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.

Change is Everything: VDM

Getting AntlerShed Out

For the direct mail assignment it was really a struggle on how I wanted to assemble this piece. After looking at multiple examples I still hadn't got a set idea on what I wanted to go with. Of course the way it works with many design pieces after looking over my roughs it really hit me, I wanted to send people something that really portrayed our photography skill set. So I decided to go with a flip mail piece. The direct mail piece will be a 5x7 horizontal set that will fold open to tell people a little about our skill set with design and photography.

Here are my sketches:

After look over my sketches I realized that I really liked the layout of the second rough. The way I will portray this in a fold will be that I will be standing in the foreground in focus on the cover, and when you flip up the front cover my colleague and I will be reversed. Now this will be the version that new companies, and people trying to gain identity's for themselves through design will get. The other version will have Devin standing in the foreground and that version will be sent out to our photography customers seniors, family's, etc.

Although vague these are my roughs:

This is the front cover for the design customers

This will be the back of the front cover, or the top when you flip the card.

This will be the inside portion for our design customers

And finally this will be the back portion of the mailer

Keep in mind these are only my roughs so some things might change when it comes to the final piece but this keeps my ideas in line. Although vague this gives you a small idea on what I am going with when it comes to the direct mailer.

The Name of the Game is Change
You will notice that my roughs look nothing like my final draft. As I've come to learn within the design world change is the name of the game, things are never done until the customer is happy with the design. I went through an enormous amount of change with this project but ultimately ended up with a design that I love.
After really sitting back and taking a look at my rough I just didn't feel that the folding design would gain me anything more than a basic front back design. So my original target audience was going to be family and seniors. Mainly targeting the females within the house hold, because in my mind if you could win over those females you could gain the business. This was my ultimate plan going into on screen critiques.
These were the drafts that I made up going into critique day:

This was the second front cover that I designed:

After designing these in my eyes I loved this look, it went with my original mindset of targeting the female audience.

However, in business you gain an edge by doing something different. After critique day my eyes were opened on seperating myself from my competition and creating something away from the normal. From my previous blog my logo has an edge to it, more leaning towards a male appeal so after direction from my colleagues I decided to CHANGE.

I went from trying to target the female audience I decided to switch my target audience to target the male and female crowd. So with this in mind I really did struggle on the way I wanted to portray this mailer. I knew for a fact that I really wanted to emphasize our photography skills with this mailer, trying to gain those family portrait and senior clients.

After completely redoing the design process I came up with my final mailers.

As a courtesy I want to apologize the tough reading on the ladder half of the 6/7 blog, I'm not really sure what happened but I've tried to fix the problem and there is nothing that I can do to change the way the white is highlighting the text, so again I apologize.

Chapter 6/7 Summary

PostScript

PostScript fonts consist of two files: A bitmap "screen font" component for onscreen display and a printer component that contains PostScript instructions for actually printing the character. One of the drawbacks to using PostScript is that since it is made of pixels it can't provide acceptable resolution for output. Also if you do not have the PostScript font activated inside your operating system well your out of luck and your font will recall back to the screen default ultimately not giving you the designed feel of you work. (Print Production)

TrueType

 TrueType fonts were brought forth in a collaboration between Apple and Microsoft. Creation of the TrueType font was to have a font that did not need a file for screen and a separate file for print. However in the early days of TrueType the PostScript RIP's couldn't process the TrueType files correctly, so your finished product again wouldn't come out the way you had the design on screen. Now currently, the modern technology of the RIP's can process TrueType as well as PostScript.

OpenType

OpenType fonts are the best of both worlds. An OpenType font is a cross platform font, this means that there is no separate files needed for screen and print, nor is there different files needed to view on a Mac or a PC. Along with this font is the ability to add up to 65,000 glyphs, which in short means that anything that can be added along with a font, such as fractions, symbols, etc., comes along with an OpenType. This does not mean however that all OpenType fonts contain all of these things, it is up to the creator of the OpenType and what he or she adds.

Font Family

In Short a font family is an entire set of the font you choose, by entire set the family should include regular, Bold, and Italic. There are other variations of these three such as Bold Italic, or semi-bold but these three are the main differences in a font family. The actual definition of a font family that I have found is " a set of fonts all with the same typeface, but with different sizes, weights, and slants." (Webopedia) 

Glyphs

A Glyph is a distinct letter form. Also multiple Glyphs may exist for a single character position in an OpenType font. Example shown to the right. (http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/lehrusovsky/glyphs-example.png)

 dfonts

A dfont is easily put as a mac version of some of our most popular fonts. These fonts are essentially OpenType fonts that whenever opened on a Mac or PC they will show up as the font you've chose, but however the fonts for the two operating systems do have there slight differences. Now if us mac users want a cross platform jump with some of our default fonts then this can be done by using dedicated font-management software.

Multiple Master Fonts

Multiple Master Fonts are yet another printers nightmare. Created from a PostScript font, then allow the user to give this font multiple weights, angles, and widths. The problems this created wasn't that they were allowing a user to manipulate, the problem was that it wasn't obvious how to make all the cool variants, how to collect the variants necessary, or how to ensure that the print service provider knew how to use them. (Print Production) 

Licensing

In order to protect those font constructors out there we have font licensing laws. Just like creating a song and having it taken from you without getting any credit for it, we need to a protection for those out there taking the time and consideration that goes into creating a font. One of the most popular agreements is a EULA (End User License Agreement). This is the agreement that a lot of us have probably agreed to and not even read it. Most of the fonts able to be nabbed are free for personal use but will have problems whenever it comes down to you and the printer. (Print Production) 

File Naming 

Now that file naming has become a little more forgiving than it used to be, there is one common consensus when it comes to file naming, keep it brief. Between platforms there are limitations as far as characters are concerned and that is an allowance of total characters, so to be safe whenever nameing your files, two things, keep it brief and avoid punctuation. If you follow those two rules then you should have happy days with your file names and you and the printers will get along great.

Extensions 

In the olden days, a file extension for mac users was unrequired. Files then consisted of two forks, a data fork and a resource fork. Pretty much self explanatory on what each side held, the data fork held all the "guts" and the resource told the system which icon to use. Although still you manually adding a file extension by type isn't necessary, you do have to specify so that opening files cross platforms is still possible.

Cross Platform Formats

Cross Platform Formats is exactly what the name says, formats that can cross platforms without any special software required to open them. Some of these formats are things such as JPEG's are saved with the extension .jpg and both Macs and PC's can read this file format the same and open this image that is present. 

Sources

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/F/font_family.html
"Print Production" Textbook

Chap. 4 & 5
 Files to Print
 The most commonly used file printing formats would be TIFF, EPS, and Photoshop PSD or PDF.
Now a TIFF (tagged image file format) is the most widely accepted file format because of it's transferability skills that is pertains. Happy being transported from Illustrator, to Microsoft Word and everything in between. Along with the import features TIFF's also use RGB and CMYK color spaces and allows to contain spot-color channels.
EPS (encapsulated PostScript) really is described as encapsulated art. Able to contain raster images, vector artwork, or both combined EPS is said to be postscript in a bag. Historically EPS files were saved to preserve a special function, such as a vector based Clipping Path.
Photoshop PSD's and PDF's were two formats saved through the Photoshop program. PSD's used to be saved strictly as a Photoshop document that was then flattened and saved as a TIFF or an EPS format. A PDF however contains about the same information as a PSD but is just encased. There is no reason to use a PDF when a PSD will work.

Files Not to Print
 There are a list of files that are strictly only used for web content and print is not an option. PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a graphic that can contain alot of neccessarry qualities for print it has no CMYK color space. BMP (Bitmap) can do black and white but again has no CMYK color space. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a strict web use file because of it's low resolution qualities. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) mainly because of it's loss qualities that it has through devices. Every time you save a JPEG you lose your Image quality.


Pixel vs.
A pixel (definition from the book) is shorthand for picture element, the smallest unit of information in a digitized image. Before pixels came to be cameras were used to capture artwork from drawings to painted illustrations. The job of capturing these images was time consuming to say the least. It required years of apprenticeship and experience to master the skill of capturing these images.
Now that we have discovered the pixel instead of having family photos smashed in a closet somewhere we now can have a stack of CD's organized and neat atop our desk. The pixel is the way of the future you could say comparing it the cave paintings and the ways that were done before the pixel came to be. It allows work to be done faster and more efficiently than any of these earlier ventures into photos.
 


JPG vs. RAW
 JPG is a compressed file format that can either be compressed a lot loosing image information or compressed a little only compressing a small bit of information. Image RAW is a feature that comes on higher end digital cameras, the point and shoots do not allow you to shoot in RAW. Camera RAW format is subject to no compression what so ever from the digital camera, this allows that whenever you open your RAW file into Photoshop you can change alot of the settings as if you were while you were taking the photo and not loose any picture information. Now camera RAW files cannot be dropped directly into Indesign, or Illustrator they must be ran through Photoshop first.

PPI Resolution
 PPI or pixels per inch this is the resolution on which you set your images for different mediums, for instance if you are setting an image for the web it would be set at 72 ppi at it's final size. These standards change however for every medium that you are using and print is widely debated format on ppi resolutions. With the updated technology that we use today we have settled on a resolution of 300 ppi. The debate use to be that 300 was insufficient because the RIP's would choke down and take all kinds of time, an also because the hard drives would be filled up rapidly, but with the technology of today we can run a 300 ppi image quickly and therefore efficiently.

Bitmap Images
 The main part of Bitmap images is that they are strictly black and white with no shades of gray in them at all. Commonly used for scans of signatures, or black pen sketches because it can offer a sharp, clean high resolution image. Yet another advantage to a Bitmap file is that they can offer these very high res images on a small files size.

Cropping and Rotating
 Cropping images is when you pretty much cut off the excess fat around an image that is unnecessary to be there. Cropping images is also used to center up a subject or to reduce the size down to what's needed for you to place onto a job. One major important factor to remember about cropping is to always keep a backup image on hand for any just in case purposes.
Rotating images is used all the time within logo design, page layouts, web design, etc. However one key note to remember about rotation is that the only safe rotation is a 90 degree rotation. Whenever you rotate an image less or more than the safe 90 you get the softening of detail inside the image.


Transparency Tip
 Whenever you are using any sort of transparency you must be careful switching between editorial programs. For instance whenever you are transporting your file into Indesign from Illustrator and you have a drop shadow upon print that drop shadow will show up gray, so it is best to make sure that whenever transporting files that everything matches up.

Vector Graphics
First and foremost things to know about Vector Graphics is that they are pixel free. What does this mean? This means that scaling dimensions is no limit, you won't ever get that pixel line at any point of your project.

Vector File Formats
Again you need to know what file formats are acceptable in the printing world and what's not. We back to EPS files, this file format is the most common file format for vector artwork. As for use with this EPS file you will find out that if you try and stick and EPS file into a microsoft word document that it's not going to show up correctly because the software cannot read it correctly.  So mainly use your EPS files for placed artwork.
Adobe PDF is one that we haven't been brought to yet, saving you vector art as a PDF ensures that your art cannot be changed. Also it is only intended for the use in page layout softwares that are going to be a finished print.


Embedded Fonts
Fonts that are embedded means that whenever you created a file in Illustrator or save it as an EPS this means that the font should now be available for print and viewing purposes, however this doesn't mean you can change the font in your layout software. Also not all fonts can be embedded, at times font sites will put a don't embed flag on there fonts to ensure the use for personal only.

Outlining Text
Converting your text to an outline text eliminates that someone will embed your font and cancel all edit ability. Also if your saving you file out as a PDF then outlining is pointless because of the edit ability restrictions that come with a PDF.


Simplifying Paths
Fewer Points smoother the drawing. Simple right? However it used to be believed that the more points the more detailed your drawing would be but however that's not the case. It is important to try and use as few points as possible but make sure those points are the right points.


 


 

AntlerShed Media

AntlerShed Media
Self Promotion Notepad

After careful consideration I decided for my self promotion notepad that I was going to change the name of my own media company that I've been trying to get off the ground. Double B Media is now going to be changed to AntlerShed Media, after asking some of my friends and aquaintances which name they liked more. Apart from my collegues choosing the name this also allows me to fulfill this assignment to the max, starting from scratch I designed my own logo, and now will use the notepad as a promotion device.
These are a few VERY ROUGH sketches that I had drawn out mainly for ideas on the layout of this notepad and how much content I wanted to be added.

Sketches 

As you can tell these are very rough but served the purpose I was after. The two on the right and the bottom sketch are all turned the wrong way due to my sheet, they actually lay out as a 5x7 vertical spread.

Rough

This is the rough draft that I created. It is measured out to a 5x7 vertical dimension notepad.

The antler that is in the middle will be taken down to a 13% opacity so for better use as a notepad. In the photo all that you see that is colored in will be black, along with a black outline on the antler again this will be at 13% opacity. Now from my screenshot you can't tell what my writing tells you so I will explain. In the top left hand corner of the pad I will have my QR code that I created for my blog, I have decided to not put any sort of text along with the code because this code will have you sent straight to my facebook page where all of my work can be viewed, I will let my work do the talking.

In the bottom right hand corner my logo that I have created in illustrator will be placed. I will have an 1/4" edge around the entire document to ensure that I do not make my drawing too large for the pad.

There was some changes made throughout the rest of the design process. Originally I had found a font that I like but upon our on screen critique day a lot of my classmates told me that it was hard to read. So after careful consideration I decided to change the font to accommodate both my taste and to give the name more readability.

This the original build of the notepad with the font that I first chose. As you can tell the Script like font is a little hard to read at first glance.















The next screenshot is off the final file that I decided to go with. This was with the new font that I had come across on dafont.com.

After listening to my peers in the on screen critique it really allowed me to see how other people viewed my product and really allowed me to make a better more useful product that more of the public could read and understand.














This is final product after print.

Chapters 1,2, & 3

Finishing Processes
 

Finishing Processes as far as print is concerned is a general term that is used to describe the processes that are taken after a project has been printed. Such processes include laminating, mounting, coating, image transfer, and trimming. These processes are sometimes referred to as a value-adding process.

Printing Dummy

A printing dummy is what is commonly known as a proof. All the printing dummy is is a mock up of what the final print whenever assembled is suppose to look like.

Imagesetter

An imagesetter is a high-resolution output machine that can transfer electronic text and graphics directly unto film, plates, or a photosensitive paper. The imagesetter is pretty much a high res printer that, alike printers, can come in various sizes and formats. The imagesetter consists of a laser and a dedicated RIP and is compatible to create the film used in computer-based preproduction work.

Pica's vs. Points

Pica's and points are both measurement devices for type. 12 points is equal to 1 pica. Some people prefer to use pica's on document measurement rather than inches, but points are the universal suit for type sizes.

Die-Cutting

Die-cutting is a printing process that cuts your documents into certain shapes, the die-cutting machines can be purchased in various sizes for either industrial size jobs or small enough to use on individual projects. Much like a cookie cutter, the die cut is a blade that has been bent into a specified shape. After the die is put into the machine you then put in your medium and the die-cut will cut your medium into the desired shape of your project.

Purpose of a RIP

RIP stands for Raster Image Processor, the RIP is an output device that turns your vector based project into high res images that can be output. Such things as fonts and photos can translated into a work piece that the RIP can turn into small dots so that RIP can print your project accurately.

The RIP process is a huge part of a print project, as another piece of the puzzle to enable your project to turn out exactly how you want it and exactly how your customer wants the project to be. The RIP enables you to turn your designs into a printed reality.

VDP

Commonly used on such things as direct mailers, postcards, flyer's, notepads, promotional pieces, or anything else that you are wanting to speak directly to your customers the Variable Data Print is a huge piece of printing and self promotion. Variable data printing capitalizes on this by picking up customized artwork for each page based on information from your database and rules that are set up within the Variable Data software program. Variable elements can be text, graphics or photos, color or black-and-white. Variable data can be flowed into each page on a simple record-by-record basis, or the contents of a page can be controlled by sophisticated rules based on relationships among data fields.(Greenerprinter)

Two-color printing

Two color printing is exactly how is sounds your print produced by two colors of your choosing. Now due to common thought that your project that you design with three or four colors you can actually produced the same project using two colors. Projects can be produced with two colors simply because you can use two color prints to create shadows and bevels on the print. 

PPI, DPI, LPI

As in print the definition of DPI stands for dots per inch. The specific definition is this, a measure of the resolution of a printer is called DPI or dots per inch. It properly refers to the dots of ink or toner used by an imagesetter, laser printer, or other printing device to print your text and graphics. In general, the more dots, the better and sharper the image. DPI is printer resolution. (desktop)

As you read the specific definition, in print knowing what your dpi is a must, now it seems that for photography uses something called PPI, which stands for pixels per inch. Obviously within photos the camera saves your pictures with pixels therefore you need to know what your PPI is for printing purposes.

Now LPI was a tough one to really figure what it was used for, within being in commercial graphics I had heard a lot about PPI and DPI, but LPI was a total new concept for myself. LPI stands for lines per inch. As my research has found is that LPI is very commonly used for photography, which surprises me that I’ve never heard of it. LPI also comes down to what type of paper that you use and your printer that you are running off of.

CMYK vs. Color Spots

Being new into the realm of print I’d know that CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK hence CMYK.  Now I’d never seen anything about color spots until looking at our first project and reviewing the preflight checklist that asked about the color used and I noticed color spot 1, and color spot 2.

Spot coloring uses the pantone system and involves either 1, 2, or 3 premixed color choices, also it is said to be a more accurate color choice because the colors are not being mixed during the print process.(Vision)

Sources

http://www.w-co.co.uk/finishing.php

http://www.marketing-playbook.com/glossary/index.php/term/%26%23160%3B,Folding+dummy.xhtml

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci825229,00.html

http://www.printingquotesonline.com/content/detail/117/Picas-vs-Inches.html

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4923262_whats-process-die-cutting.html

http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/lib/print-registration.htm

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/rip/a/rip.htm

http://www.greenerprinter.com/grp/jsp/vdp.jsp

http://www.bargainprinting.com/body_2color.php

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/intermediate/a/measure_lpi.htm

http://www.visiondesign.com/2010/04/printing-cmyk-vs-spot-color/