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Most documents that are printed professionally by a commercial printer are reproduced from master copies printed on an imagesetter. Imagesetters such as the Linotronic 330 can output pages on photosensitive paper or film at resolutions up to 3386 dpi. The maximum resolution is dependent on the imagesetter, but most imagesetters can print at 1200 and 2400 dpi. (Linotronic imagesetters print at 1270 and 2540, while most other brands print at 1200 and 2400 dpi.)
Printing on an imagesetter is similar to printing on a desktop printer, except that you will normally have to specify additional options.
To Print on an Imagesetter |
To Print
on an Imagesetter1. Choose Print from the File menu.
The Print dialog box will open to allow you to choose a variety of printing options. Click Setup and select the PPD file for the imagesetter and select any other required options.
2. Set which pages to print.
The Which pop-up menu controls which pages will be printed. Choose All to print all the pages in the document, Chapter to print all the pages in the current chapter, Page to print just the current page, or Range to print a range of pages. When you print a range, enter the starting page number, a dash, then the ending page number. You can print discontinuous page ranges by separating them with a comma.
3. Choose how to print the page.
Choose Greyscale from the Method pop-up menu for monochrome output. If you are creating camera-ready copy with spot or process colors, choose Color Separations. Choose Process Separations to print all colors as process, or Spot Separations to print all colors as spot colors.
4. Set the printing options.
Select Printers' Marks to print crop marks, registration marks, density control bars, slur gauges and page information. This is required for color separations and is generally used for all imagesetter printing. Select Emulsion Down and Negative if your service bureau asks for these settings.
5. Click Print.
Printing on filmIf your final copy will be printed on paper, you will normally print positive images with the emulsion side up. You do not need to select any special options because the default is positive, emulsion-side up.
If you are printing on film, you will usually have to print mirrored negatives. If your service bureau is printing your documents from PageStream directly to their imagesetter, they will handle this for you. If you are sending them a PostScript file, ask them if they want you to print the document as a positive or negative, and with emulsion-side up or emulsion side-down.
Emulsion-side down is sometimes referred to as mirrored printing, because the image is printed mirrored. This option is also useful for creating transparencies for overhead projectors; you can write on the transparency without damaging the toner on it because the toner will be on the other side if Emulsion Down is toggled on.
Using
a service bureauMost people don't have direct access to an imagesetter, so the files must be taken to a service bureau for printing. If your computer is directly connected to an imagesetter, you can skip this section. If your computer is not connected to an imagesetter, you have two options for printing to an imagesetter:
Printing a file to disk means that it can be copied to a PostScript printer at any time without using the program that created it. PageStream files can be printed to disk, copied to a disk, transferred to a Macintosh or Windows PC, and then copied to an imagesetter. This method allows you to print your documents on your service bureau's imagesetter, regardless of the type of computer they use.
To print to a PostScript disk file: Choose PostScript Disk File from the Send To pop-up menu in the Print Setup dialog box.
Taking PostScript files to
a service bureauIf you take your PostScript files to a service bureau on floppy disks or removable media such as Zip or Syquest cartridges, you must ensure the service bureau can read the disks. All MacOS computers capable of running PageStream, and Amiga computers with AmigaOS 2.1 and later, can format and write to Windows/MS-DOS floppy disks. All service bureaus, regardless of whether they use Mac or Windows computers, should be able to use a MS-DOS formatted disk.
Most service bureaus will be able to take your PostScript file and print it on their imagesetter or printer. A few service bureaus are not very computer literate and do not know how to print a PostScript file. If you encounter a service bureau that does not know how to print a PostScript file, you should consider giving your business to a different service bureau.
The instructions for printing a PostScript file to a printer from various operating systems are listed here so that you can instruct your service bureau how to print your PostScript file should they prove to be incapable of doing this themselves.
- Windows: Open an MS-DOS shell. Type COPY FILENAME /B LPT1: where FILENAME is the name of the PostScript file to copy. The /B switch indicates that the file is binary and is required to print bitmapped pictures. (LPT1: is the most common port. Change this to the correct port if required.)
- Macintosh: Drag the PostScript file to the desktop printer icon. A separate utility such as the Adobe Font Downloader must be used for MacOS 7.1 and earlier.
- Amiga: Open an AmigaOS shell and then type COPY FILENAME PAR: where FILENAME is the name of the PostScript file to copy. Change PAR: to SER: when using a printer connected to the serial port.
Taking
document files to a service bureauIf you take your PageStream document files to your service bureau instead of printing PostScript files to disk, you will face a different set of considerations to ensure successful printing of your documents.
- Fonts: Your service bureau may not have the same fonts as you do. If they print a document without a required font, Courier or Helvetica will be substituted. You may need to supply your service bureau with the fonts you used. Check your font license agreements carefully because some font suppliers prohibit taking a copy of your font to a service bureau. Before creating a document, you should ask your service bureau which fonts they have and recommend to ensure that you do not have problems.
- External graphics: You must take external graphics with you to the service bureau. It is unlikely that your service bureau's computer will have the same directory structure as you, so use the Collect for Output feature to place the required graphics in the same directory as the document. That way, PageStream will find them when it loads and prints the document. You should make a list of external graphics for your service bureau in case of problems. Use the Reports command from the Layout menu to retrieve this information.
Collect
for OutputThis feature allows you to save the document and copy all the external graphics in the same location as the document. This is very useful if you need to transfer your document to a service bureau or another computer because PageStream will always look in the document's directory for missing external files if it doesn't find them at the location stored in the document file.
To save a document and copy all the external graphics in the same location: Choose Collect for Output from the File menu. Enter a name in the Save dialog box and click Save.
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