Designing for Print

Charles Conover is Director of the Digital Arts and Design Program at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and former designer and associate art director of PC Magazine at Ziff-Davis Publishing.

Chapter One: Planning Your Design

Layout Variations: Standard and Custom Formats 2

CD Booklets 2

Brochures 2

Custom Formats 2

Building Mechanicals 4

Developing a Working Grid 6

Margins and Gutters 7

Grid Variations 7

Placing Elements within the Grid 8

Single Pages 8

Facing Pages and Spreads 9

Getting Ideas and Gathering Imagery 10

Sketching Out a Game Plan: Thumbnailing 12

Exhaust the Possibilities: Creating Design Variations 14

Cutting to the Chase: Designing with Die Cuts 16

Chapter Two: Designing with Type

Type Fundamentals 20

Understanding Tracking and Kerning 22

Kerning Display Type 22

Tracking Body Copy 23

Distorting Type and Scaling in Proportion 24

Getting Type to Fit without Distorting It 25

Widows, Orphans, Ladders, and Rivers 26

Treating Type with Consistency 27

Many Faces, Many Moods 28

Classic Typefaces 29

Selecting Effective Typefaces 30

Choosing Typefaces: Form and Function 32

Working with Text Boxes and Columns 34

Separate Text Columns 34

Multiple-Column Text Boxes 34

Small Caps and All Caps 36

Setting Small Caps in InDesign 36

Type and Drop Shadows 37

Hard-Edged Drop Shadows 37

Soft Drop Shadows 37

Creating Baseline Grids 38

Setting Baseline Grids 38

Baseline Grids and Text Boxes 39

Understanding Baseline Grids 40

Letting the Baseline Grid Serve as a Guide 41

Using Baseline Grids to Cross-Align 42

Type Readability 44

Serif and Sans Serif Typefaces 44

Upper- and Lowercase Settings 44

Character Recognition 44

Knockout Type 45

Case Settings and Readability 45

Type Form Follows Function 45

Reverse Type and Image 45

Readability and Column Width 46

Readability: Complex Text Wraps 47

Mastering Text Wraps 48

Taking Control: Manually Editing Text Wraps 47

Creating Depth with Silhouetted Images 47

Setting and Styling Captions 50

Show Hidden Characters 51

Styling Paragraphs 52

Applying and Styling Drop Caps 53

Basic Drop Cap Settings in InDesign 53

Controlling Indents and Insets 54

Understanding and Setting Tabs 55

Designing and Styling Text Tables 56

Styling Tables with Tint Bands 56

Using Tint Bands as Rules 57

Refi ning the Chart Design 57

Simple Tables in InDesign 58

Creating Stylesheets 59

Chapter Three: Designing with Photographs

Image Types: One Color, Two Color 62

Color Models 62

The Four-Color Process 62

CMYK Process Color 62

TruMatch Color System 62

The Pantone System 63

Swatch Books 63

Maintaining Image Integrity 64

Image Distortion: Scaling 64

Image Distortion: Flipping Photos 65

What’s Wrong with this Picture? 65

Formatting Images for Print 66

Understanding Linked Images 67

Manipulating Images and Picture Boxes 68

Rotation Settings 68

Customizing Corner Styles 69

Image Types: Monotones, Duotones 70

Creating a Basic Duotone 71

Monotones and Tritones 71

Duotones and Sepia Tone Effects 71

Type, Image, and Readability 72

Type and Image: Composing Page Layouts 74

Vertical and Horizontal Compositions 75

Type and Image: Page Composition 76

Perfect Imbalance: Asymmetrical Design 78

Using Holding Rules 79

Focusing In: Cropping Techniques 80

Picture Box Shapes 82

Standard Frame Types 82

Customizing Picture Frames 83

Editing Picture Box Shapes 84

Resizing Frames 84

Reshaping Frames 84

Complex Shapes and Bézier Curves 85

Custom Shapes: Using Pathfinder 86

Pathfinder Options 87

The Big Picture 88

Complex Shapes: Advanced Techniques 89

Tabbed Windows 89

Slicing Images 89

Image Grids: Step and Repeat 90

Compound Shapes 90

Complex Shapes: Align and Distribute 91

Label Design 91

Placing Images into Text 92

Using Create Outlines 92

Selecting Appropriate Typefaces 92

Cutting Type Outlines into an Image 93

An Image for Every Letter 93

Organizing Annotated Photo Layouts 94

Styling Pointers and Annotations 96

Creating Customized Annotations 97

Creating Legends for Photographs 98

Using Legends with Maps 98

Placing Legends in Photos 99

Chapter Four: Advanced Typography

Using the Character and Paragraph Palettes 102

Vertical Type: Cheap Motels and Drive-ins 104

Curves Ahead: Create Outlines 105

Outlines: The Pros and Cons 105

Controlling Type Outlines 106

The Pen and Selection Tools 106

Keepin’ It Real: Staying True to the Original Typeface 108

Creating Custom Ligatures 109

Applying Effects: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly 110

Shattering Type 112

Offset Path: Inlines, Outlines, and Shadows 113

Creating Stylized Drop Shadows 114

Knockout Shadows 114

Linear Drop Shadows 114

Soft Drop Shadows Using Blends and Filters 115

Refl ective Shadows 115

Creating the Illusion of Transparency 116

Separating Stroke and Fills 117

3D Type: Beveling Type Outlines 118

Complex Beveling 119

Extrude & Bevel Effects 119

Extruding and Creating Perspective 120

Manually Extruding Type 120

3D Effects: Extrude 120

Metallic Type and Gradients 122

Type on a Path: Curves, Spirals, and Circles 123

Receding Type into the Distance 124

The Free Distort Effect 124

3D Effects 125

Inlaid Text: Cropping Objects into Type 126

Inlaying Straight Lines into Text 126

Inlaying Wavy Lines into Text 126

Creating Concentric Shapes 127

Inlaying Concentric Patterns 127

Filling Shapes with Body Copy 128

Using Photoshop Paths 129

Filling Custom Shapes 129

Bubbles and Balls: Warp Effects 130

Creating Logotypes: 3D Effects 132

Distressed Type and Alternative Techniques 134

Using Hand-Drawn Type 134

Using 3D Objects as Letterforms 134

Using Photocopiers to Distress Type 135

Old School: Rubber Stamps, Stencils, and Typewriters 135

Using Envelopes to Warp Type 136

Masking Images into Type 137

Chapter Five: Preparing Your Images

Destination Please? Formatting Images 140

Sizing, Scaling, and Setting Resolution 142

Scanning and Scaling Images 142

Scaling Images for InDesign Documents 143

Increasing Resolution 143

Image Prep: Cropping Images 144

Spot Remover: The Clone Stamp Tool 145

Getting Results: Basic Scanning Techniques 146

Focusing In: Sharpening Images 147

True Colors: Color-Correcting Images 148

Adjusting Levels and Curves 149

Color-Correction 101: A Primer 150

Dodge and Burn: Tonal Correction 152

Scanning Large-Scale Artwork 153

Ghosting Images 154

Image Opacity and Type Readability 154

Tombstones: Opacity and Selections 155

Silhouetted Images: Clipping Paths 156

Silhouetting Images: The Quick Selection Tool 158

Soft Edges: Feathering Images 159

Creating Natural Shadows 160

The Cutting Edge: Torn Paper Effects 162

3D Objects and Textures 164

Scanning and Designing with 3D Objects 164

Creating Custom Surface Textures 164

Smart Objects and Silhouetted Images 166

Compositing with Smart Objects 166

Fade Away: Creating Vignetted Images 168

Manipulating Imagery Using Filters 170

The Blur Filters 170

The Color Halftone Filter 171

Posterizing Images 171

Adding Noise to Images 171

Chapter Six: Illustrating Effectively

Simple Illustration Approaches 174

Visual References: Tracing and Live Paint 176

To Trace or Autotrace 176

Applying Live Paint to Raster Images 176

Combining Primary Shapes 178

Using Shapes to Unite and Subtract 178

Creating Individual Shapes Using Divide 178

Complex Shapes 179

Mirror, Mirror: Building Symmetrical Shapes 180

From Line to Shape: Outline Stroke 181

Refi ning and Styling Line Quality 182

Stylizing Lines and Digitizing Tablets 182

Between the Lines: The Live Paint Tools 183

Styling Illustrations: Linear Techniques 184

Creating Linear Patterns 186

Keeping Perspective: Cylindrical Shapes 188

Basic Transformations 188

Building on the Process 188

Styling with Blends and Gradients 189

Fluted Shapes 189

Building Interlaced Shapes 190

Coiled Objects: Chain Links and Slinkys 192

Building Chain Links 192

Building Coiled Shapes 193

Slinkys and Other Variables 193

Nuts and Bolts: Building and Styling Technical Shapes 194

Building the Basic Shapes 194

Styling Objects: Smooth Blends 195

Styling Objects: Linear Blends 195

The Revolve Effect 195

Vanishing Points and Two-Point Perspective 196

Creating Mechanical Gears 196

Creating Two-Point Perspective 197

Using 3D Effects 197

Using Blends to Build Shapes and Create Volume 198

Creating Banners and Ribbons 200

Corner Banners 201

The Final Touch: Backgrounds and Shadows 202

Creating Drop Shadows 202

Skewing Shadows 202

Styling Drop Shadows 203

Merging Shadows and Surface 203

Using Opacity 203

Using Custom Brushes 204

Brush Basics 204

Type as Brush 204

Creating Custom Art Brushes 204

Building Pattern Brushes 205

Warp Effects and Custom Brushes 206

Building a Custom Art Brush 206

Applying a Custom Art Brush 207

Designing Charts and Graphs 208

Creating Custom Columns 209

Creating Variations and Using Artboards 210

Gradient Mesh: Smooth Surfaces 211

Chapter Seven: Putting It All Together

Prepping Images 214

Why Doesn’t the Print Match the Screen? 214

Mechanicals 215

Building Prototypes 215

Creating Acrobat PDF Files 215

Preparing Files for Final Output 216

Optimizing Images and Updating Links 216

Preflighting the InDesign Document 217

Color Proofing 217

Collecting for Output: InDesign Packages 218

Compressing Files 218

Fifth Colors 219

Paper Stocks 219

PDF Formats 219

Decimal Conversion Chart 223

Design Resources 225

Bibliography 229

Photography and Illustration Credits 229

Index 231