Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Contrary to popular belief, print is not dead! With all the interest in online publishing here in the 21st century, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that information is still widely disseminated through the good old medium of print.

The advent of desktop publishing granted new levels of power and control to the layout artist and graphic designer, but it hasn’t made the process of getting the perfect print foolproof. Sometimes managing the disparate elements of fonts, images, colors, and more, while dealing with the quirks of page-layout applications makes even the bravest designer and production editor long for the hands-on days of moveable type. Creating a great layout on your monitor is only half the battle; how do you make it work on paper? Print production expert Claudia McCue takes on the challenge of putting ink to paper, offering clear, authoritative guidance to print professionals and anyone else who has been frustrated by the obstacles of getting electronic documents to print perfectly.

This new edition of Claudia’s classic book is now fully Adobe-centric, and shows readers how to use the different applications in the Adobe Creative Suite 4 together to create and produce great print documents. Use Photoshop and Illustrator to create raster and vector images, and combine them with text in InDesign to create eye-catching yet readable page layouts. Learn the ins and outs of fonts, and gain a better understanding of how ink and paper work together. Finally, “prefilight” or prepare your job for submission to a printer to make sure the printing process goes off without a hitch.

About the Author

Claudia McCue is a prepress pro with more than 20 years of hands-on experience. She is owner of Practicalia, an independent training provider specializing in Adobe products, retouching and color correction, and resolving general issues relating to prepress and printing. She frequently presents on these topics at industry conferences. She is the author of "Real World Print Production," the previous edition of this book, which was renowned for its "deadly combination of wit and wisdom."

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (July 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032163683X
• ISBN-13: 978-0321636836
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,009 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A resource book that you'll return to time and again, February 8, 2010

By	Ariane Colenbrander "ariane c" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications
Claudia McCue, 330 pages

This book packs a wallop of great production techniques and common mistakes to avoid when using Creative Suite 4's Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat. Although the book is geared towards the current version of CS, most of the content is applicable to previous versions. Claudia's organized the book into an easy to reference 12 chapters, starting off with a history of traditional production methods.

You'll learn how to handle fonts, PDF creation, layers, working with and exporting native file formats, etc. It's all in here and the author's sense of humour makes it an enjoyable read. Recommended for Creative Suite users of all levels, especially those who didn't grow up learning things the old fashioned way (pre-computer, that is).

A handy resource appendix offers up further reading sources, user group info, and online forums to spend time honing your skills.

5.0 out of 5 stars "How to be Smarter, Make Your Boss Smile More & Save Yourself Many Hours of Brain-Wrenching Headaches", November 11, 2009

By	T. Jarocki - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I picked up Claudia McCue's book on print production, it was with the intent of becoming a bit more knowledgeable about pre-flight requirements on my print designs. I had no idea that her book would be so in-depth and that I would be entertained along the way. McCue's writing style is completely readable. Believe me, I was prepared to prop my eyelids open in order to get through a book on print production requirements. So I was pleasantly surprised to find Claudia McCue's Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications such an enjoyable read.

The book begins with a history of printing, to help us understand current terminology and techniques (and to appreciate advances in modern printing technology!) then leads us into a tour of a contemporary print shop. McCue makes certain that we are well prepared for our journey into the printing world by starting us off with all the necessary printing jargon. She next explains what is needed in color versus black and white printing, complications that might arise with various print papers and how to deal with them, and design preparation for binding. She discusses the use of fonts, using pcs or macs and their communication limitations. A much appreciated chapter (for both printers and designers alike) is on planning for printing, or submitting the job to a printer. In this chapter she points out the necessity of planning ahead to increase productivity and limit avoidable aggravations.

A major key point to this book are the chapters specific to the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Applications-Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign. McCue refers to these chapters as "Production Tips" which really, truly are worth their weight in gold. In fact, this book could easily have been alternately named "How to be Smarter, Make Your Boss Smile More & Save Yourself Many Hours of Brain-Wrenching Headaches".

I can't remember the last time I crawled into bed with a warm cup of tea and a print production book to do a little late-night reading, and well, that's because it might have been never, until I opened this one. Just a few of her topic headings that have had me grinning include "Forensic Tools", found toward the end of the book, which discusses how to scope out mistakes in InDesign pre-print, "Watch Your Language", on naming files appropriately, and "Let it Bleed", explaining InDesign's bleed options.

Claudia McCue has more than twenty years of experience in pre-press, and it really does feel like she has packed all of it into "Real World's Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications". Twenty years flies by fast when you're having fun. Thanks to Claudia I won't be spending that much more time learning these lessons the hard way.

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Excellent, October 14, 2009

By	saf (La Jolla, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Having just jumped into self publishing, and opting for offset as opposed to print on demand, I found this book to be absolutely invaluable. I've used Adobe's Creative Suite across the board (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat); this book was a fastball right down the middle. With definitions for all of the terms I would run across and tips and tricks for each application, I was thoroughly versed for my interactions with the press people.

Claudia has a very enjoyable writing style, mixing humor and personality into what could have been a pretty dry subject. She clearly has a passion for the subject that becomes infectious as you read.

So I learned a lot, I enjoyed myself, and I can highly recommend the experience.

Five stars.