 3 In-RIP trapping check box.
8 Click Settings.
9 Type a value in the Trap width box.
If you are trapping to black, type a value in the Black trap width box.
To select In-RIP trapping options, you must have selected PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box under the PostScript tab of the Print dialog box.
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To specify image trap placement
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the PostScript tab.
5 Choose PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box.
6 Click the Composite tab.
7 Enable the PostScript Level 3 In-RIP trapping check box.
8 Click Settings.
9 From the Image trap placement list box, choose one of the following placements:
• Neutral density — used to determine the lighter object and thus the direction and placement of the trap
• Choke — used to trap a dark foreground object to a light background image
• Spread — used to trap a light foreground object to a dark background image
• Centerline — used when adjacent images and objects have similar neutral densities or when image density changes along an object’s edge
If you want to trap an object to an image, enable the Trap objects to images check box.
To specify a threshold
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the PostScript tab.
5 Choose PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box.
6 Click the Composite tab.
7 Enable the PostScript 3 In-RIP trapping check box.
8 Click Settings.
9 Type a value in one or more of the following boxes:
• Step limit — specifies a threshold between color variations. The lower the
threshold value, the more likely it is that a trap will be created.
• Black limit — specifies the threshold at which process black is considered pure black
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• Black density limit — specifies a neutral density value for the black ink
• Sliding trap limit — specifies the difference between the neutral densities of adjacent colors at which a trap adjusts (slides) from the darker side of a color edge toward the centerline. The lower the sliding trap limit, the more gradual the transition.
To choose In-RIP trapping options, you must have selected PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box under the PostScript tab in the Print dialog box.
To set inks for trapping
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the Composite tab.
5 Enable the PostScript Level 3 In-RIP trapping check box.
6 Click Settings.
7 In the Type column, select one of the following for each color separation:
• Transparent — the selected ink doesn’t get trapped, but anything beneath it does
• Neutral density — the neutral density of the selected ink determines how it is treated
• Opaque — the selected ink is treated as opaque
• Opaque ignore — the selected ink doesn’t get trapped nor does anything beneath it
To choose In-RIP trapping options, you must have selected PostScript 3 from the Compatibility list box under the PostScript tab in the Print dialog box.
To select a trap color reduction
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Color tab.
3 Enable the Print composite option.
4 Click the Composite tab.
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5 Enable the PostScript 3 In-RIP trapping check box.
6 Click Settings.
7 Type a value in the Trap color reduction box.
A reduction value of 100% indicates no reduction, while a lower value reduces the neutral density.
Printing to film
You can set up a print job to produce negative images. An imagesetter produces images on film that may need to be produced as negatives depending on which printing device you are using. Consult your print service provider to determine whether you can produce images on film.
You can specify to print with the emulsion down. Printing with the emulsion down produces a backward image on desktop printers.
To print a negative
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the Paper/film settings area, enable the Invert check box.
Do not choose negative film if you are printing to a desktop printer.
To specify film with the emulsion down
1 Click File Print.
2 Click the Prepress tab.
3 In the Paper/film settings area, enable the Mirror check box.
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Working with a print service provider
When you send a file to a print service provider, the provider takes your file and converts it directly to film or to plates.
When you prepare a print job for printing, you can send camera-ready paper output or the work on disk. If you send the work on disk, the print service provider needs either a PostScript file or a native file from the application that you use. If you are creating a
file to send to an imagesetter or a plate-setter, speak with the print service provider
about the best file format and printing device settings to use. Always provide a final printout of the work to the print service provider, even if it is only a black-and-white representation. This helps the print service provider to identify and assess any potential problems.
Before printing a drawing, you must choose and properly configure the appropriate printing device driver. Consult the printing device manufacturer instructions, or the print service provider or printing shop that you use to print the work, to find out the best way to set up the printing device driver.
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File formats
Importing and exporting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .741
Working with 3D models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .751
Working with office productivity applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .777
File formats 739
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