New Blog Site
http://chadfreitag.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Putting the Pieces Together - Client File (Part 2)
Now that you have the structure file layer ready, you can begin to add the artwork. If you are designing it yourself, then starting painting your masterpiece on the structural canvas. If you are applying client artwork to your structure you may run into some problems depending how good the design file is built for actual production. One of the many problems you will run into with client art is that you do not have the font used in the artwork. Ideal its best to wait for the client to give you the font, but if for some reason thats not an option, there is a way to get around it. If they sent you an ai file, most likely by default its saved as pdf compatible. Change the extension from .ai to .pdf. This is also a good trick for account managers to know who dont have illustrator (so now they can have a pdf they can view client supplied artwork rather than having you resave it all the time). Once you have changed the ai file to pdf (or customer supplied a pdf file), open an new illustrator document. Place the pdf file in the document as you would a placed image. Now go to object > flatten transparency and change your vector balance to 100% and check the box to convert all text to outlines. Now you have the outlined text. This obviously doesnt work if you need to edit the text copy or if they didnt save it out as pdf compatible.
Another client problem is that they dont include any linked images. They are all embedded so you have no way of knowing (in illustrator) if these images are at 300dpi (250dpi is good enough printing in most cases). A quick way to figure it out and create new images so they are linked instead of embedded is by taking the illustrator file with the embedded images and opening it in photoshop. When the dialogue box opens on how to treat the file, click on the button for opening up as images and not as a page. This will open the images in photoshop at the embedded dimensions and dpi that the client used. Note they may have scaled the image in size in illustrator (double clicking the image in illustrator link tab will tell you how much) so you may need to use the image size dialogue box in photoshop to see what the dpi will be at the actual image size used. (make sure resample image is unchecked and then enter the new scaled dimension found out in the illustrator linked tab to get the new dpi resolution). If its not at least 250dpi you will need to ask the client for a new image.
Now that you have the client file's text and images placed correctly and added to the structure and that it all bleeds correctly and safely within their copy safe margin standards, you are ready to look at the colors used in the files. Colors is the biggest thing designers trip up when they are setting up files for production. I rarely find client files colors match watch colors are being used for production. They may specifiy a 4 c/p (colored process - cyan, magent, yellow, and black) but then use nothing but spot colors. Or they will call out a spot color and use a process. Or worse yet rename a process color to a PMS spot color (which really is impossible to find unless you process out all the spot colors in the supplied file and compare it to the process break down of the spot colors in illustrator). One other thing to watch out for is files built in RGB and then converted to CMYK. All your blacks that should be 100% are now weird percentage mixes of all 4 colors. You want to make sure that the colors listed for the job are the only ones used. Changing them to their appropriate color mix or spot color and labeling it correctly in both your slug and in the swatch tab. That files are set up correctly in knocking out the colors below it or overprint (multiplying - almost the same thing). You will also want to make sure you are using overprint preview to see PMS color displayed accurately (without overprint on, it shows the process mix). Its a good way to double check your spot colors havent been processed and that you are not actually having white text overprint (it disappears) when it should be knocking out.
One last think to look for in client files (and your own) is dealing with overprint, multiplying, screen and transparency. Illustrator will let you multiply a pms color over itself and give you a darker blue. Thats not how it works in production. It will never be more than that 100% PMS spot color. Dont make a screen of a spot color, then make its opacity a different number and the group it with other objects at a certain transparency. Now you have a white logo on a spot bkgd that is 70% screen at 50% opacity in a group of other white text thats all set at 50% transparency. Which means that you are dealing with a 17.5% opacity white. Its best to just make that logo a 17.5& screen of the spot bkgd. Its too easy to copy and paste that logo out of its group transparency and place it somewhere else and now have different colored logos in a final job. Also, if you are dealing with a rich black bkgd (same a 40,30,30,100 mix) and have a screened white logo or text on top, you are better off making a screened graphic of black (otherwise it becomes shifted to a bluish gray in this case, which may not be desirable).
Before I end this section I just wanted to remind people of the brands of the world link I wrote in my first blog. Too often you will get a client that wants you to use their logo from their website. At 72dpi thats not option. Brands of the World has a nice searchable collection of vectored logos. I stop there first before I start rebuilding their logo from scratch.
Another client problem is that they dont include any linked images. They are all embedded so you have no way of knowing (in illustrator) if these images are at 300dpi (250dpi is good enough printing in most cases). A quick way to figure it out and create new images so they are linked instead of embedded is by taking the illustrator file with the embedded images and opening it in photoshop. When the dialogue box opens on how to treat the file, click on the button for opening up as images and not as a page. This will open the images in photoshop at the embedded dimensions and dpi that the client used. Note they may have scaled the image in size in illustrator (double clicking the image in illustrator link tab will tell you how much) so you may need to use the image size dialogue box in photoshop to see what the dpi will be at the actual image size used. (make sure resample image is unchecked and then enter the new scaled dimension found out in the illustrator linked tab to get the new dpi resolution). If its not at least 250dpi you will need to ask the client for a new image.
Now that you have the client file's text and images placed correctly and added to the structure and that it all bleeds correctly and safely within their copy safe margin standards, you are ready to look at the colors used in the files. Colors is the biggest thing designers trip up when they are setting up files for production. I rarely find client files colors match watch colors are being used for production. They may specifiy a 4 c/p (colored process - cyan, magent, yellow, and black) but then use nothing but spot colors. Or they will call out a spot color and use a process. Or worse yet rename a process color to a PMS spot color (which really is impossible to find unless you process out all the spot colors in the supplied file and compare it to the process break down of the spot colors in illustrator). One other thing to watch out for is files built in RGB and then converted to CMYK. All your blacks that should be 100% are now weird percentage mixes of all 4 colors. You want to make sure that the colors listed for the job are the only ones used. Changing them to their appropriate color mix or spot color and labeling it correctly in both your slug and in the swatch tab. That files are set up correctly in knocking out the colors below it or overprint (multiplying - almost the same thing). You will also want to make sure you are using overprint preview to see PMS color displayed accurately (without overprint on, it shows the process mix). Its a good way to double check your spot colors havent been processed and that you are not actually having white text overprint (it disappears) when it should be knocking out.
One last think to look for in client files (and your own) is dealing with overprint, multiplying, screen and transparency. Illustrator will let you multiply a pms color over itself and give you a darker blue. Thats not how it works in production. It will never be more than that 100% PMS spot color. Dont make a screen of a spot color, then make its opacity a different number and the group it with other objects at a certain transparency. Now you have a white logo on a spot bkgd that is 70% screen at 50% opacity in a group of other white text thats all set at 50% transparency. Which means that you are dealing with a 17.5% opacity white. Its best to just make that logo a 17.5& screen of the spot bkgd. Its too easy to copy and paste that logo out of its group transparency and place it somewhere else and now have different colored logos in a final job. Also, if you are dealing with a rich black bkgd (same a 40,30,30,100 mix) and have a screened white logo or text on top, you are better off making a screened graphic of black (otherwise it becomes shifted to a bluish gray in this case, which may not be desirable).
Before I end this section I just wanted to remind people of the brands of the world link I wrote in my first blog. Too often you will get a client that wants you to use their logo from their website. At 72dpi thats not option. Brands of the World has a nice searchable collection of vectored logos. I stop there first before I start rebuilding their logo from scratch.
Putting the Pieces Together - Structure (Part 1)
So you've got your first job. Now we need to put the pieces together. First part is the structure file. At some point you will need the actual cad file of the structure for the box. Most likely it is an artioscad file. The black lines denote artios_Cut, red dotted lines are artios_Crease, and you will have dimension call outs (in a spot color blue), copy safe margin (in cyan), glue tabs (green) and bleed (magenta). If you are working in folding carton the copy safe margin and bleed are inset and offset at 1/8" (1/16" will probably work, but its best to play it safe). If its corrugated its 1/2" (1/8" if you want to push it). As you start getting into triple wall it may change more. Cut lines are where the board gets diecut. Crease is where it gets folded. Copy safe margin is the distance thats safe for copy and images to be placed without worrying about it getting cropped off or rolled over onto another panel. Glue is where the box glues to the other side and should be free of print and coatings so the box glues to same material and not ink.
If you dont have a bleed, talk to your (or customers) structural designer and have them add bleed before they export you an eps file. You can also add an esko plugin for illustrator to import artioscad files directly to illustrator. They come in locked layers. To remove the layers you then need to save it down as an illustrator 3 file, unlock and save back up to your current illustrator version. The problem with most Artios files is that when you open them in illustrator, a lot of the line segments are separated and you will need to go thru and delete all interior cut and crease lines (on a copy of the structure file) and join all the broken segments. Then offset (say .125" for folding carton) to get your bleed and inset (offset -.125" for folding carton) to get your copy. In artios they can add a bleed and copy safe margin thats joined. Then you all you need to do is reverse the bleed from stroke to fill and change it to its appropriate color. Or delete if there is no bkgd color.
Once you have your structure file cleaned up, copy and paste it into your illustrator template file in the structure folder. Then separate the dimensions, glue and copy safe into another layer (called dimensions callout) and move the bleed to the bkgd layer. I then leave the dimension layer turned off (be sure to turn it back on when moving the structure file) and lock the structure file. Now all my editable layers will be the image and lineart layers.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Illustrator Template
Starting a new job: I load my slug file in Illustrator before I start each new job. In the slug I have the breakdown of how many colors are in the job (Typical presses have 4-6 but can go as low as 1 color and as high as 8 or sometimes 9). You can always have jobs rerun thru a press if you have a job that requires more colors than available but you have an increased chance of alignment issues and wastage. I wouldnt worry about the color order, it varies by presses and by what jobs they have run before yours but typically lighter colors go first. We also have standardized the colors for the dieline, dimension callouts and the coatings.
In my layers tab I have tagline (slug) as my top layer, and then structure layer (with the phrase DO NOT PRINT on it), Dimensions, Coating, Lineart, Images, and Bkgd Layer. Obviously if there are no images or spot coatings, or the bkgd is the paper color, those layers get deleted. Only layers with actual information on them remain. Same way in the swatch tab. Only colors used in the job are listed. Its a great way to double check your files when you go to production if you find additional colors in the swatches.
As for preferences, its always important to keep your smart guides turned on. If you go to outline mode and see lines everywhere, you are going to have some sloppy files with colors not butting to score or overlapping and knocking out. Keeping a clean, simple file is a good file. I also keep my paste remembers layers pref on. It keeps the right information on the right layer. That way it takes a little bit more work to actively mess up your files.
Thats pretty much it for starting a new file. If I am working with multiple SKUs that uses different artwork but the same structure, I find it helpful to keep the slug and structure in the same place on each file (Illustrator has a hidden X-Y coord system that remembers where everything is and places them in the same spot regardless of what job you have open). That way if I am making revisions that effect multiple jobs (say the logo changes) I can edit one job, then copy the new change and open each new file and copy paste to front and it places it in the exact same location and on the correct layer (you did check to make sure paste remembers layers, right?). This will speed up your work flow dramatically.
Next post I will talk about tips and tricks on what to do with client files that are incomplete (ie, no font, no linked images, created in photoshop or indesign instead of illustrator, bitmapped logos) and working with structural files (Artioscad).
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
New Mission Statement
Okay, so I haven't quite kept my blog up to date. And, since its 4 years since my last entry, I think I need a new mission statement. The old one is good, but I am now keeping a pinterest account on packaging (and other design). Instead, I think I will blog on the skills Ive learned in the 10+ years as a packaging designer. I've been both a graphic designer and a pre-print designer so I've heard the complaints from both side. I think its important as a designer to be able to correctly build your files for production. The better built they are, the better chance of you having it printed correctly the first time. Plus you wont have a prepress designer cursing your name as they are stripping and rebuilding your files from scratch.
For this first (well second) entry, I think I will just start with a list of website resources I use in my day to day design. The next couple of entries will deal with how I build my files (in Illustrator - please no indesign or quark files for packaging), how to proof read them quickly, how to set up files for multiple skus that can be set up for quick revisions, and some tips and trips that Ive learned to getting client files where you dont have the font, artwork, etc.
Font website:
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
Take a jpg of the mystery font and upload it to the website and it will give you its best guess. Pretty good when you have outlined font that needs copy change.
Mac Accent Code:
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codemac.html
If you work on a mac, this website has a list of key commands for all the different accents codes for different languages and symbols
Photos:
http://www.istockphoto.com
Good resources for concept images in your designs before paying for photography. Plus the search engine of some key phrases may give you some alternative ideas to explore
Packaging Images:
http://www.thedieline.com/
The dieline has become in a few short years a great resources for existing packaging out there. Good reference ideas for materials, finishes, etc.
Vector Logos:
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
Brands of the world is also a great resource for company vector logos with outlined fonts and PMS colors
I think thats a good starter list for now. Next entry Ill discuss a good way to layout your template files for your dieline and artwork for an efficient workflow.
For this first (well second) entry, I think I will just start with a list of website resources I use in my day to day design. The next couple of entries will deal with how I build my files (in Illustrator - please no indesign or quark files for packaging), how to proof read them quickly, how to set up files for multiple skus that can be set up for quick revisions, and some tips and trips that Ive learned to getting client files where you dont have the font, artwork, etc.
Font website:
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
Take a jpg of the mystery font and upload it to the website and it will give you its best guess. Pretty good when you have outlined font that needs copy change.
Mac Accent Code:
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codemac.html
If you work on a mac, this website has a list of key commands for all the different accents codes for different languages and symbols
Photos:
http://www.istockphoto.com
Good resources for concept images in your designs before paying for photography. Plus the search engine of some key phrases may give you some alternative ideas to explore
Packaging Images:
http://www.thedieline.com/
The dieline has become in a few short years a great resources for existing packaging out there. Good reference ideas for materials, finishes, etc.
Vector Logos:
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
Brands of the world is also a great resource for company vector logos with outlined fonts and PMS colors
I think thats a good starter list for now. Next entry Ill discuss a good way to layout your template files for your dieline and artwork for an efficient workflow.
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