Translating inspiration to the printed page has always been a challenge. The advent of desktop publishing granted new levels of power and control to the layout artist and graphic designer, but it hasn’t eliminated the traditional pitfalls. In fact, it’s introduced a few new ones. Sometimes managing the disparate elements of fonts, images, colors, and more, while dealing with the quirks of various 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. In this book, you’ll learn how to

• Get the most out of page layout programs such as Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress, and decide which is right for your needs

• Use image applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Macromedia FreeHand to reproduce the most complicated raster and vector images flawlessly

• Understand how ink and paper work together, and learn how to prevent unwelcome surprises in tricky situations such as overprinting, trapping, and color registration

• Use Adobe Acrobat to distribute your document in a universally accessible format while preserving your layout

• Wrangle your fonts, and choose the best ones from among the huge array of available typefaces

• Preflight, or prepare your job for submission to a printer or service bureau

“Claudia offers a deadly combination of wit and wisdom. If you’re involved with print, buy this book!”
—David Blatner, co-author Real World InDesign CS2 and Real World Photoshop CS2

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 15 Ratings

Definitely NOT Industrial Strength - 2009-02-20
Reviewer Rating:
I was extremely disappointed with Real World Print Production. It is the weakest of the "Real World" series I have read. The front cover has the subtitle "Industrial Strength Production Techniques" and also "Comprehensive coverage of tools, techniques, and strategies". In my opinion, this is false and misleading advertising. A table of contents was not included online, so I trusted the wording on the front cover.

For someone totally unfamiliar with print production and the press room, and looking for a high level overview, it is fine. But I found it very lacking on useful techniques, tips, and "real world" help. It was shallow and glib. Yes, there are some valid tips and cautions, but it comes up extremely short of "industrial strength" or "comprehensive coverage". I'd expect a book with this title to include relevant information on ink limits for various presses and stocks, GCR usage, more detailed information on RGB to CMYK conversions for different types of files, discussion of how inks differ with different stocks, etc. Too much fluff, not enough guts.

If the reader needs a general, high level overview of the print production process, this can be a decent book. If they want in depth information to create good files, it is minimally helpful to disappointing.

I think the Table of Contents and some of the internals should be listed to save people from purchasing a book not suited to their needs. I'd have certainly passed it by had I seen the ToC online.

Lou

A great book to own! - 2008-02-08
Reviewer Rating:
I am a trainer in the graphic arts field and I recently read this book for a group of students I am working with that needed to have more of a printing understanding. It was such a great read and very informative that I had to buy it for my students. The information has proved very valuable to them. Anyone who wants to get their jobs on Press with the least amount of problems should read this book.

Very useful - 2009-04-24
Reviewer Rating:
This book would have saved me a lot of headaches when I was beginning. Most of it I have learned over the years, but it's nice to have this book to make sure I haven't missed any essential printing techniques. I will be recommending this to my classmates for sure and hopefully they won't have to go through the many hours of frustrations that I did to learn this stuff on my own.

Just what I have been looking for! - 2008-08-14
Reviewer Rating:
Great book- I am transitioning from graphic designer to account manager for a print company. I will still be using some of my graphics knowledge. It has really helped to fill in gaps in my knowledge in regards to the print end. Thanks so much- love the book!

Excellent resource - 2008-02-22
Reviewer Rating:
I'm using this book as the text book for an Electronic Publishing course I'm teaching. Claudia's style is dry and humorous, which makes the complex material easier to digest. Lots of wonderful tips and insights. I highly recommend it for anyone trying to comprehend how design goes from computer to print.

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Desktop Publishing

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Desktop Publishing > Print Production