Pre-press is the most important stage before the printing process. Please check this page to avoid mistakes in the file preparation process, to choose an appropriate colour profile and to gather some other very useful pre-press information.
Pre-press is the most important stage before the printing process. Please check this page to avoid mistakes in the file preparation process, to choose an appropriate colour profile and to gather some other very useful pre-press information.
To export created layout to PDF correctly, in InDesign choose File -> Adobe PDF Presets -> PDF/X-4
GENERAL All settings can be left as default
COMPRESSION All settings can be left as default
MARKS AND BLEEDS Check Boxes for Crop marks and Page Information must be checked. Offset must be applied 5 mm. Check Box must be checked for document bleeds. If document has a bleed size defined, it will appear automatically in bleed section in gray. Bleed size must be at least 3 mm for content pages and 18 mm for hard cover file.
OUTPUT Color conversion: Convert to destination (Preserve Numbers), Destination: .icc profile according to selected paper (see Downloads section).
Instead of hard-copy printouts of the PDF's, faster and easier method is to check pageproofs (softproofs).
All received files are checked by our prepress department and adjusted to our technical conditions to run a print. Then we generate pageproof PDF file which basically shows what and how book contents will be printed. This file is always sent to the client and is a mandatory confirmation step before we begin the production.
To see the content of PDF’s correctly, you must always use latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader, which is possible to download and install free of charge for almost any platform.
Using latest Acrobat/Acrobat Reader version is the only way to be sure you see all texts, objects, bleeds, overprints, extracted or added hidden and unnecessary objects, possible glitches. And to see all of them the way it will be printed.
Overprint preview. You must always check pageproofs with overprint preview set on. In Acrobat choose Edit → Preferences → General. On the left part of dialog window look for Page Display and then set Use Overprint Display to Always. This will help to visually catch typical overprint problems and also check trapping of the objects.
You can use Overprint Checkup PDF file to test overprint settings of your PDF viewer. Please do not check files in web browser or on your mobile devices. Mobile device rendering engines and built-in browser PDF viewers does not support overprint preview.
As a double-check we have created a special control mark that appear in the files we send for approval.
View contents in spreads. To see pageproof file as an opened book (as spreads), you must change View settings in Acrobat. Choose View → Page Display → Two Page View and also set View → Page Display → Show Cover Page in Two Page View.
Low resolution of images. By default we are downsampling all images to 72 dpi in pageproof files to save bandwidth and transfer time, but it’s always possible to provide a hi-res pageproof file on demand.
Last update: 2019.02.18.Images showing the endpapers as spreads in files and how the same files look glued as endpapers in a book.
Standard endpapers
Endpapers with flaps
PSO Coated v3 by ECI (FOGRA51) for coated paper
PSO Uncoated v3 by ECI (FOGRA52) for uncoated paper
Coated_Paper_Fogra51.joboptions for coated paper
Uncoated_Paper_Fogra52.joboptions for uncoated paper
• In Windows, right-click a profile and select Install Profile. Alternatively, copy the profiles into the WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color folder.
• In Mac OS, copy profiles into the /Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder or the /Users/[username]/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder.
After installing color profiles, be sure to restart Adobe applications.
Last update: 2017.06.22.
Enter ISBN code to create a print-ready vector barcode in PDF format. You can use spaces, dashes or any other symbols as separators for 13-digit code. Dashes according to ISO standard will be added automatically. Font is embeded in PDF file.
Please test the barcode to make sure it works before you prepare layouts for printing. There are many smartphone apps that read barcodes and you can scan the barcode directly from computer screen.
Last update: 2016.07.28.
CRITERIA FOR COLOUR PROOF EVALUATION
1. Colour proofs should be printed on a suitable proof paper:
Reference proofs for printing on coated paper should be printed on Semimatt proof paper.
Reference proofs for printing on uncoated paper should be printed on Matt proof paper.
2. Colour proof should be printed from the file supplied to the printer as the ready-to-print PDF file.
3. Sizes of images on the proofs should match the printed result 1:1.
4. Each colour proof should include the following information:
Date the proof has been printed
Name of the file printed
Applied printing standard
Ugra/Fogra Media wedge v2 or v3
Validation sticker that shows colour proof’s conformity with the chosen printing standard.
If any of the above mentioned information is missing on the supplied colour proof, the proof does not comply with ISO standard and cannot be used as a valid reference for printing.
If there is an obvious mismatch between the colour proofs and the supplied printing files (objects that are only on files or only on printed proofs; file creation date is later than a date on proofs, etc), these proofs cannot be used as a valid reference for printing.
In case of doubts about the supplied colour proof quality, Livonia Print would print 1-3 Livonia Print ISO certified proofs to check the conformity. If proofs don’t match, it will be communicated to the client. If needed, Livonia Print colour proofs will be sent to the client for approval, extra charge may be applied.
ACCEPTANCE OF COLOUR PROOFS
If colour proofs and PDF files are supplied as PSO uncoated v2, prepared according to Fogra 29/30/47 standard and yellowish paper is selected for printing, the colour proofs can be accepted as a reference.
CRITERIA FOR PREVIOUSLY PRINTED SAMPLE BOOK USE AS A REFERENCE FOR A NEXT REPRINT
All orders at Livonia Print are strictly printed according to ISO12647-2 standard. Therefore the only valid reference for first print or any reprint are only certified colour proofs printed according to the instructions described above.
Factors like, for example, changes in production of paper, ink and other material, or aging of paper and materials are often the reasons, why it is impossible to match the reprint to the previously printed sample.
If the client insists on using the previously printed sample book as a reference, the operator can try to adjust the colours, if differences are minimal. However, this kind of sample still is not considered as a valid reference for printing.
If a printing operator doubts a possibility of a close colour match, the printing process will be stopped for further communication, which would result in extra costs for the client.
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