Adobe Tutorials: All 3

The first tutorial that I'm diving into is the After Effects 6 introduction tutorial. Wanting to pursue video editing I'm trying to keep myself on the top notch of the newest software out on the market to date. After effects 6 takes 64 bit performance to a whole new level becoming faster and smarter than ever. After effects is a sophisticated motion graphics software that all of the high market producers use. The new software has giving us the power to play multiple scenarios of scenes without having to wait for a previous file to render, which normally was a problem in the previous software's. Also one of the newest attributes is being able to turn 2d videos into a 3d piece. With the addition of 3d TV's this allows you to stay atop the market. Also as the 3d goes the new software allows you to easily manipulate text shapes and fonts into perfect 3d matched pieces. Now one of the best items that is new in CS6 is the ability to bring in vector based pieces that maintain there full edit-ability inside After Effects! I can't wait to be able to get my hands on this new software and see what I can create with AntlerShed Outdoors!

The next tutorial I'm going to discuss is what's called Rolling Shutter Repair in CS6, there was a new addition is CS5.5 called the warp stabilizer, which allowed you to perfectly smooth shaky footage. This was a great addition for those of us who didn't have the money to afford sliders because we could create a sliding motion smoothly.

What this has helped us with is that if we are shooting with our DSLR's and we turn them to portrait to create a different look, we are not allowed to change the direction of the shutter from top to bottom like on most video equipment, to right to left giving us better stable motion with our movies. Also this allows us to even use video equipment such as cell phones to contribute to our episodes. This is unheard of in recent video markets and anything that can give us an edge is what we need!

Last is the illustrator intergration into After Effects. This also is an unheard aspect as before you would have to change your file to the size preferred and bring it into your video software, being able to quickly manipulate size and color without loosing any quality is AWESOME!

One of the newest things that CS6 enables also is the ability to convert and illustrator vector into a 3d shape, which can give you a new look to your logos, or rolling credits. Also it now allows you to instead of copying and pasting each shape of your vector file and importing them separately you can now bring your entire outlines into after effects and the paths will be there for complete editing!

After Effects CS6 is going to be a great product that will enable myself and Devin to put together high quality productions that can hopefully catapult AntlerShed Media to the next level of business!

Final Class Post

Where do I start........coming into this class I honestly thought that setting up files for production work wasn't that hard because I'd set up a couple files for some local upstart business around the area, was I ever wrong. Come to find out I didn't even know the basics of how to properly set up anything.

I can honestly say that Digital File Prep was the MOST beneficial class in commercial graphics I have had up to this point and probably the most beneficial class that anyone could be enrolled in wanting to pursue a commercial graphics career. I used this class to correctly setup different items for a possible business opportunity that I might pursue in my future which would be to take AntlerShed Media onto a commercial stage. As of now though knowing the things that I learned in this class are going to allow myself to setup files correctly so that my customers now will be able to take them straight to a printer, or I take them to a printer, and have a no hassle experience. I also would like to personally thank Mrs. Benson for all the help she provided myself and my business partner Devin Greenwood in how to properly manage file preparation.

I know with the curriculum changing I'm not sure if this class will still be a requirement, and if it's not if any future students are reading this then you need to enroll in this class. As I am trying to pursue a major career in graphics I am very confident in my skills to setup files on any level of production. So in conclusion there is no one part of this class that I can say was better than others because every part of it aided our business greatly, now I am setup almost completely with the files I need to advertise in the best markets available and compete with the best designers on the market. So again I say thank you to everyone who had any part of helping myself throughout this past semester.

Master Image List

Master Image List Definitions

Our master image list this semester has a lot of items that I had never before used in any of my layouts or designs. Just as a lot of things in Digital File Prep this image list taught me new and exciting facets in the design world. So here are the definitons of the image list.

Bitmap: A type of file format used to store digital images. A concept of a spatially mapped array of pixels, Raster images may be referred to as bitmaps.

Reverse: I used a reverse in my newspaper ad. This is where instead of printing your type onto the paper directly, you create a block of black and place white type inside, what happens is when printed since the paper is the color of your type is the type does not actually print, it is cut out of your black outline.

Vector Art: Vector art is used in illustrator and Indesign. It allows you to expand images without having the problem of the images becoming pix-elated in your designs.

Grayscale Raster: Black and white pixel images. I used the grayscale raster on my qr code back on the first project that we did, our notepad.

Duotone raster: Duotone Raster is an image that is similar to black and white but contains only two colors. Most commonly used on portrait images I will be using a duotone image on my final project for a couple portraits that I have.

Sihlouette Raster: A raster image that is exactly what the name says, a sihlouette. It is a pixel based image that has two images, however the front image is completely knocked out looking black creating a silhlouette.

Full Bleed Raster: Used on most of my projects it is a raster image that hits to your bleed line. I've used it full bleeds on my Direct Mailers, and on my final project.

Four Color Raster: A full color CMYK raster image, all images need to be converted to CMYK if they are going to be used in any print application as full colors.

Information was taken from my knowledge of Mrs. Benson's teachings in class.

Final Project
This is a project that I'm extremely excited about. As a part of my overall project to build a partnership media company I'm building a booklet that can be reproduced and giving out at different trade shows or to the general public as a way to show what AntlerShed Media is about.

I've decided to do what I call is double open booklet, that will be spiral bound on both sides the cover, first, and second pages will all be cut down the center so that they can open up like doors. As far as my thumbs go to be honest I knew exactly the route that I wanted to run with this project so the only picture I have to post is my rough.

Apart from the way that the booklet is bound, the overall spread will be and 8 1/2 x 11 page size in landscape layout with 1/4" margins and 1/8" bleeds. The cover will incorporate a picture simulating shed doors. On the left door as you look at the booklet my logo will be presented, and on the bottom right side will be a quote that I'm still determining. Also the doors will have simulated antler door handles. Once you open the doors the first page will be information on Devin's photography and videography background. The right side will be a collage of the work that he has put together which will be be continued onto the back of the page. The second page that will open will be the same design only my own biography and background for design and video editing will be on the opposite side. Again my portfolio for my designs that I've done will be portrayed opposite of my photo and biography. The back page of my booklet will incorporate some information about the services we offer, the logo again and contact information. The back of the booklet will be a photograph of the back of the shed, giving the AntlerShed emphasis.

Here are the roughs for the pages

After going being able to get through the rough draft stages I couldn't wait to setup my brochure. After careful collaboration I decided that the final project would be half of the original 8.5 x 11 size. So the final size of my print came out to be 4.25 x 5.5. Now again after having the final file in my hands I again decided that I need it to be a little larger. My original idea for these brochures would be to hand them out at trade shows, seminars, etc. so that I could have a high quality product that would set AntlerShed Media a step above the rest. Now also my original idea to place poster board on the back of the brochure to give it the thickness desired changed again after careful consideration of paper weight. I was able to find a thick enough coated paper that made my product pop off the page and still stand up with being to flimsy to support the double coiled binding on each side. So after finding this out my final files also needed to be changed so that I could incorporate a back page to the file. All and all I'm very satisfied with the product that we are putting out, now from being a handout brochure because I found out it would cost me around $800 to have 1000 printed which at the time being doesn't meet the company budget. So now I will enlarge the file and make it a brochure that possible customers can pick up and look at to see what kind of products that we offer. Just like every one of the items that I've created this semester this will be a huge aid to my future business endeavors.

Here are my final images:

Billboard/Magazine

Just to begin with this project was tough because my mind had seen so many magazine and billboard ads that I wanted to copy, so many designs that I preferred, but ultimately decided to go with a bit of my own flavor. This campaign is to introduce the new AntlerShed Outdoors Spring DVD.
 So after researching what magazine that I would like to advertise with I decided Traditional Bowhunter Magazine was the way to go. Given that my target audience is people within the outdoor community and that I am an avid reader of this magazine this was my choice.

To begin I had to go out and find the ad specifications for this magazine, which to my surprise was relatively easy to get a hold of. Within there website they had the PDF file for all the ad specs.

So being that I was able to build a full page ad, my specs were 7.25x 9.25 with a .25 inch bleed.
Now knowing in my mind that the majority of the layout would also be used for my billboard ad also I really wanted to keep this spread simple and to the point. Here are my thumbs for the magazine.

I decided to go with (as you look at it) the bottom left layout.
Here is the rough.

Very simple and to the point. The title as you look at the page will be 8.25 x 1.75 inch title that will read "AntlerShed Outdoors". The fonts for the page will be chosen later. Under the title will be a subtitle, "presents", this will be measured at 2.75 x 1.5 inches. The main content of the page will be a newly drawn Turkey Logo that I have created, it's measurements are 6.25 x 4.25. At the bottom of the page will be the main type, "SPRING v. 1" measuring 8.25 x 3 inches.
The background of the entire layout will be a wood grain simulating the ad to look like a barn wall. All the logos and type will try and simulate possibly a wood burned look (I haven't decided totally on that yet).

Now following the same theme of this magazine spread for my billboard I flipped it to a horizontal plane.
Here are my thumbs for the billboard.

As you look at the page again I went with the far left layout.
Here is my rough.

As you can tell here it's similar to my magazine spread with the addition of the website address which will fall next to the turkey logo. As i looked at examples of billboards on the road I will need to make sure that my type is very visible, especially the website. The reason for this is getting my target audience to the website will in turn hopefully sell our products.

Although both of these are very rough drafts and all you can really pick away from them is the overall layout, my designing really hits me as I actually put the content into the layout.

My purpose for choosing this magazine is that alot of my design ideas are geared toward the outdoors, being an avid outdoorsmen myself my mind thinks in that mindset so these designs are what fills my head. So as in my purpose my target audience for this is to show anyone who reads this magazine our new DVD entitled Spring, in efforts to one pick up sponsorship funds, and for two also establish a fan base. The call to action on the magazine ad is a couple things, either to visit our facebook, twitter, or you tube pages and to use our microsoft tag to send them directly to AntlerShed Media's facebook page to show them our work. Below are my billboard and magazine ads, the billboard target was to get the Spring name in there mind and to search it on facebook.

Newspaper Ad

Newspaper Ad
Easily one of the toughest assignments I've had to design yet is the Newspaper Ad. Though a very simple layout trying to really figure out what I wanted to portray in this ad is the tough part. Ulitmately again I decided to portray a photography ad (however this might change before critique day). After looking over good and bad examples today I'm going to keep this one simple, logo, bitmap, coupon, and contact icons. 
Here are my thumbnails: 













Altough these are very rough thumbnails I decided to use this time to really figure out my layout of how I wanted the ad to look.
After working with a $97 budget on this ad and using a system we learned today on how to figure up my ad size, I went with a 4 column spread, that was 6 inches high. Due to my logo size I felt this would best fit the content that I wanted, totaling out to be $96.

Here is my rough:













I went with the bmp image of the camera because it "hopefully" will draw attention to the add right off the bat with the next largest part of the ad being the coupon. My logo will be put next to my social media icons.
I'm really struggling if I want to make the entire ad a reverse also, but that will be determined later.

After struggling with how I wanted this ad to be portrayed, I decided to use this ad as a sort of a coupon to try and bring in some new customers. So the easiest way to do this is to attach a coupon the magazine ad, so I went with 25% off any work of your choice with the mention of the ad. So this is my final image of the design that I put together.

Chapters 8,9, & 10

CSR rule/ Talking with the Printer

Short for Customer Service Representative the CSR is the second person that you will normally be handed off to whenever your giving a job to the print company, the first being the salesman. One rule about CSR's is that you always want to make sure that they are knowledgeable at the print processes. In some cases your printing knowledge might supersede those of your CSR, in this case it is absolutely important that you handle this situation in a cor-gel manner. Asking to speak to someone directly on the print line about your job is not consider pestering them until you take it to that point. If you are able to speak directly with those handling your project on the print line then it is also imparitive that you keep your CSR in the loop. This will in turn improve your CSR's knowledge and make your job turn around in the future possibly easier.

 Planning for Print

Print planning is an essential process when it comes to a designer, and it is highly important that you know these steps to insure your job security, plus it will save you the embarrasement of the printers telling you to redo the job. Now let's learn these steps:

External Document Size: Whenever creating a piece whether it be a one page poster or a tri-fold brochure, knowing your final document size is crucial. This can be done either from your clients specifications or from an example that you already have, if you already have the example then get a ruler and make certain the final size.

Adequate Bleed: Most projects are set bleed is 1/8th of an inch, you should be fine to set your bleed at this. However speak to your printer to ensure that they do not require any larger.

Internal Panel Sizes: If your setting up a job that folds, make sure that you incorporate those folds in your document. One easy way to do this is to establish guidelines in your layout program, also you can speak with you print service to see if they provide a template.

Artwork Interactions with folds, perforations, or die cut trims: It is important to speak with your print provider on your folding jobs to ensure that any artwork that is placed up against a fold line does not bleed over. Speak with your print company so that they can ensure that this doesn't happen by giving you guides or bleed lines that you should establish in your document.

Correct Number of Pages: In all multi page documents the number of pages should be divisible by four. An example used in the book is, "pull out the pages in a book, look at the loose pages remaining and you will notice that they are fours, two front and two back." If you are putting together a notebook or something of the sort then you can get away with an odd number by using the blank pages as a place to write notes.

Correct Inks: Delete all unecessary colors that are in your swatches panel. This helps the printer in establishing which colors in your job are used.

Checking Raster Images

Making sure that your images are named correctly, colored correctly, and are the correct resolution is imperative so that your design comes out correct and that there are no hiccups in the printing process.

Resolution: When using a raster image normally it needs to be set to 300 ppi at it's final image size however there are exceptions. In large format printing your customers will probably be several feet away from your final design so with a lower ppi setting you will achieve the same result as if they were looking at a small document up close. So on your large format prints most the time you should be able to get away with a 150 ppi.

Color Space: In most print shops you will want your final file to be colored in CMYK, however again in a color managed print shop you may be allowed to use RGB. In your grayscale projects then make sure that they are truly gray scale and are not just colored in gray in a CMYK format.

Retouching: If you have an image that needs retouching and you are not comfortable doing so then ask your print shop to provide this service for you. If you are going to ask this question however come prepared. Have your images that will need retouching printed before hand and explain to the printer what you are wanting to retouch on those images.

Rotations and Scaling: This is always to be done in the native software that the image was created in, example being photoshop, or illustrator. When you perform these rotations or scales in your layout software your image will most likely become pixelated and you will not receive your intended quality of that design.

Filenames: For easy use avoid useing any special characters in naming your files for the simple fact that whenever carried across platforms the file could not open correctly. Always instead of using a space use a _, and always try and keep your file names short for ease of recovery.

Vectors

Correct Colors: If you will be placing a colored illustration into your page layout software always use pantone colors. These can be located in Pantone books that will also ensure upon print that you will have the desired color you are looking for.

Images: If using an image in your vector art make sure that if you are planning to do any alternation or retouching to that image that you attach the image in your final file. Also always embed your images to ensure that image comes along to the final layout file.

Fonts: If possible try and do your typing in your layout file software, if you are bringing type into this software then make sure it is embedded. This will ensure that the final file has the correct look that you are trying to design. Also make sure that your layout file is packaged so that the fonts used are brought along.

Bleed: Set a bleed that is matching to your layout software in your illustration software so that if your vector art is going to bleed from your layout it you will know the precise size that it needs to be and it will be embedded into your layout without any pixelation.

Types of Proofs

A proof is a rough draft of what your final file will look like. Submit these as PDF's for ease at your local print shop. Most print shops will have the same software as what you are working on and can open the file however this is not a guarantee. Always do a final check of your project to ensure all of your vector and raster image checklists are correct, then export as a PDF with the correct file name. Whenever going to your print shop as them to print a proof and provide them with a high quality print PDF file.

Photoshop Elements

After finishing any editing that you might do within photoshop it is imparative that you flatten your file. This ensures that you are only bringing in one file to your layout software and not every layer you have from your photo. This will cut down on file size whenever exporting and packaging your file later.

If you are using a transparency on your final layout file make sure that this is done in your layout software. If you bring in a already opaque file then you will lose detail in your final file and this will give you no room to make changes later after seeing your printed proof.

AI artboards are what your working on within your Illustrator files, whenever you resize your illustration and place it into your layout software that board will come with it. It is always a good thing that you make your artboard a little larger than you 100% illustration to enable you to move the file if necessary within your layout software. Some people however like to scale there artboard down to that 100% illustration to ensure that your are not picking up any extra space.