Phew, it has been a long time since my last post. Truth is I have been concentrating all of my efforts on my previous job. Oh, did I say previous? Yes, I did. Unfortunately, the temp assignment that was supposed to be my foot-in-the-door opportunity turned out to be another dead end. Chock it all up to experience and move on. Glad to say, though, that it was not a complete waste of time, as I had a chance to work with some amazing people, and to expand my knowledge/skills in areas which I had only previously dabbled in. I experienced a lot of satisfaction and success at this job. I am sad that it came to an end. And since I like to accentuate the positive, I’ll go out on a limb and say that believe everything happens for a reason. Perhaps my dream job is just around the corner! So, with that in mind, I move onwards and upwards.

Today I wanted to share a technique in e-blast construction which I have come to really appreciate – using Slices. I have made this a two part blog. Part One concentrates on the reasons why I choose to use the technique which I will share on Part Two. After exploring different avenues leading to the same destination, I feel very confident in the work process I have developed. But first, let me explain how I arrived at my conclusions.

What can I say about Dreamweaver that has not been said before?

• That it is a great tool for web design?
  In a manner of speaking, it can be.
• That it can be a crutch that keeps one’s coding skills half-developed?
  Most assuredly, if you let it.
• That its WYSIWYG interface makes web design and development less complicated?
  That’s definitely debatable. Though some would argue that it actually complicates things.

In any event, even though I had started out by learning how to hand-code, once I acquired Dreamweaver I began using it as a crutch, really resisting the need to code from scratch. In the end, using Dreamweaver without deeply delving into the actual code creates huge headaches. Hence, why I no longer use Dreamweaver to craft my web projects from start to finish. Most importantly, I never use Dreamweaver to structure a wireframe or build a template.  But don’t get me wrong, Dreamweaver is helpful in moving production along quickly. The real trick is knowing when to use it. For instance, the Image Map feature really makes things a cinch because Dreamweaver figures out all the coordinates, so you don’t have to.  Using Dreamweaver to configure your Image Maps significantly cuts down on production time.  And that is only one instance; there are many other reasons to continue implementing DW’s sporadic use in the development process.

From Dreamweaver I moved on to exploring tools that would force me to hone my hand-coding skills.  Among some of the software I explored were MSWord, Open Office Writer, Notepad, and Notepad++. Aaaaah! Notepad ++. I want to take a moment and tout this awesome little open-source program’s features. It is, at present, one of my favorite web development tools. Not only is it customizable, it is simple and to the point. Color code settings, numbered lines and indenting make searching through lines and lines of code as easy as pie. The Color coding makes it easy to distinguish functions from values, variables from events, etc.  It also helps to pick out inline programming languages at a glance! You can spot HTML code in a different color from the CSS code or Javascript, for instance. Notepad++ is not only for web development, it supports a lot of other programming languages.  Also, searching and replacing instances can be done with the click of a mouse, or changing the letter-case on a portion of, or on an entire document is effortless.  Testing your code across different platforms, whether Firefox, Opera, Safari, IE, or email blasts, etc., is really, really simple.  And I could go on and on.  These are only a small number of advantages to using this neat and free program. I recommend you check it out and decide for yourself!

From Notepad++ we move on to Illustrator and Photoshop. Both of these have a feature that allow designers to turn any document into a web page, using Slices. This definitely helps in making your online design dream a reality. However, just as Dreamweaver can complicate things , so too do these two programs. For starters, if you are using older versions, like CS4 or CS3, you will have a finished document that does not meet W3C standards. In fact, there is a lot of deprecated code still being used in CS5 versions. Even so, because the standards are evolving so frequently, if you want to use this method, I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping up to date on W3C standards. In addition, creating a website from Slices does not necessarily spit out the best structured document. I find it necessary to go through the page, line by line, to eliminate unnecessary table rows and/or data. You may find yourself nesting tables within tables, or using Ps, DIVs or SPANs intead. Whatever your coding style, using Slices will work best if you hand-code the wireframe, and then insert the necessary Slices.

If your work demands that you crank out a high volume of e-blasts, I recommend creating a template/wireframe as your standard.  Always use this structure when designing the artsy stuff to fill it with.  Once your wireframe is finished, create a document in both Photoshop and Illustrator that uses the same exact dimensions for its overall size, TDs and TRs.  The rest will be a cinch, and it will free up time you can now devote to being creative!

To view a step-by-step use of my work technique, be sure to read “E-blast design simplified – Part Two” coming up next week. Be sure to email me if you have any questions or suggestions for this article.

I want to share these excellent cartoons created by the very talented Brad J. Guigar. His comic strips put a spin on those very situations I am referring to. To survive in this business, it is important to develop a good sense of humor. Nine times out of ten, it is a good attitude that gets you farther than raw talent alone. Enjoy these bits of humor, and don’t forget to visit Brad Guigar’s websites: www.guigar.com, www.greystoneinn.net, www.evil-comic.com, and www.phables.com. His sense of humor is sure to delight. His books are also available at amazon.com. Enjoy.

Published March 30, 2004

Published September 7, 2004

Published September 9, 2004

Published September 10, 2004

Published November 29, 2004

Copyrighted content property of Brad J. Guigar.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that there are many ways to do the same thing in PhotoShop. When it comes to knocking out backgrounds, the options are varied, and may serve different purposes. It is up to you to use your knowledge and expertise in discerning which technique will work best in your scenario. Personally, I like this technique because it is non-destructive. I have learned the hard way through my years working with PhotoShop that non-destructive methods are the most useful and reliable, as one can easily revert back to the image’s original, undamaged state. Let’s begin, shall we?

For this project I am creating a poster. The background is a vector design I have created in Illustrator, over which the photograph of the man with the Afro will be placed.

1. Create a New document. Size it 18.25′x24.25′ CMYK 300dpi. Name it “Background.”
2. With your illustrator file open select the vector background (click and drag or control-A / ⌘-A).
3. Copy your selection by either using the Edit menu or pressing control-C / ⌘-C.
4. Switch back to PhotoShop and paste the image (control-V / ⌘-V) into your document. You should not have to re-size it to fit, as the background should have been created to size. Your document should look like the image below:

5. Open (control-O / ⌘-O) photo of man with frizzy hair. With your Marquee tool, click and drag (or use quick-keys: control-A / ⌘-A) to select entire photo.
6. Close (control-X / ⌘-X) the file and return to your “Background” document.
7. Paste the photo (control-V / ⌘-V). It will automatically create a new layer above the Background. Name the layer “Original Image.”
8. On the Layers palette, click on the Add Layer Mask Button (circled in red on image posted below)

9. Right-click on the “Original Photo” layer; this will bring up a fly-out menu. Select Duplicate Layer. Name this layer “Multiplied Hair.”
10. With the “Multiplied Hair” layer selected, change its Blending Mode to Multiply.
11. Turn off the “Original Image” layer by toggling the layer’s Layer Visibility icon (depicted by an eye) to the Off position. Your document should look like the image below. (The layer’s Blending Mode menu is circled in red. The Layer Visibility icon is circled in green).

12. With your layer mask selected, and using a 100px Hard Paint Brush, remove everything in the mask except for the hair. It should look like a floating wig.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is VERY important to make sure you have the layer mask selected. You will know if it’s active because the mask will have an outline, and the Mask icon will be visible next to the Layer Visibility icon. (See image to the left for details).

13. Toggling the Paint Brush’s Opacity and/or Flow between 30% to 50%, clean up around the hair until the multiplied background around and between the hair strands is cleaned up as much as possible. If you mess up, toggle between black and white (simply press x to switch colors) to add to or delete from the mask. Remember, black deletes, and white adds. This is the nice thing about working with masks, it allows you to quickly correct mistakes without having to start from scratch.

14. Once your “Multiplied Hair” is cleaned up and you are satisfied, turn on the layer named “Original Image.”
15. Select the layer mask and with your Bezier Pen tool, draw a path around the outline of the man holding the money. Make sure your Bezier pen’s settings match the image below before drawing your path.

You will want to be careful in drawing your path as snug as possible. I usually go inside 1 or two pixels. Don’t worry at all about selecting the hair perfectly, just draw a broad path around it. We will work on that area a little differently (see the example image below).

16. Once you have drawn an outline selecting the entire image, Open the Paths menu. Drawing your path with the Bezier Pen tool automatically converts closed paths into a Working Path.
17. Click on the Paths fly out menu (circled in red in image below), and select Save Path… Name your path “Outline.”
18. While still on the Paths menu, click on the Load Path as a Selection button to turn your path into a Marquee selection (circled this in green in the image below).

19. Invert your selection by either using the Select menu feature called Invert, or simply use quick-keys SHIFT-Control-I / SHIFT-⌘-I. Delete (del) the white background around the image. Again, I cannot stress how important it is to make sure you have the layer mask selected before deleting the background. You do not want to destroy the original image.
20. Once you are finished deleting the background through the layer mask, Deselect your Marquee. (You can do this by clicking anywhere on the canvas with your Marquee tool, by choosing Deselect under the Select menu or by using the quick-keys control-D / ⌘-D.
21. With your “Original Image” mask still selected, begin removing the outer edges of the background surrounding the hair by using a soft Paint Brush at 100% opacity. To remove the portions within the strands of hair, toggle the Opacity and/or Flow between 30% & 50%. Try to remove as little of the hair strands as possible, while always ensuring that the Original Image’s colors blend well with the multiplied layer below. Experiment and use your best judgment. Remember that you can add to the mask if you mess up, or you can use your History menu palette to backtrack a few steps.

22. Once you are finished cleaning the hair up, your image should be ready to be flattened and saved for placement within a vector or layout program such as Illustrator or InDesign. Below is the finished product ready for the typography to be placed.

The finished piece will be an 18′x24′ poster. I have accounted for the additional 1/8 inch bleed necessary for trim. Because this background has no transparencies, save your final image as a flattened TIFF. I also like to save a PhotoShop layered file in case I need to do some touching up post-proof.

I hope you had fun with this tutorial. This technique is very useful for knocking out those hard-to-select shapes and textures such as hair or fur. Use your imagination, and don’t be afraid to experiment. With the non-destructive method of using masks, it is easy to fix mistakes and start over. Feel free to email me if you have any questions, as I have turned off all comments throughout my blog. Happy PhotoShopping!

In spite of this small tragedy, I have learned much, and since then I have taken measures to correct the problem. After deleting the old databases and creating new ones, as well as replacing all sites with most currently backed up files, I learned that I must be consistent in performing the following tasks:

1. Create database, ftp and WordPress administration passwords that are very strong (meaning that they must not form any word found in the dictionary, but instead be lengthy, random alpha-numeric strings) is absolutely imperative. Check!
2. Backing up all sites and databases on a consistent basis is extremely important. Check!
3. Scanning for and removing vulnerabilities in the .php code is paramount. Check!
4. Updating WordPress immediately after a new update release is crucial. Check!
5. Updating the WordPress theme and all plug-ins after new update releases is necessary. Check!

WordPress makes it very easy to back up your blog. It’s as easy as using the Export tool in the Dashboard. If it is not installed, it needs to be done immediately, followed by a backup of into a safe location. Databases, on the other hand, are a different story. Depending on where the files are hosted, tools should be readily available. If the hosting company of choice is a reputable one, a step-by-step guide on how to back up databases should be found in the FAQ section. However, if hosting from a private server, then it’s obviously going to be up to you to decide which software and/or tools to use to back up files. The ideal scenario would be to have a system that runs a new back up automatically, every day. And it would be wise to create a new back up tape for each one, and not write over previous ones. When disaster strikes, you want to have as many options as possible.

In that same vein, allow me to entreat you to a delightful IT horror story: My father, who was IT Manager for a Fortune500 corporation, provided support to many regional offices in Central/South America. One day he received a call that the system in one of their satellite offices in Guatemala had crashed. So my father, who had set up an automated backup system and trained the staff at that office several months before, instructed them to simply restore to the previous night’s back up. This they did, but unfortunately that back up was not good, and so my father instructed them to simply change the tape and restore to an older back-ups (from a few days before, for example). Well, turns out that the IT person in that particular office wasn’t changing the tape on a daily basis (as my father had trained him to do), and was backing the system up on the same tape, over and over. Every night the previous back up would be erased and written over by the most current one. Big mistake! It cost the company millions of dollars, and all of their clients in that region. Can you say numb-skull? Don’t be that person. Don’t let this happen to you.

So what needs to be done in order to import a backed up WordPress file?

• Expand the Tools menu and click on the Import link.
• Select the option you need (in my case, I wanted to import WordPress files, so I clicked on WordPress) by clicking on the link to install.
• Voilà! You are ready to import. Simply follow the instructions on the screen. It’s as easy as opening a file in your computer.

To expand on the 4th and 5th item in the above “Must-Do” list, I cannot stress enough the importance of updating WordPress, its themes and its plug-ins. A team of professionals at WordPress.org make it their job to stay ahead of hackers by patching up vulnerabilities before they are exploited. If you are using a free theme, then hopefully the theme’s developer is also as conscientious in providing updates. The same goes for plug-in developers. Updating is really a snap. WordPress will post a tag (a black circle w/a number pertaining to the number of updates available) on your Dashboard notifying you of any new updates for their software, installed themes and plugins.

• To update WordPress:
  Expand the Dashboard menu and click on the Updates link.
  Select one of two options: Download and manually update, or automatically update (I always choose the former; it’s quick and painless).
• To update Themes:
  Expand the Appearance menu and click on the Themes link.
  Again, you will be given two options: Download and manually update, or automatically update.
• To update Plugins:
  Expand the Plugins menu and click on the Plugins link.
  Click on the links posted inside pink boxes, directly above each plugin, to update automatically.

If you want help tightening up your blog’s security, luckily there are many neat plug-ins available. Here are a two I highly recommend:

1. WP Antivirus: A smart and effective solution to protect your blog against exploits and spam injections. AntiVirus protection for your blog.
   Author: Sergej Müller
2. WP Security Scan: Scans your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and suggests corrective actions. It is then up to you to effect those changes manually.
   Author: Michael Torbert

And so I will quickly move from WordPress’ security topic, to enhancing yours and your visitors’ experience. If you are an active social networker, or if you want to increase page hits using social networking sites, then these two plugins are wonderful:

1. SexyBookmarks: adds an (X)HTML compliant list of social bookmarking icons to each of your posts. Or better yet, you can customize their placement anywhere on your blog.
   Author: Shareholic
2. Social Profiles Widget: Allows you to insert icon links to your social profiles in any widgetized area.
   Author: Nathan Rice

To find and install these is just as easy as it is to install new updates.

• Expand the Plugins menu and click on the Add New link.
• Enter the name of a plugin in the search field (or if you are not sure of the name, you can use keywords)
• Click the Search Plugins button
• Select a plugin, and click on the Install link.
• Be sure to click on the Facebook Like button as a way of promoting these free plugins.

Last but not least, before blindly installing any plugin, I strongly suggest that you research it beforehand. Some plugins are not free, and some are not as good as others, and some don’t really do what they claim to do. So take your time, and choose wisely. Happy blogging everyone!

blogorrhea (noun)
\bläg-o-ˈrē-ə\
pathologically excessive flow of often incoherent blog postings.
Submitted by: J.C. Moore from Pennsylvania on Sep. 15, 2010 10:25
Submitted by: Matthew Lafferty from New York on Dec. 07, 2005 18:06

Finally! Some smart-ass had come up with a word to illustrate my feelings about many blogs out there.  Immediately I posted my “Word of the Day” on Facebook, and encouraged my friends to incorporate this word into their vocabularies.  Little did I know that, very soon after, I would be a victim of blogorrhea.  Oh yes, this clever new word was funny alright! Funny until it happened to me…  My blog was suddenly innundated with spambot blogorrhea.  Like a 24-hour bug, the onset was sudden and took me by surprise.  Outlook began to “ping” incessantly, announcing a flood of incoming emails alerting me to the newly posted comments. It was as if my computer had turned into a pin-ball machine or something.  By the time I logged into my blog, over 1,400 comments had been posted!  At first I did not realize what was really happening, and so I began to read some of the comments.  Some appeared to be legitimate, while others were nothing but a jet-stream of dubious links, nonsensical words, and false accolades.

While reading through as many as I could stand, I noticed that many of the comments asked the blog moderator to contact them in order to answer questions that were completely irrelevant to the article’s topic. Others asked to be emailed with permission to use content, and for permalinks and ping-backs.  It was overwhelming, to say the least.

Lucky for us bloggers, WordPress’ comment submissions follow a nice, orderly format, thus making it easier to sort through. Here is an image of the dashboard:

With a quick glance I could see the following:
1. Sender’s name, website, email address and IP address,
2. Comment posted, and
3. the blog it pertained to.

This is useful because…
1. By the sender’s name, I can safely assume that the comment is most likely NOT legitimate, and that it was probably posted with the intent to promote the Acai Berry Diet.
2. I can read the comment and decide whether or not it is legitimate, helpful, fake or offensive.
3. And finally, I can see the blog to which the comment pertains to. In this case, “In a state of hibernation,” which happens to be a personal blog and does not contain any tutorials or technical information.  With that in mind, I can infer that the comment, which claims that the “article was very helpful to one who is learning about all this,” is definitely fake.

Why is this important?  For one, you should NEVER reply to any comment by way of email.  Once you do, the spammer behind the scheme has successfully harvested your email address.  This would leave you open to network attacks, worms, viruses or spam email.  If the ‘person’ leaving the comment did not bother to register to your blog, wherein they can receive the answers they seek, then you need not bother with them at all.

WordPress’ Dashboard is a useful tool, when used properly.  It will help separate the wheat from the chaff.  Some of the machiavellian minds behind these spambot attacks actually put a lot of thought into crafting comments that, even though generic, are quite convincing.  So at times, sifting through for legitimate comments can prove a challenge, especially when you have 1,400 to look over.  Thankfully, most of these marketers/spammers are sloppy and don’t put any thought into what they send, making them easy pickings.  All one has to do is click on the Author check box on the topmost gray bar above the comments to select an entire page at a time, and apply a single Bulk Action: “Mark as Spam,” “Approve,” or “Send to Trash.”

Ah, but the lesson ended not here.  In having to deal with the likely possibility of another spambot attack, I did a bit of research and found a couple of excellent WordPress plug-in to control spambot blogorrhea from being posted on my site.

The first one I installed was the Conditional CAPTCHA (and we all know what that is), followed by Akismet (which works like a spam blocker for emails — once you mark a comment as spam, Akismet keeps further comments from that user/address from being posted).

So if you are a blogger who uses WordPress, don’t wait until you are targetted. Setting either CAPTCHA or Akismet up is easy breezy.  In fact, WordPress practically does everything for you.  All you have to do is:
1. Click on the Plugins tab on your WordPress Dashboard,
2. Click on the Add New button
3. Type Akismet or Conditional CAPTCHA in the search field provided therein,
4. Find the plugin in the results list, and click the Install link found on the far right-hand side of the page
5. Wait until the plug in is downloaded and installed, then click on the Activate button. Voilá, you are done!

Please note that before you can activate Akismet, you will have to register at their website in order to obtain the API key.  Once it is emailed to you, enter the API key where prompted in the Plugins tab of your Dashboard, and you are finished.  CAPTCHA is completely free for anyone to use. Akismet is also free, but only for personal bogs, and under certain conditions (which are very permissive).  However, if your blog is part of a business, and is used for commercial purposes, there is a fee to use Akismet.  But believe me, it is worth it because it will save you countless hours and the headache of having to deal with cleaning up the poo-poo mess.

The hard drive failure became obvious when my OS (WinXP) failed to recognize the drive and the light in the front of the unit began to blink rapidly. At first I was optimistic that I could solve this problem effortlessly. I began with the simplest steps first: Unplugging and replugging all components; testing a new AC adapter (compliant and compatible with the unit); Uninstalling and reinstalling the software and drivers; Removing the devices via the Device Manager, and allowing for WinXP to automatically mount them again. But Alas! Nothing availed my predicament. For a short time I bemoaned my stupidity in not making back up a priority. It was during a much needed back up that my drive failed. Half of my work, photos, videos and music still remained unrecoverable.

Losing all my data was unacceptable, and so I decided to call Seagate (who now manufactures Maxtor products; more on that topic later) because my warranty was still in effect. Many of my fears regarding the negative comments I had found online about Seagate were confirmed during the Live Chat. Although my drive was still under warranty, all that Seagate offered was a full replacement with a new drive. All of my data would be lost forever. Worst yet – it could end up in the wrong hands. This was of great concern because there was sensitive personal data on this drive.

After the Live Chat I decided that it was better to risk the loss of my warranty than to lose my precious data, and so I dismantled the unit. Online research revealed that it was possible to dismantle the drive without voiding the warranty. However, I was not able to do this because the unit was built so that it is virtually impossible to take apart without destroying the case. Oh well, I thought. So I managed to remove it and paid the local computer store a visit to purchase a SATA cable and a power adapter for the unit. So my story ends on a positive note, for I was able to connect the hard drive directly to my motherboard and access all of its contents. I am performing a back up as I write.

This crisis caused me to research solutions online. This research yielded some sobering facts: Although Maxtor products (in my personal experience) had been reliable in the mid-90′s, and surpassed Seagate’s products in their performance and reliability, this is no longer the case; Seagate had absorbed the Maxtor company in 2005. In light of this, I will no longer be purchasing Maxtor products. And it is a shame that such a good company has come under the control of Seagate — known for its sub-standard, unreliable products; not to mention poor customer service. Seagate hard drives have shown, over many years, to have the highest failure ratings. In fact, in 2009 there had been an epidemic of Seagate hard drive failures due to a firmware problem. Although Seagate offered solutions, for some people this solution came a little too late.

Thankfully, for me, plugging the Maxtor hard drive directly to the motherboard proved successful. Sadly, this isn’t always the case for every hard drive failure. So what next? I know that next time I purchase a hard drive, I will do my homework and spend my hard-earned money on products that show a realiability trend, and companies that offer superior customer service support. Robin Harris, a blogger for ZDnet.com offers the following information:

This chart shows hard drive failures over the course of the companies’ lives:

This chart shows hard drive issues/failures over the course of 1 year (2006-2007):

Visit Robin Harris’ blog at ZDNet.com: Who Makes the Best Hard Drives?

So if you are in the market for electronic storage devices, do yourself a favor and skip Maxtor and Seagate products. In fact, although Western Digital ranks high in customer approval, the charts above show that their products are likely to leave you in a pinch and scrambling for help. In extreme cases, a data recovery service will charge an arm and a leg to retrieve your data. My quote of the aforementioned Maxtor OneTouch was $1500. Ultimately I solved the problem for under $10.00 and in less than one hour.

Moral of the story: Research a company prior to purchasing high ticket items. Especially if you are relying on it to keep important information safely. But most importantly, BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP your data on a weekly basis!

IDEAlliance’s color management system is quickly becoming the industry standard, and although still under development, this system promises to deliver accurate and consistent color across the board. I project that by 2012 all commercial printers will be using G7. Personally I am very excited about G7, for it will eliminate a lot of the headaches that commonly ocurr at the press-proofing stage. With G7 you can rest assured that what you see on your monitor will be consistent with your color proof, and will remain consistent through to your press-proofing stage.

Let’s start with the most basic of software and work our way through:

Microsoft Word and PowerPoint:
Graphic Designers:Because Microsoft Word and PowerPoint were not designed for creating files for commercial printing, they’re the software that cause most problems in preflighting scenarios. Most commonly these problems stem from their ability to automatically embed any image used on a document. To avoid any delays in prepress graphic designers should always create a separate folder (perhaps labeled “images”) in which to store all art/photos used within a specified document. Even though Word or PowerPoint do not dynamically link to the images in order to display or print the document, this folder will be necessary when ripping for a digital or an offset press. Also, if using fonts other than common system fonts, create a folder (label it “fonts”) and drop a copy of the font files used within the document. When you are finished with your design, send these folders along with your final piece to your printer of choice. If you get in the habit of doing this, you will bypass a lot of delays and headaches at the prepress stage. And somewhere, some grateful prepress tech will be amazed, breathe a sigh of relief and, most assuredly, experience a moment of admiration and gratitude towards you.

Prepress Technician: If you are besieged by this conundrum… Having to rip these files with missing images then, alas! There is a simple solution. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint have a nifty little feature called “Save as Web Page…” But to properly use this features you must first “Save as…” Then from the drop down menu select the format as “Web Page.” The end result will be a new html document file and a separate folder with the same name as the file containing all the images embedded therein. And that should solve the problem. Of course, always remember to double check these images with PhotoShop to be sure they are formatted in the proper resolution and in CMYK format. If they are not, then you should contact your customer to offer an alternative, such as asking for the original art, if useful. Otherwise you must re-sample (which is not good practice, but necessary in these cases) and convert the art to the proper format.  If the artist has embedded the fonts (although I have not encountered a problem with this yet) and the files rip properly, be mindful when proofing or plating and check that the fonts have not defaulted, become bit-mapped, or have a jagged edge. In this case, it is better to be safe than sorry so ask for the font files to be remitted to your agency.

Microsoft Publisher:
Unfortunately Publisher does not offer the same “Save as Web Page…” feature that Word and Publisher do, so…

Graphic Designers: Shame, shame, shame on you! You should know better than to design using Publisher. But I understand that this may be your only option, so then… It is solely up to you to send a separate folder with the images and fonts along with the native file. Be sure to preflight your document and check the resolution and format of your images.

Prepress Technician: There are no magic solutions or short cuts for this one. Publisher does not offer them. You must contact your customer and request they send all images and fonts used on the document. If this is not possible then (although not advisable) there is a ‘not-so-simple’ solution.  Open your document and view each photo/clip art as large as possible on your monitor so that no portions are cut off. Employ the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard for each image. To do this you must create a new PhotoShop document alternatively after pressing print screen for each image, and paste from the clipboard unto the empty canvas.  You will see the entire screen, including the Publisher interface. You will need to crop, sample and convert each image.  Then lay it all out using InDesign to size and line up everything perfectly over the native document (which you should have printed as a high-res pdf and positioned on the page). Once finished you may send files to the rip directly from InDesign. Of course, I strongly suggest that, at this stage, you print a new proof/mock-up to show your client and make them aware of your edits.

Illustrator:
Graphic Designers: There are two conventional ways to embed fonts in Illustrator – “creating outlines,” and “subsetting fonts.” There are three ways to create outlines:

Mac and PC:
Right Click method:
1. Select all the type.
2. Right-click mouse and pop up menu will appear.
3. Select “create outlines.”

Menu method:
1. Select all the type.
2. navigate to “Type” tab on menu and scroll down to “Create Outlines”

MAC users:
Shortcut method:
1. Select all the type.
2. press SHIFT-COMMAND-O

Of course, if you chose to create outlines, please, please, please make sure that you are finished with all your type edits. Once you create outlines you will not be able to make typographical changes.

In order to subset fonts you must then create a final pdf file for the agency. In this case you will not be sending the native files. But let me suggest that this is not the best option, especially if you are a graphic designer with limited knowledge of prepress output technicalities. However, if you are savvy in this subject, then this method is the most portable. To read more about subsetting fonts, click here.

And now back to images and clip art… If you place these unto the canvas and use the linking method, be sure then to separately supply the originals to the agency. However, it is fairly easy to embed images. Simply open the “Links” palette (located under the “Window” tab in your menu), select the images you wish to embed, access the pull down menu within that palette and select “Embed Image.” Voila!

PhotoShop:
Graphic Designers: If you must use Photoshop to layout your entire piece and you wish to embed fonts, then there are a couple of options. The easiest way (though not the best method) to do this is to rasterize your type layers. However, doing this will cause your type to lose its crisp and sharp appearance that only vector can offer.  Better yet, create the type using Illustrator, convert to outlines, and place into PhotoShop as a Smart Object.  Same method should be used with vector art. If you employ this method then you must provide the agency with all the vector  files placed in PhotoShop. Also, with PhotoShop you can subset fonts, as covered in the Illustrator section of this blog.

InDesign:
Graphic Designers: Oh boy! You are in luck if you are using InDesign for your final composition. Bravo! (or Brava!) for making this wise choice – I am proud of you! Luckily InDesign offers a great feature called “Package…” Once you are finished with the design, and you preflight to check all images are properly linked, and that no fonts are missing, then you would “Package” the file for the agency. It’s so easy, it should have a big, red, shiny bow on top.

To Package a document:
1. First check for broken links or defaulted fonts before Packaging.
2. Navigate to “File” menu tab.
3. Scroll down to “Package…” (or ALT-SHIFT-CTRL-P for PC or ALT-SHIFT-COMMAND-P for MAC).
4. Fill in the appropriate fields and click “Continue.”
5. Create a folder for your package, and check all boxes under the document name field.
6. Click “Save.”

I think it is important that I point out that InDesign has a “Preflight” feature under the “File” menu tab, which I would recommend any self-respecting graphic designer become acquainted with. It is an extremely useful tool to use in ironing out issues before submitting your files to an agency.

Illustrator, PhotoShop, InDesign:
Prepress Technicians: There really is no way around this one.  If the client submits a file with linked images and fonts that are not on your system, then you must contact the customer and request they send these to you.  Some of the techniques described above for Microsoft products can be employed, but it is strongly inadvisable. Best at this stage to consult with your client.

I wish to continue on this topic and touch on more software at a later date, such as QuarkXpress and PageMaker. In the meantime, I hope that this blog has been useful in raising your awareness or in providing solutions to prepress problems. Be sure to email me if you have any questions. I would love to read comments on additional techniques, so please do not hesitate to participate.

Pre-press is what happens between designing a commercial piece and final production. Some examples: A simple business card or perhaps a complex piece such as a magazine; T-shirts, posters, banners. The scope of work is wide and varies much. I image there are only a few who do not know what a printing press is for. You may say, “Duh?” An offset (or litho) press’ main function is to perform and preside over the nuptials of ink and substrate (paper, fabric, plastic, etc.). It is at this stage that the artist’s creation finally takes shape; the breath of life to initial conception. Once at this point, however, returning to its previous stages is certain to be painful, embarrassing and, not to mention, costly. Sometimes these unions are made in heaven; a graphic designer achieves the desired effect; the t-shirt, business card, brochure or publication looks just as expected, effortlessly (or was it?). In reality the pre-press process can be complicated and time-consuming. There is much to be done between conception and inception for a truly successful creation. It is no surprise to me that pre-press output is not a commonly known profession, since many of its most glorious moments take place in secrecy and anonymity. In here the rewards come in those “A-ha!” moments when your problem solving creativity finally pays off. The path of pre-press is for the stout of heart and for those who remain calm in the face of adversity; for those who fear not great personal sacrifice, long hours and hard work. Some enter this field meek, fearful sheep and come out hardened, roaring lions. Still, some defect never to return. Few have what it takes to withstand the stresses brought on by the unexpected coupled with tight, sometimes extreme, deadlines. As intricate as pre-press output can be, so predictable are the days. Even more so are the customers. To illustrate my point, imagine this to be a constant during your work week; the one thing that’s always sure: Someone will send you a design, full of flaws and problems; they will want it printed, cut and bound (or folded) today. However… this client will not be able to submit the files to your office until tomorrow. Huh? Often times I’ve scratched my head, bewildered. But believe it or not, these challenges are what prepress techs, such as myself, look forward to and live for. Personally I feel that without these challenges pre-press would be a dull and lifeless profession.

But let’s back up for one moment. I wish to reiterate what I had mentioned earlier in regards to a successful creation. What does it take to create a successful printed piece? I suggest those interested read up on the subject for it is extensive and somewhat complicated. But I guess I could try and touch on the most common problems I encounter. However I must clarify that the following three rules are only a few out many, many others that need to be taken into account when processing files for output. The following are three rules I find to be most commonly broken:

RULE #1: Never use a spreadsheet program for graphic design.It is amazing to me, but I’ve seen people use Excel as a tool for digital production; I swear that I have seen it countless times. Take my word for it, the results are not pretty and the process is painful. Along the same lines of bad software choices, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Publisher are both almost useless for graphic design. I come across a significantly large amount of files created with these two programs; two favorites among the ‘do-it-yourself’ graphic designers. For a successful piece, one must use software created for this purpose, such as Indesign, QuarkXpress or (if on a budget) PageMaker when concentrating on creating layouts. The first two are widely used throughout the world; from the small printer to multi-million, multi-media corporate conglomerates. PageMaker should be reserved for simple projects such as resumes or letters. Also let me add that, although useful and made for this purpose, very often QuarkXpress falls short. In my opinion, Indesign far surpasses the performance and flexibility of it’s “quirky” counterpart. To date, the most advanced and user friendly software for layout.

Now, if you wish to create a logo or an illustration it is best to use Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Macromedia’s Freehand; especially if your art is to have any typography or it’s to be used in a variety of sizes. To me, Illustrator is an indispensable tool. Although seemingly intimidating at first, illustrator’s interface is flexible and user-friendly.

Finally, we come to the software most of you know… Adobe Photoshop, another indispensable tool! I love it and been using it since its inception almost 20 years ago. But please, limit its use to photos and scans without typography and artwork that does not require re-sizing! Be certain to take resolution into account before you begin your project. Many designers choose to create their printed pieces using only Photoshop and this is a big mistake. And granted, I have seen beautiful designs done in Photoshop, but when the chips were down and the press was inked, certain pieces did not deliver. So why is it so important to select the right software? There are no simple answers and to understand the reasons why is to be seasoned and knowledgeable in the business. But in a nutshell, Photoshop operates on a raster (or bitmap/pixels) environment; Illustrator, Corel Draw and Freehand, a vector based environment; Indesign and Quark are strictly for layout (though recently more tools and features have been added for simple tasks that, in the past, could only be done in Photoshop or Illustrator).

For clearer understanding why this is so important, I offer the following definitions, borrowed from about.com:

•Vector graphics are a resolution-independent, scalable format composed of individual objects made up of mathematical calculations. Vector images can be resized easily without loss of quality making them an ideal format for initial design of logos and illustrations that to be used at multiple sizes.

•A bitmap is a type of graphic composed of pixels (picture element) in a grid. Each pixel or “bit” contains color information for the image. Bitmap graphics formats have a fixed resolution which means that resizing a bitmap graphic can result in distortion and jagged edges.

In short, any good graphic artist will submit a digital file created using two or three or these programs mentioned above.

RULE #2: When designing for offset or digital printing DO NOT download pictures from the internet. They are not suitable for commercial printing purposes at all. And unless you find a particular photo that is very high in resolution, it will turn into a pixelated, blurry mess on press. Web design works primarily on a resolution of 72 dots per inch (72 dpi); printed material requires a minimum of 150 dpi for newspaper, 300/600 for most printed material and as high as 2400 dpi in some cases, such as large format printing. To illustrate, imagine 72 small dots spread across the span of one inch. Now imagine 600 dots within the same inch. Both will appear as a straight line, but only the 600dpi line will be smooth and crisp. Hopefully you get the picture. In addition to dots per inch, there are also lines per inch to take into account (lpi), when plating for press, but I fear I take you much too deep into the rabbit hole so I will not get into detail.

Another reason web pictures are not suitable for printed material is the fact that monitors work on an RGB (red, green, blue) format and printing is based on a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) format. If you drop a photo into your publication without first converting it to CMYK, the results of that image on an offset press will be unpredictable and, more often than not, will disappoint.

RULE #3: Never confuse your inkjet printer with offset or digital printing. They are two different animals, in separate classes, much like comparing apples to oranges. Inkjets do what their name suggests, spray ink through a jet, which spreads on the paper to create a solid colored surface. Only one type of desktop printer is comparable to a offset or digital presses (and only to a certain degree) and these are Laserjet printers. Much like a printing press, the image is comprised of miniscule, perfect dots which, enmeshed in patterns create other colors. When a piece is to be printed in full color, it is often referred to as four-color process. What this means is that the images will break into thousands of miniscule dots (remember dpi?) within each of the four channels (remember CMYK?) and will be printed close together and at 15 degree angles, forming patterns that can create a wide range of colors in the spectrum. To see for yourself what I am trying to explain, find a mailer or brochure, or maybe a color newspaper insert and with a (strong) loupe or magnifying glass examine closely the printed areas on the paper. You will notice many little dots in cyan, magenta, yellow and black and you will notice patterns. To the naked eye it will appear solid, but upon closer inspection one will notice this is not the case. So the point is, don’t assume that what prints beautifully on a $100 inkjet will look the same on an offset or digital press.

•Offset/litho printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the nonprinting areas ink-free.

•Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on physical surface, such as common or photographic paper, film, cloth, plastic, etc. It can be differentiated from litho printing in many ways, some of which are; Every impression made onto the paper can be different, as opposed to making several hundred or thousand impressions of the same thing from one set of plates, as in traditional methods. The Ink or Toner does not absorb into the paper, as does conventional Ink, but forms a layer on the surface. It generally requires less waste in terms of chemicals used and paper wasted in set up.

And this, in a nutshell are just some of the important basics to keep in mind when designing printed material. For those who wish to find out just how deep the rabbit hole is, I extend an open invitation to ask questions on this subject. Also, the internet is a useful tool for information, but be careful, and choose your sources wisely. For a brief overview of some of the most important aspects of this business, visit: http://www.desktoppub.about.com/