This file describes new features and enhancements added to version 1.5.1, and contains information pertaining to version 1.5 that was not available when the printed documentation went to press. Please read this file before you begin working with Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1. We also recommend that you print a copy of this file and keep it with your “Aldus PrePrint 1.5 User Manual.”
If you have already read the README file for version 1.5, you can find information on what’s new in version 1.5.1 by looking for the “++” symbol at the start of a paragraph.
I. INSTALLATION ISSUES
++ If you install PrePrint 1.5.1 under System 6.x, your previous "Aldus PrePrint Defaults" file will be replaced with the new 1.5.1 "Aldus PrePrint Defaults" file the first time you launch PrePrint 1.5.1. If you made corrections to the color conversion table in the file and did not save the custom settings to a separate file, those corrections will be lost. To preserve changes to the color conversion table in your previous "Aldus PrePrint Defaults" file:
-- start PrePrint 1.5 before you start PrePrint 1.5.1
-- in the “Separations corrections” dialog box, name and save the custom conversion table to a different file (the title bar of the dialog box will read “Default corrections*” if you made adjustments to the table).
-- start PrePrint 1.5.1 and, in the “Separations corrections” dialog box, click the “Load...” button.
-- select the file you saved from PrePrint 1.5. PrePrint 1.5.1 will use that information for all subsequent separations.
++ The Aldus Installer/Utility will install Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1 for you. After installing Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1, the following files, which are not necessary for use with Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1, will remain on your hard drive if you have previously installed Aldus PrePrint 1.5. You may wish to locate these files and discard them.
* See the previous note regarding this file before you discard it.
• If you install Aldus FreeHand 3.0 after installing Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1, the PrePrint 1.5.1 PPD and PDX files will be replaced. If you have already installed Aldus FreeHand PPD and PDX files, re-install the PrePrint 1.5.1 PPD and PDX files from the PrePrint 1.5.1 disk set using the Aldus Installer/Utility.
• If you have trouble installing Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1 under System 7.0, hold down the Shift key while restarting your computer. (Holding down the Shift key prevents system extensions from being loaded. It's possible that an extension is interfering with the Installer.)
• Aldus PrePrint shares a common Installer/Utility with other Aldus products. One item listed in the “Diagnostics” pop-up menu contains the phrase “Search for printer files and Aldus Prep.” Don’t be confused; PrePrint does not use Aldus Prep.
II. CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS, AND ADDITIONS TO THE DOCUMENTATION
**Font downloading**
• Page 18, the fourth paragraph should read: “When you print separations, PrePrint looks for the necessary fonts or font names in this order:”
• Page 19, letter E clarification: If you click “Skip none,” Aldus PrePrint 1.5 downloads any fonts you had previously specified to be skipped.
++ PrePrint 1.5.1 supports the printing of TrueType fonts. TrueType fonts are listed in the “Display font info” dialog box. You can speed up printing with TrueType fonts by opening the “Display font info” dialog box before printing. Note that you should avoiding using TrueType fonts and PostScript fonts that have the same name in the same publication. If this happens, PrePrint will try to use the PostScript printer font, not the TrueType equivalent.
**The “Separation corrections” dialog box**
• Page 38: The background behind the ink curves in the “Color separations” dialog box is gray, not white, as shown in the illustration. Also, the Saturation bar shows a range from middle gray to full saturation (rather than white to full saturation, as shown in the illustration).
• Page 39, step 1 clarification: If you take a sample color from an image and open the "Separation corrections" dialog, the sample shown at the top of the "Separation corrections" dialog is the sample you chose from the image. If you choose a point on one of the ink curves, the sample changes to show the color at the active point.
• Page 41, the Tip should read: “To move the arrows symmetrically about the active color in the Hue or Saturation bar without changing the active color, hold down the Option key and adjust one of the arrows on the bar.”
• Page 41: To identify which conversion table is currently in use, use the following guidelines:
-- The name displayed in the title bar of the “Separation corrections” box is either the name of the Color conversion table loaded by default (from the Aldus PrePrint Defaults file) when you first open the “Separation corrections” dialog box, or the name of the table you last loaded using the “Load…” button. (Example: “Default corrections”)
-- If you have applied changes to the table, the filename is appended with an asterisk (*). (Example: “Default corrections*”)
-- If you save the file without applying the changes, the asterisk remains appended to the saved file name until you close the “Separation corrections” dialog box and quit Aldus PrePrint. (Example: “Default corrections*”)
-- If, after applying changes to the table, you save the changes (using the “Save…” button), the filename is replaced with the name of the saved file (Example: “New conversion table”)
-- If you use the “Revert” button, the table that was loaded when you first opened the window is reloaded into memory, and the name in information bar changes to reflect the name of that conversion table. (Example: “Default corrections”)
• While you adjust ink curves in the “Separation corrections” dialog box, PrePrint displays on-screen feedback in the Image window. Note that PrePrint does not provide feedback if your monitor is in 24-bit mode. To display on-screen feedback correctly, switch your monitor to 8-bit (256 color) mode using the Control Panel or any other utility that allows you to switch between screen display modes.
***Resampling image data***
++ PrePrint 1.5.1 corrects a problem that caused PrePrint 1.5 to have difficulties when resampling images on a 68040-processor-based computer (such as the Macintosh Quadra 700 or 900) when RAM cache was turned on.
• Page 45: Information on the “Resample” option and “Use current screen” button was inadvertently omitted from the documentation. The description should read as follows:
Just like the “Resample” option in the Links window, when you choose the “Resample” option in the “Print” dialog box, image files are resampled at print time. To calculate the image print size based on the current screen frequency (lpi), click the “Use current screen” button.
Note: If you click the “Use current screen” button in the “Print” dialog box, then change the “Optimized screen” setting in the “Print options” dialog box, click the “Use current screen” button again before printing to maintain the optimal print size based on the new screen choice.
• Note that it is faster to resample individual images before printing (using the “Resample…” command from the Image menu) than it is to resample during printing (by using the “Resample” check boxes in the Links window or “Print options” dialog box). Resampling before printing, therefore, will save printing time (and, perhaps, money.) Note, however, that resampling before printing requires more disk space (to accommodate the new, resampled image file).
***Saving images in different formats***
• Page 49: The initial compression setting in the “TIFF options” dialog box reflects the last saved state of the image file. If the TIFF was not compressed, the compression setting will be "None". If it was compressed, the setting will be "LZW".
***Undocumented shortcuts and key combinations***
• You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to move the selection point in the Links window list box to different locations:
-- To select a specific file from the list box in the Links window, type the filename.
-- To scroll through the list box in the Links window a file at a time, use the up and down arrow keys.
-- To select the next unlinked image in the list, type a question mark.
• TIFF files are composed of strips of image data. Some applications can read larger strips than others. To improve performance when working with image files, PrePrint structures TIFF files with large strips of data. As a result, you may have trouble placing these TIFF files in PageMaker Color Extension (which reads files composed of small data strips). To save a TIFF file from PrePrint in a format that’s compatible with PageMaker Color Extension, hold down the Option key while you close PrePrint’s image window.
III. PREPRINT DEFAULTS FILE
• PrePrint stores all print options from the print dialog boxes and the “Separation corrections” dialog box for the last printed file in the file called “Aldus PrePrint Defaults” in the System folder. It does not store print settings you specify for each individual file.
• To revert to the original PrePrint default settings, quit PrePrint, throw away the “Aldus PrePrint Defaults” file contained in your System folder, then start PrePrint.
• System 7.0 uses a Preferences folder to store application default and preferences files.
IV. WORKING WITH IMAGES AND EPS FILES
• If you experience difficulties when opening or printing a PageMaker 4.01 separation (.sep) file that contains a DCS image, follow these two rules:
1) If the DCS image is part of an illustration exported as an EPS file and placed in a PageMaker document, the DCS image file must be in ASCII format and the composite DCS image must be included when you place the EPS file in PageMaker. Here’s the procedure to follow:
Re-create the DCS file in the original application and save it in ASCII format. Then re-create the EPS file using the ASCII version of the DCS file. When you place the new EPS file in PageMaker, you’ll see the following message:
“You can place this DCS file faster by excluding the composite image. Do you want to exclude the composite image?”
Click “No.”
PageMaker then displays a screen image, but prints only a gray box.
2) If the DCS image was placed in PageMaker directly (was not placed as part of an EPS file) and is in binary format, the composite image within the DCS file must be excluded when you place the DCS file in PageMaker. Here’s the procedure to follow:
Place the DCS file in PageMaker. When PageMaker displays the message described above, click “Yes.”
3) An alternative solution for both situations is to use a TIFF image as a placeholder for the DCS file in your publication or illustration. Here’s the procedure:
Create a low-resolution (for example, 72 ppi) RGB TIFF image file using the same image data you used to create the DCS file. Instead of placing the DCS main file, place the low-resolution TIFF image directly in the publication or place it in the illustration, export the illustration as an EPS file, and place that EPS file in your PageMaker publication. (Note: Be sure the TIFF image you place has the same width and height dimensions as the DCS image.) Print the PageMaker publication to disk for separations (thus creating a .sep file). Open the .sep file in PrePrint, choose the TIFF filename from the image list in PrePrint’s Links window, link to the DCS main file, and print separations. PrePrint replaces the low-resolution TIFF image with the image data from the linked DCS file. Note that PrePrint applies the image adjustments (cropping, sizing, rotation, or skewing) you made to the TIFF image in FreeHand or PageMaker to the DCS image when you print.
• When you open a TIFF file, Aldus PrePrint adjusts the structure of the image data in the file to improve the speed of displaying and editing the image. As a result of this adjustment, you may notice an increase in the file size.
• TIFF images created in Digital Darkroom version 1.0 and opened in PrePrint may not open again in Digital Darkroom version 1.0. If this happens, open the file in the latest version of Digital Darkroom. To order an upgrade to Digital Darkroom, call Silicon Beach Software Customer Service at (619) 695-6956 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Pacific Time).
• TIFFs created in Studio/8 version 1.0 and opened in PrePrint may not open again in Studio/8 version 1.0. If this happens, open the file in a later version of Studio/8.
• If you open a TIFF file in PrePrint, enter text in the “Image info” dialog box, and then close the TIFF file, the text you entered in the dialog box will be saved even though PrePrint does not prompt you to save the changes to the file. (PrePrint always prompts you to save changes if you adjust the image data.)
• The effects of PageMaker’s image control commands are not applied to linked grayscale TIFF files printed from PrePrint. To maintain the PageMaker image control effects in printed images:
1) In PageMaker 4.0 (or greater), check the “Include images” option in the “PostScript print options” dialog box before you print the OPI file to disk for separations.
2) In PrePrint, make sure you unlink the TIFF file using the “Unlink” button in the Links window. (PrePrint displays a question mark in the Links window next to the unlinked image file name.)
3) Print the spot color assigned to the image in PageMaker as a spot color (do not convert it to a process color in PrePrint’s “Print options” dialog box).
• If you change the scale of the image display in PrePrint’s image window while working under Finder with 32-bit QuickDraw, you may notice inaccuracies in the way PrePrint redraws some images on the screen. In that case, you should run PrePrint under MultiFinder or disable 32-bit QuickDraw by removing it from your System folder and restarting your computer.
• Most color TIFF files are composed of image data that is described with RGB values. All applications that separate color images, including PrePrint, convert the RGB TIFF image data to process-color (CMYK) values. Because the RGB-to-CMYK conversion methods used in most image-editing applications differ in sophistication and accuracy, the percentages of each process color printed for a given TIFF image will differ slightly between applications. Therefore, you should not expect a process-color proof generated from PrePrint to exactly match the output from another image separation application. We recommend that you print your final proofs from PrePrint. The CMYK values displayed in PrePrint’s information bar tell you exactly the CMYK values that PrePrint will use to print.
Note also that RGB colors specified in PageMaker to match the colors in a TIFF image may be converted to different CMYK values than those values generated by PrePrint for the same color TIFF.
Finally, note that CMYK values specified in PageMaker and EPS-generating applications print from PrePrint exactly as specified in the original application.
++ EPS files from Photoshop 2.0 do not open in PrePrint, or, if present in a PostScript file from another application, do not print correctly. However, Photoshop 2.01 corrects the problem for duotone EPS files, so you can now open and print them with PrePrint 1.5.1. (The duotones category includes monotone, duotone, tritone, and quadtone EPS. Note that the correction does not apply to the other EPS file types in Photoshop 2.01.) To receive the 2.01 version of Photoshop, you can call the Adobe Customer Support Center at 415-961-0911.
V. PRINTING ISSUES
++ In PrePrint 1.5.1 you can specify the dot shape you want to use from within the “Print options” dialog box. The options available depend upon the dot shapes defined within the currently selected PPD/PDX file. If you are familiar with the PostScript programming language you can add custom dot shapes to a PDX file by following the structure of the “*ScreenProc” comments in the “*% Halftone Information” section of the PPD.
The setting you specify for dot shape within the “Print options” dialog box is overridden when:
-- A particular graphic has its own custom dot shape. For example, a graphic from Aldus FreeHand might have a graduated fill and dotted screen pattern applied to it.
-- A custom spot function is defined in a PPD or PDX file for one or more inks. A particular ink can have an override at a specified line screen and resolution. To see whether the PPD contains these overrides, you can search for “*ColorSepScreenProc” keyword associated with the current line and screen resolution in the target PPD.
• PrePrint prints crop marks at the edges of the bounding boxes surrounding EPS files. Some illustration applications (including Aldus FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator) create bounding boxes just large enough to contain all of the elements in the illustration. If the elements don’t extend as far as the page edge, or if they extend beyond the page edge (bleed), the bounding box will not be the same size as the final (cropped) size of the page. Therefore, when these files are separated through PrePrint, the crop marks will not appear in the expected position (i.e. at the edge of the page). To print the crop marks correctly from PrePrint 1.5, draw a non-printing, page-sized box around the elements before exporting the EPS file from the illustration application.
• Names of PANTONE colors assigned by Aldus PageMaker, Aldus FreeHand, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Quark XPress may not be identical for the same PANTONE color. If you wish the PANTONE color to separate to the same spot ink, you must make sure that names used in each document are identical. You can do this by overriding the assigned name with a name you give to the PANTONE color.
• Do not use parentheses in the names of colors you create in other applications or in font names you add to a PDX file.
• All the L300/330 PDX files contain two special paper sizes: Letter.extra.transverse - C&D and Tabloid.extra - C&D. Choose these paper sizes if you plan to print to Linotronic’s Cora or Densy model imagesetters, due to their smaller imageable area.
• For faster printing, PrePrint prints images by sending binary data to the printer. Some networks and spoolers, however, may have trouble reading binary data. If you are having problems printing through a spooler or network, hold down the Shift key and click “OK” in the “Print” dialog box. This key combination forces PrePrint to send hexadecimal (ASCII) data to the printer instead. (Note that images printed in hexadecimal format do not print as quickly as their binary counterparts.)
• To create individual mask separations for overlapping TIFF images in your publication:
1) Open the OPI file in PrePrint.
2) Select the name of one of the overlapping TIFF files from the list in the Links window, then check the “Mask” option.
3) Print the mask separation for that image to an imagesetter or to disk. (To print just the mask separation, click “Print no inks” in the “Print options” dialog box.)
4) In the publication window, select the name of the TIFF file for which you printed the mask, then click the “Mask” option to turn off the mask for that image.
5) Select the name of one of the other overlapping TIFF files from the list in the Links window, then check the “Mask” option.
6) Print the mask separation for that image to an imagesetter or to disk.
This procedure generates the two mask separations (one for each overlapping image) that the commercial printer needs to accurately strip each image into the final separations.
• If you plan to print a mask separation for a TIFF image used in an EPS file, do not scale the EPS file after you place it in a PageMaker publication. PrePrint cannot accurately generate masks for images included in EPS files that are scaled in PageMaker.
• To print separations, PrePrint requires that there be at least enough disk space available to open the largest image linked to the OPI file. (You need approximately twice the space required by the image file itself.) If you run out of disk space during the course of printing, the print job will be cancelled. To determine whether there is enough available disk space, open the largest TIFF image linked to the OPI file. If you can open the TIFF file, the disk space is sufficient for printing. (To conserve disk space, be sure to close the TIFF file before you print.)
• PageMaker versions 4.01 or earlier use APD files to download fonts based on the memory of the target printer (among other things). If that device was specified in PageMaker as an imagesetter and you are printing proof copies from PrePrint on a laser printer (which has less memory than an imagesetter), you may see virtual memory error messages. If you do, open the publication in PageMaker, specify the laser printer as the target printer, and create a second OPI file. PageMaker will download fonts in the second OPI file based on the laser printer’s memory, and you can use this file to print proofs.
VI. DEFAULT BLACK & WHITE IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR ILLUSTRATIONS
++ Adobe Illustrator specifies the default colors “Black” and “White” in a way that is incompatible with PrePrint ink overprinting. Therefore, if you want to apply overprinting to all Illustrator objects that are colored “Black” or “White” (or, if you want to use PrePrint ink overprinting either for other colors you have in your document or for Illustrator objects colored “Black” and/or “White” that overlap objects in these other colors), you should define your own custom process or spot versions of black and/or white in Illustrator and use them for your illustration. Then, use PrePrint’s ink overprinting in the normal fashion.
Note: this restriction applies only to ink overprinting in PrePrint. If you only want to control individual Illustrator objects colored “Black” or “White” (or any spot or process color), PrePrint continues to support this. Simply select the object to overprint in the normal way in Illustrator.
VII. PPD AND PDX FILES
++ Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1 includes a modified version of the PDX Editor that came with Aldus PrePrint 1.5. In addition to calibrating imagesetter output, adding font names, and adding paper sizes, you can now edit PDX printer nicknames, and create a PDX file for a PPD file that has none. For details on new features, click the “Help” button within the PDX Editor.
++ The “Preferences” dialog box in PrePrint 1.5.1 includes a “Display printer names” option. Check this option if you want to view these nicknames in the “Printer type” popup menu within the “Print options” dialog box. Note that it takes PrePrint extra time to open the “Print options” dialog box when you choose to display the nicknames.
• The PPD and PDX files shipped with Aldus FreeHand 3.0 are not fully-compatible with Aldus PrePrint 1.5.1. (Those that ship with Aldus FreeHand 3.1, however, are fully-compatible.) If you are using the Aldus FreeHand 3.0 PPD and PDX files, we suggest you replace them with the PPD and PDX files on your PrePrint 1.5.1 disks, which are compatible with Aldus FreeHand 3.0.
• The list below matches the names of all the PPD and PDX files included on the PPD disk set with the names of the corresponding printers:
