InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

The Output Panel

Most of the choices you see in the Print dialog box's Output panel are only available when a PostScript printer is chosen (see Figure 95-1). (This is also true for the other panels described in this chapter.) For instance, on a non-PostScript printerlike those ubiquitous Epson inkjetsonly the Color menu and Text as Black option are available. The choices on this panel are similar to QuarkXPress's Output tab.

Kinds of Output

As you prepare to print, you need to consider what kind of output you're expecting from your printer. Are you producing a composite color proof, a grayscale print, or do you want each color in the document to be printed on a separate printing plate? The Color popup menu is where you make that choice:

• Composite Gray. InDesign sends grayscale information to the printer. Any colors in the InDesign file are converted to grays, though the program can't change colors inside EPS or PDF graphics.




• Composite RGB. InDesign sends full-color RGB to the printer. This is best for RGB printers like inkjet printers or film recorders.




• Composite CMYK. InDesign sends full-color CMYK to the printer. This is best for CMYK PostScript printers or composite color work-flows (for example, the Scitex workflow).




• Separations. InDesign sends the data as CMYK separations with each color (including spot colors) on a separate plate. This is best for pre-separated CMYK workflows.




• In-RIP Separations. InDesign sends the data as composite CMYK optimized for separation within the printer's raster image processor (RIP). This choice is only available if you have chosen the PPD of an imagesetter or platesetter which has this capability.

The Text as Black option turns text to black if it isn't colored None, Paper or a zero-percent tint. This is great when printing a proof you're going to fax to someone, but output service providers will probably want to turn this off.

Color Separations

If you choose color separationseither InDesign's or In-RIPyou then have several other choices available, such as trapping and flip. We'll cover the Trapping option in Chapter 97. The Flip choice allows you to print the page so it images right-reading or wrong-reading and on the correct emulsion side when producing film output. The Negative choice turns black to white, and

vice versa , to produce film negatives. Watch out; while it's nice that InDesign can do these things, output providers often control this stuff better from their RIP software or hardware.

The Screening options provide combinations of screen frequency (in lines per inch) and output resolution (in dots per inch) for printing. This choice may also be available for composite printing:

• For Composite CMYK or RGB printing, a Default setting is available (and is dimmed). This uses the printer's default settings.




• For Composite Gray printing, Default and Custom are available, and, if you choose Custom, you can set a screen frequency and angle.




• For Separations, the settings are those available in the current printer's PPD file, and Default isn't available. You can also set custom halftone values in the Inks section of the dialog box. Note that just because you ask for particular halftone settings doesn't mean you'll get them; an imagesetter or platesetter RIP often overrides your angle and frequencies with ones it knows work well.

Choosing and Changing Inks

You may have applied many colors in your InDesign document (and imported more colors in placed graphics). If the colors are (perhaps accidentally) spot colors, you may find yourself with many more plates output than you expect. The Inks section is where you determine what color plates are produced when color separations are printed.

The Inks list displays all the colors applied in the document, and their output status. For example, in Figure 95-1, six colors are showing, including two Pantone spot colors. The Print icon to the left of the ink name indicates that currently all are set to print. Each ink listed has a screen frequency and screen angle which is determined by the chosen PPD and the chosen screening/output resolution, as described above.

Clicking the Ink Manager button opens the Ink Manager dialog box (see Figure 95-2). While XPress only lets you convert all spot colors to process colors, InDesign's Ink Manager lets you choose whether each individual spot color prints on its own plate, is converted to a process color. (The All Spots to Process checkbox converts them all.)

You can even use the Ink Manager to

alias one spot color to another. An all-too-familiar scenario for an output provider is that the client has applied two or more different names for the same spot color. If not corrected, these will output on separate plates. In QuarkXPress, this might require you to change the artwork to make the file separate correctly.

In Chapter 97. Note that the Ink Manager is also available in the Export EPS and Export PDF dialog boxes and in the Swatches palette.