graphic design basicsgraphic design basics 10 hierarchy is the order of importance within a group....
TRANSCRIPT
Instructor: CourtneyBarr
AssistantProfessorofArt
LouisianaStateUniversity
email: [email protected]
Graphic Design BasicsLSU CONTINUING EDUCATION
WelcometoGraphicDesignBasics.Thiscourseoffersanintroduc-
tiontothepurposesandmethodsofgraphicdesign.Youwillgain
afundamentalunderstandingoftheelementsandprinciplesof
visualcommunication.Youwilllearnthebasicsofcommunicat-
ingwithtextandimage.Wewillalsodiscusscolortheory,studio
practicesandprintproduction.Bytheendofthistwo-daycourse,
youwillhaveabasicskillsettoutilizeinthecreationofyourown
designmaterialssuchaslogos,advertisements,brochures,posters
andnewsletters.
Prerequisitecourse:AdobeIllustratorEssentialsorequivalentknowledge.
Textbook:Robin Williams Design Workshop
Graphic Design Basics 3
Table of Contents
I. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
II. Whatisgraphicdesign?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Graphicdesignisvisualcommunication. . . . . . . . . . .5
Thedesignprocess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Kindsofgraphicdesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
III. Componentsofgraphicdesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Imagery
Color
Typography
Composition
IV. Principlesofdesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Exercise: Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
IV. Hierarchy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Project: Business card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Businesscardexamples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Workingwithtype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Typecrimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Typedesignexamples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Project: Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Logoexamples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
V. Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Project: Advertisement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Project: Event poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Posterexamples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
VI. Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Fileformats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
RGB/CMYK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Printingchecklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Graphic Design Basics 4
What is graphic design?
“Graphic design is everywhere, touching everything we do, everything
we see, everything we buy: we see it on billboards and in Bibles, on taxi
receipts and on websites, on birth certificates and on gift certificates, on
the folded circulars inside jars of aspirin and on the thick pages of chil-
dren’s chubby board books.
Graphic design is the boldly directional arrows on street signs and the
blurred, frenetic typography on the title sequence to E.R. It is the bright
green logo for the New York Jets and the monochromatic front page of
the Wall Street Journal. It is hang-tags in clothing stores, postage stamps
and food packaging, fascist propaganda posters and brainless junk mail.
Graphic design is complex combinations of words and pictures, numbers
and charts, photographs and illustrations that, in order to succeed, de-
mands the clear thinking of a particularly thoughtful individual who can
orchestrate these elements so they all add up to something distinctive, or
useful, or playful, or surprising, or subversive or somehow memorable.”
Graphic design is a popular art and a practical art, an applied art and an
ancient art. Simply put, it is the art of visualizing ideas.
-JessicaHelfand
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/what-is-design
Graphic Design Basics 5
Theroleofagraphicdesigneristotakeinformationandtransformitinto
aninteresting,accessiblevisualmessage.Inordertocompetewithallthe
othervisualmessagesinourworld,today’sgraphicdesignersmustfind
themostcleverandcreativesolutions.
Graphic design is collaborative .Asadesigneryouwillalmostalways
beworkinginateamenvironment,collaboratingwithanartdirector,
othergraphicdesigners,photographers,illustrators,marketingprofes-
sionals,andyourclients.
Graphic design has a soul . Graphicdesignisnotdefinedastheactof
sellingproductstoconsumers.Thatis(admittedly)oneaspect;however
inmyopinionthebestdesignisthatwhichhasmeaning,thatwhich
enhancesthelivesofthosewhoencounterit,andthatwhichreflects
somethingpositiveaboutit’sdesigner.
Graphic design is visual communication .
Whenapproachedwithanewproject,everydesignershouldaskthese
questionstodefinethepurposeoftheproject:
1. Whatisthemessage?
2. Whoisthetargetaudience?
3. Whatisthebestformattocommunicatethemessagetotheaudi-
ence?
Thisinformationwillhelpthedesignteamtowritewhatiscalledaproj-
ect brief,orawrittendescriptionoftheprojectobjectivesandoutline.
The design process
Graphic Design Basics 6
Publication design
(books,magazines,newspapers)
Motion design
(filmtitles,televisiongraphics,animatedfilms)
Interactive design
(webdesign,informationkiosks,interfacedesign)
Type design
(designofletterformsandtypography)
Environmental design
(exhibitiondesign,signage,publicinformation)
Package design
(designfor3-dimensionalpackagesanddisplays)
Educational design
(designforeducationalmaterial)
Illustration
(traditionalanddigital)
Identity design
(logosandidentitysystems)
Corporate communication
(in-housedesign)
Information design
(visualizingcomplexinformation)
Advertising design
(adcampaigns,billboards,posters,media)
Kinds of graphic design(thesecategorieswilloftenoverlap)
Graphic Design Basics 7
Everygraphicdesignprojectismadeupofacoresetofcomponents.Itis
importantthatadesignerunderstandshowtoutilizethesecomponents
tocreateasuccessfulvisualcommunication.
Imagery
Theuseofimagery,suchasphotographsandillustra-
tions,isthemostdirectwaytoreachanaudience.
Wecangraspthemeaningofanimagemuchmore
quicklythanawordorsentence.Becauseofthis,im-
agescancommunicatetoaudiencesacrosslanguage
barriers.Imagerycanhelptoconveyemotionand
mood.Imagescanalsobepairedwithtexttocreatea
powerfulcommunication.
Color
Colorisapowerfuldesigntool.Colorcanevokeanimmediateemotional
responsetoavisualmessage.Colorcanalsobeusedtoorganizeinfor-
mationandseparatepartsofadesign,tocreatedepthandcontrast.We
associatecolorwithcertainbrandidentities(ex.redforCoca-Cola).
Typography
Typographyistheartoftextdesign.Typographyworksinsyncwiththe
otherelementstocommunicateeffectively.Inadesignagency,acopy-
writerwouldprovideadesignerwithtext,howeveroftendesignersare
askedtoperformthetaskofcopywriting.Adesignermayrewordbare
textfromtheclientorinventnewheadlinesandtaglines.Thechoiceof
atypefaceisacrucialpartofthedesignprocess.Eachtypefacecarriesa
certainmoodorattitude.Sometypefacesarefriendly,someareserious,
someareformal,somearecasual.Designersmustalsomakechoices
abouttextplacement,sizeandweight.
Composition
Compositionistheartoflayout,orbringingimagery,colorandtypogra-
phytogethertocreateafinishedgraphicdesignpiece.Theblankpage
canbeveryintimidating,andasuccessfuldesignercanharnesstheirskills
withtheelementsofdesigntocreateacomposition.Designersmust
utilizetheirknowledgeofproportion,balance,emphasisandhierarchy.
Components of graphic design
Garrett Landry, Digital Imaging Techniques
Chelsie Oelschlager, Production Techniques
Courtney Barr
Graphic Design Basics 8
Asafoundationforaprofessional
careerinanydesignrelatedfield,
studentslearntheprinciplesof
design.Principlesaretheorganiza-
tionalcomponentsofdesign:
Principles of design
emphasis / dominance
focalpoint,tension
proportion / scale
visualagreementofsize
balance
asymmetrical,symmetrical,radial
variety / harmony
similiarities,differences,
oragreementofvisualparts
rhythm / repetition
recurrenceorrhythm
movement
direction,dynamics,visualpath
Graphic Design Basics 9
Exercise: Design principles
emphasis / dominance
focalpoint,tension
proportion / scale
visualagreementofsize
balance
asymmetrical,symmetrical,radial
variety / harmony
similarities,differences,
oragreementofvisualparts
rhythm / repetition
recurrenceorrhythm
movement
direction,dynamics,visualpath
Takeafewminutestodosomequicksketchingforeachofthedesignprin-
ciples.Tryoneshape(likeacircle)thentrymixingshapes.
Graphic Design Basics 10
Hierarchyistheorderofimportancewithinagroup.Hierarchyisusedin
graphicdesigntoorganizeinformationsothattheviewerunderstands
thelevelsofimportanceinthemessage.Ifthehierarchyinadesignis
confusingorambiguous,theviewerwillnotreceivethemessage.
Canyouidentifytheorderofimportanceofelementsinthesegraphic
designexamples?
Hierarchy
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Kyle Baker, Loren Koren, Sarah Roussel and Mary Simpson, Introduction to Graphic Design
Graphic Design Basics 11
Forthisproject,youwillcreatehierarchybychangingtheorganization
andtexttreatmentsofyourownbusinesscard.
1. Openthesourcefile:Project1Template.ai
2. TypeoutyourbusinesscardinformationinAdobeIllustrator.This
shouldincludeyournameandinformationsuchasyouraddress,
phone,email,website,etc.Tip:Typeeachbitofinformationina
separatetextboxsoyoucaneasilyrearrangethem.
3. Usingjustonetypefamily,explore8differentwaystocreatehierar-
chyinyourbusinesscard.
Project: Business Card
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art123 Art BuildingSchool of Art + DesignLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803phone: 225-326-8522email: cbarr3 @lsu.edu
Contrasting weightNo hierarchy
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art
123 Art BuildingSchool of Art + DesignLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803
email: cbarr3 @lsu.eduphone: 225-326-8522
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art
123 Art Building
School of Art + Design
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
email: cbarr3 @lsu.edu
phone: 225-326-8522
Color + spacing Alignment
Scale + italic + spacing Alignment + color + italic + bold + spacing
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art123 Art Building
School of Art + DesignLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803phone: 225-326-8522email: cbarr3 @lsu.edu
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art123 Art BuildingSchool of Art + DesignLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803phone: 225-326-8522email: cbarr3 @lsu.edu
Courtney BarrAssistant Professor of Art
123 Art Building
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
phone: 225-326-8522
email: cbarr3 @lsu.edu
School of Art + Design
Graphic Design Basics 12
Business card examples
Courtney Barr for InTandem, Inc.
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Courtney Barr
Graphic Design Basics 13
Typographyisoftentheoneelementthatmostfrequentlysetsapart
amateurdesignfromprofessionaldesign.Workingwithtypedemandsan
attentiontodetail,skillswithspellingandgrammar,andknowledgeof
howtoedittypewithinyourdesignsoftware.Onthispageyouwillfind
afewofthemostimportanttypeterms.
Working with type
CAP HEIGHT
X-HEIGHT
BASELINE
STEM BOWL SERIF DESCENDER
STRESS
Anatomy of letters
Linespacing or leading
Linespacingorleadingisthetermthatdefineshowmuchspaceisbetweenlinesoftype.Linespac-ingisusuallywritteninpoints.Adesignercanincreaseordecreaselinespacingtofittypeintoaspacewithoutchangingthepointsizeofthetype.
Linespacingorleadingistheterm
thatdefineshowmuchspaceis
betweenlinesoftype.Linespac-
ingisusuallywritteninpoints.A
designercanincreaseordecrease
linespacingtofittypeintoaspace
withoutchangingthepointsizeof
thetype.
10 point type with 12 points leading
10 point type with 18 points leading
Tracking
Trackingisthespacingbetweenlettersinasentenceorparagraph.
Tighttrackingisespeciallyusefulforlargetypeheadlines.Loosetrackingcanbeusefulforlogodesigns,especiallywhenusingC A P I T A L S .
Kerning
Kerningisthespacebetween
individualletters.Designersadjust
kerningtohelptwolettersfit
togetherbetter.Mostdesign
softwarehasanautomatickerning
function,butyoucancustomize
kerningfordifferentresults.
TakeTake
Without kerning
With kerning
Graphic Design Basics 14
Type crimes
vertical or horizontal scaling
squishingandstretching
pseudo italics
applyingslantinsteadofitalics
pseudo bold
applyingstroketotypeinsteadofbold
pseudo small caps
changingthepointsizeinsteadofusingsmallcaps
too much space between letters
nokerning
negative tracking
rivers and holes
bad rag
dumb quotes
usingtickmarksinsteadofquotes
STRETCH
SQUISH
STRETCH
SQUISHX
X
"quotation"“quotation”
X
italicsitalics
X
boldX bold
Psuedo SMALL CAPS
Real SMALL CAPSX
rub̂Don’t use negative tracking to save space.
Rivers are vertical rib-bons of white space that sometimes appear by happenstance in a column of type. To the most sensitive typogra-phers, rivers are like fingernails on a black-board. They are most common in newspa-pers, which tend to have narrow columns and tight deadlines. The problem with riv-ers is that they draw your attention away from the text that you were trying to read.
When setting type with a ragged margin,pay attention to the shape that the ragged line endings make. A good rag goes in and out from line to line in small increments. A poor ragcreates distracting shapes of white space inthe margin. Don’t rely on the line breaks generated by your software application; get in the habitof spotting and correcting poor rags by making manual line breaks or by editing your copy.Slight adjustments in point size or column width might work as well.
ilovetypography.com
Ilene Strizverfonts.com
Graphic Design Basics 15
Type crimes
punctuation eats the edge
stacked lowercase
too many signals
two hyphens in place of em dash
hyphen between numbers
En dash in hyphenated word
two spaces between sentences
widows and orphans
A widow occurs when a short word at the end of a paragraph is left alone on a single line, thus awkwardly breaking the column of type.
When this lone word occurs at the top of the next column, the poor thing is called an
orphan.
ilovetypography.com
vertigo
vertigoX
I am SO excited and I just can’t hide it!!!
Lots of punctuation (at the end of lines) will attack, threaten,
and generally weaken the flush right edge. Watch out for this.
Lots of punctuation (at the end of lines) will attack, threaten,
and generally weaken the flush right edge. Watch out for this.
X
These interruptions—especially the snide remarks--are driving me crazy.
X
El Lissitzky lived 1890–1941.Rodchenko lived longer (1891-1956).
X
It’s okay to be second-best, but never, ever second–best.
X
Don’t put two spaces between sentences. They leave an ugly gap.
X
Tip: Turn on “Optical Margin Alignment” in InDesign > Type menu > Story palette
X
X
mixing the wrong typefaces
Asageneralrule,donotmixtypefacesthataretoo
similar.Itisusuallybettertocombinetypefacesthat
complementeachotherthroughcontrast.
with handwriting faces.Script faces clash
Sansseriffacesget along with serifs.
Graphic Design Basics 16
Type design examples
Chase Freeman, Applied Typography
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Courtney Barr, Uptown Greenville Map (detail)
Sara Fradella, Applied Typography
Tiffanie Hunter, Applied Typography
Graphic Design Basics 17
Forthisproject,youwillcreateapersonallogobyexploringvariousideas
withtypedesign.Trydesigningamonogramwithyourinitials,ordesign
alogowithyourfullname.Experimentwithcombiningsansserifand
seriftypefaces.
Herearesomelogoexamples:
Project: Logo
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSUCourtney Barr and Mimosa Mallernee
Courtney Barr
Courtney Barr
Courtney Barr
Courtney Barr
Graphic Design Basics 18
Gridsserveasanintegralpartofeverypieceofgraphicdesign.Grids
offerthedesignerastructureoverwhichtheycanarrangeimagesand
type.Takingthetimetocreateagridatthebeginningofaprojectwill
giveyouworkingguidelinesandmakethedesignprocessmoreefficient.
Grids
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Basics 19
Usingtheskillswehavelearnedsofar,trytoredesignandimprove
amagazineornewspaperadvertisement.
Howcanyouimprovethehierarchy,ororderofimportance?
Howcanyoumakethemostimportantinformationstandout?
Canyouusemoreeffectivefonts,images,andcolor?
Project: Advertisement
Music Book SaleSymphony Fantastic
April 29-May 8
Wildwood MallBeside Shopper’s Drug Mart
Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.10-6 10-6 10-9 10-9 10-9 9:30-6 CLOSED
For more infomation:(225) 222-2222
MusicBookSale.org
All proceeds to bene�t the:SASKATOON
SYMPHONYSchool Concerts
MARK ALLENCONSTRUCTIONReplacement Doors & Windows
Snow & Icicle Removal Available
Siding, Roofing, Decks, Plumbing & Sewage Repair
No Job Too Small
225.242.2871- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
original ad student redesign
original ad
student redesign
Graphic Design Basics 20
Forthisproject,youwillcreateapostertoadvertiseanevent.Startbychoos-
ingyourevent.Thensketchsomeideasforhowtocombinetypeandimage
inacreativewaytopromoteyourevent.Decideonasize,andcreateagrid
withguidelines.Thenbegintocomposeyourelementsonthepage.
Project: Event Poster
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Courtney Barr
Graphic Design Student Office, LSU
Courtney Barr
Graphic Design Basics 21
Student work
LSU OLD FRONT NINE
9AM
REGISTRATION/ACTIVITIES
WALK
8AM
Nicholson/Nicholson Extension
MARCH 27TH, 2010
FRI. OCT. 8. 5:00 PM
ST. JAMES EPISCOPALDAY SCHOOL
FALL CARNIVAL
March 208 am - 5 pm
March 218 am - 2 pm
spring sale spring
The Keeping Room 7575 Jefferson Hwy. Baton Rouge
2 DAYS ONLY!
Jambalaya Cookoff
*2010*
LSU PARADE GROUNDS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2110 am - 2 pm * Cookoff/Community Games/Lunch
4 pm - 8 pm * Dinner/Entertainment/Results
$10 all you can eat * $5 plate lunch
CHRIS LEBLANC BAND
For Event, Ticket Sales, or Team Sign Up Information
visit CAUW.orgor
call (225) 383-2643
Proudly sponsored by:
Graphic Design Basics 22
File formats
Anative file formatisthedefaultfileextensionusedbyasoftware
program.Savinginthenativefileformatwillpreserveeditingcapabilities
inthatspecificsoftwareprogram.Belowisalistofcommonnativefile
formats:
.ai AdobeIllustrator
.indd AdobeInDesign
.psd AdobePhotoshop
.pdf AdobeAcrobat
.cdr CorelDraw
.psp PaintShopPro
Whenanimageneedstobeusedinanotherprogramitshouldbecon-
vertedtoastandard graphics format (.tiff,.eps,.jpg,etc).Oneexcep-
tiontothisruleisAdobePhotoshop,whichcanopenmostotherAdobe
nativefileformats.
File format guidelines
Web images
.jpg Useforphotographsorimageswithsmoothcolortran-
sitions,notransparency.Savingto.jpgformatcompress-
esyourfile.Always keep a high quality originalin
.tiffor.psdformat–onceyousaveto.jpgyoulosepixel
informationthatyoucan’tgetback.
.gif Useforimageswithsolidareasofcolor,retainscrisp
detail,offerstransparency
.png-8 Similarqualityto.gif,offersmoretransparencyoptions
.png-24 Similarqualityto.jpg,offerstransparencyoptions
Print images
.tiff useforphotographicimages,highquality
.psd Photoshopnativefileformat,usewhenyouneedto
preservelayers,transparency,adjustmentlayers,masks,
clippingpaths,layerstyles,blendingmodes,etc.
.ai Illustratornativefileformat,usewhenyouneedtopre-
servelayers,clippingpaths,effects,etc.
Raster graphicsaremadeupofpixels,likephotographs(thinkPhoto-
shop).Vector graphicsaremadeofpaths,likelogos(thinkIllustrator).
Production
Graphic Design Basics 23
Color space
CMYK
CMYKstandsforCyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black.Thesefourcolorsrep-
resentthefourinksusedonaprofessionalfour-coloroffsetlithopress.
Ingeneral,youshouldsaveimagesinCMYKformatonlywhenyouare
sendingaprojecttobeprofessionallyprinted.Howeversomeprinters
preferRGB,soalways check with your printertofindoutwhatcolor
spaceyoushoulduse.
RGB
RGBstandsforRed,Green,Blue.Thesethreecolorsmakeupthevisible
lightspectrum.RGBformatisespeciallyidealforanimagethatwillbe
seenonamonitororscreen.However,RGBisalsoappropriateforinkjet
andlaserjetprinting.RGBoffersawidercolorrangethanCMYK.Thisis
whyRGBimagestendtoprintmorevibrantandsaturatedthanCMYK
images. I recommend that all images should be stored in RGB for-
mat from the beginning .ConvertingtoCMYKwilldiscardsomecolor
information,andyoucan’tgetitback.
Process and Spot Colors
ProcesscolorsaremadeofamixofCMYKorRGBpercentages.Because
offsetlithographyprintinghasmanyvariables,suchasinkdensity,pro-
cesscolorscanvaryfromprintertoprinter.
Spotcolorsareusedwhenaspecifichueisrequired,especiallyforcom-
panylogos.AcommonspotcolorformatisPantone.Spotcolorsarespe-
ciallymixedinks.Inoffsetlithographyprinting,spotcolorshaveamore
consistentresult.Yourinkjetorlaserjetprinteronlyprintswithprocess
colors,sospotswatchesinyourdocumentareautomaticallyconvertedto
process.
Halftone
Imageswithcontinuoustoneareconvertedtohalftonefortheprint-
ingprocess.Ifyoulookatapieceofprintedmaterialwithamagnifying
glass,youwillseethehalftonepatternofdotsthatmakeupeachcolor.
Halftoneismeasuredinlpiorlinesperinch.Thelowerthelpi,themore
apparentthehalftonedotsare(thinkofnewspapersandcomics).Ingen-
eralyouwillnotneedtosetupyourimagesinhalftone;youroffsetlitho
printerwilldothiswhentheysend(RIP)thefiletothepress.
TypicalHalftoneResolutions:
LaserPrinter(300dpi) 65lpi
LaserPrinter(600dpi) 85–105lpi
OffsetPress(newsprint) 85lpi
OffsetPress(coatedpaper) 85–185lpi
Graphic Design Basics 24
Resolution
Resolutionismeasuredindpiordotsperinch.Thehighertheresolu-
tion,thebetterthequalityanddetailoftheimage.Thisisbecauseahigh
resolutionimagecontainsalargeamountofpixels.Highdpiimagesalso
havealargerfilesize.
Itisalwaysbettertostartwithahighresolutionimageandreduceitfrom
there.Ifyouarescanningyourownimage,ithelpstoknowwhatthe
finalsizewillbe.Howeverifyoudon’tknowthefinalsize,Irecommend
scanningataresolutionbetween300–600dpi.Keepahighresolution
originalofallyourimagefilesineither.raw,.tiffor.psdformat.Don’t
keephighqualityimagesin.jpgformat-everytimeyousavea.jpgit
compressesyourimages,essentiallyerasingpixelinformation.Onceyou
reducepixels,youcan’tgetthemback.
Keepinmindthatnoscreenormonitorcandisplayahigherresolution
than72dpi,soscreenimagesneedtobenolarger.Noinkjetorlaserjet
printercanprintdetailhigherthan300dpi.Agooddpirangeformost
printprojectsis150–300dpi.
300 dpi
72 dpi
Graphic Design Basics 25
Printing checklist
T Remove extraneous elements:Deleteunusedcolorswatchesfromtheswatchespalette.
Removeanynon-printingelementsfromthepasteboard.
T Graphics:Rastergraphics(photos,scannedimages)shouldbe300dpi.Convertgraphics
totheappropriatecolorspace.(RGBforinkjetandlaserjetprinting,CMYKfor4-colorpress
printing)
Tip:Keepfilesizesmanageable.CropimagesinagraphicsprogramlikePhotoshoprather
thaninyourpagelayoutprogram(becauseevenifcropped,theentiregraphicsfilebecomes
apartofthedocument,unnecessarilyincreasingfilesizeandprocessingtime).
T Color:Assignappropriatecolorprofile(infocanbeobtainedfromyourprinter)
T Bleeds:Ifyourdesignincludesableed,itshouldextend1/8inchbeyondthepageedge.
T Print separations:Printcolorseparationsandcheckthatcolorsseparateproperly.Label
eachprintedseparation(Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black).Ifyouareprintingwithspotinksyou
wouldseeaseparationforeachspotcolor.
T Print hard copy proofs:Checkproofstoensuretheyaccuratelyreflectthegraphics,fonts,
bleedsandincludecropmarksifrequired.
T Create dummy:Ifyourprintjobrequiresfoldingorstapling,providea“dummy”ormockup
ofthefinalfoldedpiece.
T File submission:Submitfilesondiscwiththefollowingrecommendedstructure:
Foldername:“JobTitle”
• job_title.--- (nativefile)
• job_title.PDF (AcrobatPDFfile)
• Fonts (allfontsinjob)
• Links (alllinkedimages)
Tip:InDesignwillautomaticallygatheryourpressfilesunderFile>Package...