What Digital File Preparation Has Taught Me

Hey gang, this will be my last blog update and it covers all I've learned in Digital File Preparation. I'm happy to say that looking back at this former posts, I learned a great deal about Microsoft programs as well as what it takes to work with deadlines, and what all goes into the preparation of the final printed product.

Some of the highlights:

-Learning to create a Duotone Raster and making it so it's coherently printable.
-Never take your image from the internet. It might seem like a quick fix but really, it's going to hurt the overall finished product with fuzzy imagery.
-Printing for bulk is easier than printing for few.
-How to properly package a file, including links, paragraph styles, and the difference when printing for RGB and CMYK (including spot and pantone processes).
-The product is about customer preference and must meet their specs in order to keep them happy and give you a guideline for how you create it.
-Creating and properly formatting pictures for bitmaps.
- Worked on a gate fold for the first time.
-Mastered scanning images
-Learned to keep better track of flash drives.
-Creating inverse type.
- Working on a budget.
-Printing variable data dependent on the customer while still satisfying the need to get the product out there.

Thanks for reading and hope you all have a great summer!

Final Project for DFP

Hi guys! This will be my final project in digital file preparation. For this project I chose to create a graduate party invitation with the intent to promote me graduating from college and the target audience being friends and family.

For this project, I wanted to make the invite semi-theatrical so I created a gatefold for the invite, with the fold size being 4" x 4" with the full size being 16" x 4". This gives it the look of theater curtains/doors opening to reveal the big "show", or, the details of the graduation party.

Other details:

Bleed: .125" all around
Margins: .25" all around
Master Image List: bitmap and illustrator-enhanced images.

Final Image!

Back Panel

Front Panel

Outside Left & Right Panels

Inside Left, Left-Center, Right-Center, Right Panels

Lawsuit Post

WHAT IS UP FRIENDS??

This entry will concern lawsuits that have been brought up due to graphic design infringement. The article in summary is over the mega-popular logo "TAPOUT", designed for the MMA show. The design, created originally by Justin Weber looks like this (in case, you haven't before seen anyone around you wearing some of their graphics):

I knew you'd remember

Even on the vaguest of levels, Weber's design has become ridiculously famous over the past few years, and is quickly becoming as easily recognizable of a logo as K-Mart's or American Eagle. The merchandise containing this logo is everywhere. Recently, Weber has decided to sue Tapout Inc. (the business for which the logo represents) for $1M in breach of contract and fraudulently obtaining the original designs. Further, the company intended to freeze Mr. Weber out of any revenue collected by having another company manufacture diluted versions of his work. This is an example of one of those offshoot products:

aptly named, right?

"The lawsuit is pending in the Superior Court of California in San Bernardino County." (RFC Express). Weber's lawsuit and case is to be represented by Spillain-Weingarten, LLP, a litigation that specializes in litigation in the California area. 


In short friends, do not attempt to steal someone's work. Even if you have the highest of resources for procurement, the chances of you being caught and ruined by the evidence is just as high. Just ask Richard Nixon and George Harrison.

Job Search Analysis #3

Well hello! Didn't see you there!

In my third job search I have found a graphic design position as a Site Supervisor/Graphic Design Services at Ricoh, USA. They work primarily with cameras and printing services for their products. This job is located is in Overland Park, KS, relatively close to my hometown.

This job would be working primarily with printings for customers, as well as facilitating updates for both site and management reports. Other details of the position include: ensuring payroll accuracy on time sheets, providing training on machinery in the workplace, and keeping up to date on advances in technology.

This job is a paid position with the salary omitted for later discussion with minimum requirements of a GED and 2 or more years of field experience. It also requires experience with the basic Microsoft programs: Word, Excel and Outlook and experience in graphic design programs.

For more information, chickity-check it out:
https://prod.fadvhms.com/ricoh/jobboard/JobDetails.aspx?__ID=*E88AA0C6D530A66C&__jbsrc=8AA530D1-1EC5-4871-843D-F38D45DDED45

Job Search Analysis #2

Hi! This is another post on a graphic design job up for analysis. This next one concerns an internship in Kansas City, MO for Gear for Sports, Inc. The position is a student in graphic design who would be one of their graphic artists. It is a paid internship with the salary up for debate. It would begin in May and end at the beginning of August. In this job, the GA is allowed to create a variety of designs/logos pertaining to the company's requests. It also requires punctuality and efficiency in terms of production, shipping and handling of any graphic designs created. It also requests that the applicant be a junior or above with acquired skills in Adobe Illustrator CS and Macintosh systems (which I have accumulated), and to be physically and educationally capable to handle the tasks of the office space. The end result of the internship should be an enhanced knowledge on screen-printing.

For more details check it out!
https://www5.recruitingcenter.net/Clients/gfsi/PublicJobs/controller.cfm?jbaction=JobProfile&Job_Id=10872&esid=az

National Logo Re-Design: the KU Jayhawk

In this post, I wanted to write about a logo that has changed its looks over the course of time. I could've gone the route of Coca-Cola, Folgers, Gatorade, etc. but instead I opted to do something relevant to me and in the NCAA XII Championship today: The KU Jayhawk logo. The logo as we all know has grown into a symbol for any person who is a Univesity of Kansas fan and has grown up in the United States. Also what interests me is the history of the logo and the many transitions it had gone through over the past 100 years. That's right, in 1912 the first inception of the Jayhawk was created to be the symbol for the University almost 40 years after the first graduating class in 1873. The Jayhawk image was first conceived by cartoonist Henry Malloy in 1912, which was originally just a blue and yellow bird with blue boots - "used for kicking of course" (kuathletics.com). Since then it had been revisioned several times over until we have the epic 4 color bird we have today. Consisting of red, blue, gold and a dab of white, the Jayhawk has since become a symbol of American College Basketball glory. Since the incredible game of 2008, where Chalmers made his miracle shot at the last second of the clock, that threw us into two over times and an eventual victory in the championship, the logo is nationally recognized as a symbol of Kansas sports and popular culture. All information was received from KU Athletics Website and of course, the Jayhawk image history:

Everyday Inspiration Blog

Hello! For this post, I wanted to talk about some neat every day graphics and packaging that I found in daily life. I decided to go to the World Market for this one, as I wanted to capture stylings of designs from all over the place, not necessarily just the United States.

This first one is Chinese brand Meiji's "Hello Panda" biscuits with cream cheese. The target audience looks most definitely for children and maybe adults who are kid at heart. This is evidenced by the cartoons of pandas looking super happy with big offensively cute bug eyes. The call to action to me is the new sports printing that they have placed down at the bottom. It reminded me of how certain cereals in the America utilize new colors or flavors to the mix to entice the audience to pick it up. I also really enjoy the packaging of the product and have been thinking of maybe something like this for my final project in  my digital file preparation course.

This retro throwback lemonade is an American-made juice drink that originated in the late 1930s. They appeal to the target audience with a affinity for vintage: The look of lemonade in a classic bottle and labeling. the call to action is a combination of the artistic graphic which jumps right out at you and the insertion of the phrase "with real lemon juice" so you know it's legitimate and not pumped full of artificial flavoring and additives like they tend to do  these days. So in truth, the classcal nature of the bottle and it's resolution to remain "real" gives it's biggest appeal to prospective customers.

This slightly alcoholic cider, is my personal favorite. Though I am not an avid fan of "hard" juice drinks, I do appreciate the awesome quality of the packaging. From the playing card logo to the sumptuous red apples speckling the image, it literally looks mouth-watering. The call to action is most definitely for over agers due to the alcohol content, but I feel like anyone with an appreciation for the Old West-era symbolism the combination of playing cards and alcohol represent to most Americans.

This is U.K. creation is an alcoholic beverage, bottled and styled to format the classic british comedy troupe Monty Python. It is a Pale Ale with a comedic attention-grabbing logo and sub-logo (for those of poor eye-sight it says "tempered over burning witches". I cried from laughter). The target audience is most likely anyone who grew up with Monty Python lore or just someone who enjoys both alcohol and comedically unique things. The call to action being the fact that it's both unique and a neat aspect of the "Holy Grail" cast's wide-spread fame.

Finally, the last graphic image inspiration (and part of my delicious dinner that evening) is the German packaged "mini wini" cocktail sausages. The target audience looks like it is for the younger people as the packaging somewhat reminds me of the "Mighty Kids" bread labeling from the late 90s here in the United States. It's both colorful and eye-catching and the call to action could be the amount of little cocktail weenies stored in the nifty little jar. Also the freshness of the weenies could be a factor for anyone who knows that brine is a preservative substance used in keeping food fresh (If you didn't, no worries, I had to google what brine was exactly).

Everyday Inspiration for graphic design and packaging is literally EVERYWHERE and this is a mere taste of the multitude of interesting designs that are a part of the home we call Earth. Hope you enjoyed!

Magazine & Bilboard Ad Projects

The magazine ad will be for a soft drink aptly called "Drinq" and will be featured in Maxim magazine. The purpose is to get people interested in the product and can use the Microsoft Tag as a means of learning more. Call to action is that by buying this drink you will be able to escape the scorching summer ahead with a refreshing and cool beverage.

Project Specs
Magazine:
Size - 7in x 10.75in
Bleed - 0.125 in
Margins - 0.25 in
Cost to Produce:
Master Image: Screen Tint

Magazine Thumbs and Roughs:

The next ad, is the Bilboard which will also feature the "Drink" product. Since it's a bilboard, the project will have the same purpose and call to action as the magazine ad, only a lot bigger. I will utilize only a 4 raster color to create the image and keep it simplistic yet eye-catching.

Project Specs
Size in InDesign: 6.5" x 9.5"
Actual Bilboard Size: 10' 6.5" x 22' 9.5"
Bleed: 0.125 in
Margins: 0.25 in
Pixels: 18ppi
Resolution: 216
Cost to Produce: $700

Bilboard Thumbs and Roughs:



Well after attempting to make at least one of these roughs happen, I hit a few snags with the time to make them so I re-hashed the original product to look like this:

Magazine Ad:



Bilboard Ad:

Thanks for checking it out guys!

Job Analysis in Graphic Design

The job opportunity I discovered was about being the creative manager for the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. This combination of theater and graphic design is ideal for me as I want to work in the arts and I can also utilize my minor! It would be a marketing job primarily, as the job requires the person to oversee all advertising set forth by the Theater. I would be responsible for all programs, posters and online media for each production and receive $45,000 a year. Not too shabby for a theater company, but after perusing their website, I see that the Alliance Theater is one of the top Artistic Theatrical spaces in Atlanta. The job itself utilizes both parts of my major and minor respectively, but they are also looking for someone with several years real world experience under their belt as well. Oh well, perhaps I could shadow them?
All information was received from the following website:

http://artjobs.artsearch.us/job/creative-manager-graphic-designer-theatre/

Newspaper Ad Project

Hello dear readers! For this project, I am to create an ad for something specific. I chose Baker Studios, a fictional acting and film  company that teaches people how to act. The purpose is self promotion and to attract a demographic of young adults ages 18-25. The call to action is the first three lessons for free (ideal for young college students studying performing arts, or just wanting to become more outspoken).

Thumbs:

Rough (tentative):

For this project, we also needed to utilize a scanned original creation of ours. I opted for a logo and this was the end result after scanning and touch-ups:

Project Specifications:
- 7 x 5
-.125 bleed
-grayscale

Price to produce: The cost of the ad space which is a column width of 4 ( 7.71 actual inches) and a height of 4 inches. Multiply the parameter equvilant (16 inches) by $4 and it equals out to a cost of $74 in ad space, keeping me in my $97 budget range.

Final ad image and pricing to come after creation!



Master Image List

In this blog post we shall cover all the things that encompass a master image list. What is a master image list? It's a list of the different kinds of images that cover various layouts such as color schemes, tints and shadings, vector to raster art, etc. So I figured a good breakdown of the master image list would be most beneficial:

Bitmaps: An image composed of pixels that contain color values per pixel. They are primarily comprised of two main parameters, which are color depth and number of pixels used. For color depth, the pixels can be formed by either the generic 1 bit (black and white), 8-bits (varying levels of greys), or 24 bits (utilizations of RGB). The name bitmap also comes from the association that the image is a "map of bits" much like a pixmap is a "map of pixels". Bitmaps are also generally created in the form of JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and GIFs.

Reverse: This is generally a form of light type on a dark background. This is considered different than black on white type as the type color for a reverse is simply the color of the paper showing through the inked over black background.

Vector Art: Art that is unpixelated and as such can be scalable to almost any size. This is because they have solid resolution, unlike raster images who's sizes are predetermined by the amount pixels they have. These images can be enhanced to almost any size and will print without problematic blurring of the image and can even be edited as well as scaled.

Grayscale Raster: This is a type of image that consists mainly of the 8-bit pixels that can be use varying degrees of grey and transposing it onto the image. Basically, you can transform a full color image into different shades of grey (saving on colored inks and bitmap pixels).

Duotone Raster: You may have already seen some of my previous blogs talking about duotone and my VDP was composed of of both black and red (185 C) as the spot color. A duotone in short is a type of raster using both generic black ink and a spot color for the only other color in the image (duo = two, no way!). This style of coloring can add interest to a file with minmial amounts of color. It's like staring at a black and white photo yet there are sparks of color that add an ocular shift to the image. However; don't stress about finding the black as a spot color since it can simply remain the regular black from CMYK.

Silhouette Raster: This form of image is most identifiable as a black image pressed against a white background. The black images give interest to the blank white of the background and give the viewer a focal point in which to admire the work. This style of raster is seen on many picture formats such as ClipArt. Primarily consists of black and white, a silhouette can be used for other colors as well. The point of a silhouette is to provide the outline of a shape and to give it a different background, adding a sort of mysterious interest to the picture.

Full Bleed Raster: A raster image that is displayed when a color exceeds the margins set by the trim size. A full bleed can happen with most any raster or vector. The difference is that vectors are still able to be changed or scaled down without compromising the quality of the image.

Four-Color Raster: This type of image is usually made up of the 4 basic color swatches CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). This image can only be composed of variations of these 4, so if the color is of a specific set not located in the swatches, then the color must be switched to a spot color. However; without the proper number of the spot color, this image is useless. Luckily, the four colors that can be manipulated and intermixed can work for most any kind of rastered image.

Screen Tint: As defined on PrintingTips.com, a screen tint is a "screen pattern that consists of dots that are all made up of the same size and created on an even tone". This means that it acts as a type of shading, where compiled dots of equal size are slapped together and formulate lighter or darker tones to the image it's imprinted upon.

Hope this gives you some snazzy insight into the different forms of images there are in the digital world and that you can use these examples to formulate your own Master List. Big thanks to the following books and sites:
Claudia McCue's Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications
http://www.printingtips.com/email-term/t--2080/screen-tint.asp
http://creativebits.org/

Chapters 11 & 12

Hello again! This blog post concerns mainly the chapters 11 and 12 out of Claudia McCue's Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications.

Microsoft Tags

This post is all about Microsoft Tags and their significance design, product marketing, and acting as a bridge between the physical world and the virtual one. A Microsoft Tag, or a High Capacity Color Barcode is very much like a colorful and triangularly-pixelated version of the QR Code. They can be found on essentially any packaged products and are used as a connector between the receiver of the tangible product to the sender of the product via their representative website.  It can use as many as up to an 8-color palette and can be stylized into a designed artistic format much more aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching for the viewer. It is a translatable code for any consumer who utilizes smart phone internet technology. By simply downloading a Microsoft Tag Translator app for these phones, the consumer can translate the code and uncover the data hidden within the code. Like the QR Code, the 2D Tag is often used to connect the viewer to a URL of the tag's originator website or type of online media.

To generate, one can easily go to a Microsoft Tag generator website such as http://tag.microsoft.com/ and type in the URL they wish to transform and hit enter. You can track how many use scan this image as the tag records the data in Microsoft thereby also allowing you to see how many times the code is scanned.

The below example is of my own blog site transposed into a Microsoft Tag (this one for facebook):

Thanks for reading! Hope this helped you gain some insight into the age of Digital marketing and into the uses of Microsoft Tags.  All information was received from the following sites:
http://tag.microsoft.com/

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/hccb/about.aspx

Chapters 8, 9 and 10 summaries

In this entry, I will disclose the information I've learned from Chapters 8, 9 and 10 of Claudia McCue's Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications.

Chapter 8 is primarily concerned with teaching you how to prep your designs in the various design programs like InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. In terms of working for a printing company, most companies will direct you to a salesperson. They will assist you with the information you need such as estimates of production cost and a breakdown of the steps one takes necessary to print your product. Some steps included are talking with a CSR, or Customer Service Rep. Their role is to help you as the creator with any special needs for the project that you need such as special varnishes or coatings, unsual content and any kind of mixed inks crucial to the final product. The CSR acts as the primary contact for the job and is supposed to be well-versed in all aspects of the project so it's best to give them the information specs for the project as early as possibler in order for them to have your product ready by your due date.The next step is talking with the printer and making your plans for print.  Make sure when you are ready to print, you communicate properly with your printer the various details of your printed project. When consulting with a printer make sure that you have already collected all the information for the product to print that you need such as artwork size, interactions with folds, any specific trims or perforations, and correct number of pages and inks. the next thing to do according to McCue is to check out your raster images/vector artwork. It's important to save the image in the right format and color space so that the resolution of the finalized image will not become compromised or pixilated. Often these images have basic requirements such as a resolution of 300ppi, any retouchings, rescalings, rotations, file name editing and one of the five major color spaces: CMYK, RGB, monochrome, duotone and grayscale. Chapter 8 also taught me that by making sure these specifications are correctly filled out, your image should be crisp when printed. Just to be safe, it also says that pre-printing a few proofs of your image will benefit you in order to make sure the image is the way you want it. There are two kinds of proofs: image and page. Image proofs are proofs of just the image itself, with no page layout attached to them. They are also called scatter or random proofs and can be done in photoshop whereas page proofs are done in InDesign.

Chapter 9 talks primarily about Photoshop and how to use it for graphic design and printing. In terms of scaling and rotating the image, certain things to take note of when going about this is whether or not the image will be printed in multiple sizes, if the image will be rotated in final size, if the image will be coupled as both an image for print and an image for Web purposes, among other factors. To rotate the image, the easiest rotation is at a 15 degree angle in order to prevent any wavy lines along the sides of the image. To scale, proportion is key in image's visceral appearance. When scaling the image, the size of it previous to being brought into Photoshop may be adjusted to 300ppi in order to to get the most beneficial to printing. Since a printed image only operates in CMYK or grayscale, you'll want to convert the image to one of these two even though RGB is also accepted in Photoshop. When posting the image to the Web however, it is important to make the image RGB ONLY. These tips are to ensure that the image's resolution will respond well to whatever medium it is being posted or printed to. With color space, it is important that if you use an Illustrator file, it must be converted to CMYK or else printing the image will be impossible. When it comes to flattening or layering an image, keep an original copy of the image so you can go back and re-edit if necessary. For printing, make sure the image has been flattened using the merge layers option in the layers panel in CS4 but not CS5. To use in CS5, you can choose to flatten the image simply by clicking flatten image in the layer panel. Either way the image is flattened. Transparency is also covered in this chapter which is the opacity percentage in Photoshop. Essentially it used to decrease the fade of the background or foreground of the image. When it comes to creating a path in Photoshop, it can be created using either the Wand or Pen tools. The Pen tool works better as the clipping is much more concise. Duotone images (previously worked with in the Direct Mail Project) are images consisting of only two colors: normally either black or white and one spot color. It gains the viewer's optical attention and gives interest in the minimalist quality of the image.

Chapter 10 covers the various uses of Illustrator. To kick off this section, I shall start by talking about Arboards and their uses. Artboards are used like an extra layer to place the image, even though this layer does not actually exist, but is used more of a practiced guide (fun fact: you can make up to 100 artboards, using the artboard drag tool). With Bleeds in Illustrator, you can adjust the settings by going to File and selecting Document set up, even if the bleeds for the document already existed. These settings are used in Illustrator within the document itself. To simplify complex art within Illustrator, try going to choose object, click on Path then select Clean up to get rid of any excess pen clicks or miscellaneous text paths or objects without fills or strokes. In the Effects menu, there are two main types which are Illustrator and Photoshop, respectively. In the former, effects are applied to the insides and edges of the vector, even the Clipping Masks. Photoshop Effects mainly work with the inside of the image and you don't have to modify the image, Clipping Mask or otherwise. Types of Effects included are shadows, glows or distorts.
Transparencies in Illustrator is much like Photoshop in that it can lessen the image's concrete appearance and can be blended. According to McCue using spot colors are OK in that the image will be converted to CMYK anyway. The results may vary if you transfer the image from Illustrator to InDesign though because the spot colors may be different depending on the color chosen. You can also flatten the transparency of the image, making it easier to transfer or print the image. Finally, I will touch upon Illustrator's Linked and Embedded images. A linked image is smaller than an embedded image because of color corrections or retouchings done to the file. The benefit to Embedding a file is that it keeps all the image components together, rather than Linked files that require you sometimes to backtrack into Photoshop to clarify the existing file specifications. Unfortunately, Embedding also complicates any edits made to the image whereas linking the image can be easily edited by Re-Linking everything.

Variable Data Direct Mail Project

Hello again! My next project is to create a direct mail with two target audiences. My direct mail will be an invite to join the summer theatre programs at Christian Youth Theatre (CYT for short), a real theatre company in Kansas City, Missouri. It appeals to two demographics: kids and parents. For kids, it's an invite to come perform in their productions. For parents, it's an invite to see their child perform.
The project specifications:
7x 5 inch horizontal postcard
.25 inch margins
.125 bleed
Duotone raster image (black and Pantone 185 C)
Price quoted for 250 postcards was $145 or $.58 per postcard. Quoted from http://www.modernpostcard.com/
Pictures of Thumbs and Roughs will be posted tomorrow when working with a legitimate camera.

 Thumbnails:

Roughs:

Front

Back

Chapter 6 and 7

This blog entry will summarize what knowledge I garnered from chapters 6 and 7 of Claudia McCue's Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications. For starters, chapter 6 elaborates more on the different types of fonts, types, and issues that can occur with fonts when paralleled with other fonts. The three major types of fonts are Open Type, True Type, and PostScript. Open Type is a single-file,cross-platform font that lacks a separate and trackable screen/printer font. Open Type is also very compatible with RIPs. PostScript is a bitmap composed of two files. It is considered a "screen font" type and has a printer component composed of pixels. As such, this component poses problems for the overall resolution of the file, so keeping the printer font will allow for you to maintain the font you want. True Type is a single file font with printer and screen components combined. This poses as a problem to press operators as RIPs can't decipher between the two.  The next bases to cover are over glyphs and font families. Glyphs are usually noted to be a type of symbol such as a letter or  an ampersand (&). Glyphs allow for swashes, fractions, and other such add-ons to possess the same font as your type. Font Families themselves are a designed typeface that can specify text. Dfont is a lot like True Type for Macs is stored in the data fork instead of the resource fork.

Chapter 7 breaks down the basics of file titling and licensing, as well as extensions, Multiple Master Fonts and formats that can cross platforms. It purports that, to name a file, one would do best to use an underscore between each word so as to decrease problems in the file search. Words with hyphens,  numerals, and spaces can also work. Now this works for the majority of the file, but at the end of the file, there has to be some type of extension. Types of extensions include: .pdf, .rtf, and .tif. The period is necessary as it keeps the file name divided from the extension. Without the afforementioned extension, the file cannot be opened. Simple as that. Finally, I'll close this entry talking about cross-platforms and licensing. Licensing in terms of fonts are very important as it keeps any specialized or personalized font created by the user as a legally bound font. Cross platform fonts are the types of fonts that can be utilized from software to software such as TIFFs, PDFs, and JPEGs. So long as the extension is used, these types of files along with PSDs, AIs and PSDs can be utilized across different platforms.

Copyright for Designers

This blog post will cover the importance of copyright parameters for Graphic Designers.
First of all, copyright of an image itself extends only to the artist. Any one who goes under the nose of said artist and uses their images are doing it illegally and if caught, the illegal user is definitely at worst going to be sued. At best, everything is fine and the artist doesn't care. Secondly, when it comes to intellectual property (created works by some form of artist), this includes more than just a graphic design: poetry, video, music, writing are all mediums of creativity designed by an artist and as such, they are all protected under U.S. copyright laws.
So yes, that also includes content and fonts and online as well as offline content. Now, that isn't to say a person can't just ask the creator to use their work. Honesty is by far the best policy in terms of copyright, and most users can buy a copy of the image for some kind of royalty that would go to the creator. Or depending on the site (and the diligent hunting skills of the user), images can be found online for free but often require joining the site as a member.
In conclusion, there are a multitude of reasons how copyright benefits the graphic designer. By copyrighting an image, you as the artist can better protect your produced works from being stolen and used without permission and keeps it so that whatever intellectual property of yours remains just that: your property.

All information was gathered from www.copyright.gov, and online excerpts from Tad Crawford's "American Institute of Graphic Arts" 2008.

Chapters 4 & 5

In summary of chapter 4 the history of pixels are covered, scaling and formatting an image to print are discussed, and the differences between RGB and CMYK are touched upon as well. Chapter 5 discusses vectors and their various uses and formats. All of this of course is necessary in the final printed product.

Now to go in depth into each chapter. First I'll talk a little about pixels. Pixels in their truest form are a multitude of tiny dots that when placed side by side with each other, formulate an image or video recording. In terms of how the images are saved, most often the images are a toss up between either JPG or RAW files. JPG pictures are very generic RGB-laid files that are compressed and can be created with a simple point and shoot camera. Most digital cameras today save their image files as RAW files: files that are far less compressed than JPG and are much easier to save in different formats rather than JPG. The RAW files though much more flexible than JPG, can also be quite large and take up large amounts of memory on the camera's card or computers in general. The chapter also discusses the resolution of images in ppi, which is the standard abbreviation for pixels per inch. This is different than dpi (dots per inch) because ppi is the pre-printed form of the image where as the dpi is the post-print. Other subjects touched upon in the chapter are Bitmap images and cropping/rotating images. The former, is a file format that is used to store images. Standard versions of bitmaps include: JPG, GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), and PNG (Portable Network Graphics). Bitmaps are in black and white pixels that can produce a large or small file of a clear, high res. image. The latter (cropping and rotating) are part of the images initial touch ups. Cropping an image most often occurs when you first scan or when you're saving the image. When rotating the image, the safest rotation is 90 degrees. This is safest rotation because too many odd rotations to an image can soften the detail, hurting the look of the overall picture.
Towards the end of chapter 4, a breakdown between good printable file formats and bad printable file formats were compared. According to Claudia McCue in her Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications book, the best types of formats for print are TIFFs and EPS (encapsulated PostScript) with PDF sometimes being okay, depending on the file.  Certain formats NOT beneficial to print are generally PNG, GIF and, JPEG (Joint Photograph Experts Group). This is because most of these formats exceed the amount of colors provided by the printer.
Lastly, chapter 4 talks about the transparency tip and its importance. The transparency tip is mainly a result of certain software's ability to blend modes in the Photoshop file. To ensure the blend goes smoothly, create the file how you want it in InDesign or Adobe Illustrator for optimal image efficiency.

In summary of chapter 5, a breakdown of vector graphics and file formats happens, as well as detailing ways to embed fonts, outline text and simplify paths. In starting, vectors are pixel-free images that can be scaled to any size without sacrificing image clarity. Originally the file format for vectors was EPS but has since become more popularly used in Adobe InDesign. When saving the vector, its better to save it as an illustrator file rather than EPS, as an illustrator file is usable for software such as InDesign. Vector formats unable to print are Raster formats, Windows Metafile Formats (WMFs), and Enhanced Metafile Formats (EMFs).  To embed a file, you can use EPS or AI to transfer into other programs, meaning the files are available to be opened and print. To embed the font of the file, these fonts should be readily available on your system beforehand. All fonts use "hinting" as a means of expressing the kind of data stored in the file as well. If outlining the text of your file, this will eliminate the hinting but will also lower the resolution of the image and is encouraged unless the file needs to be digitally printed. To simplify the paths of the image in InDesign, use your pen tool sparingly so as to give it a smoother effect. This smoothness will also help in the transition process to InDesign.

That concludes my summaries of chapters 4 and 5! Have a high res day!

Note Pad Project!

                                           Thumbnails ^ Rough v

My first print project is to create a notepad. The purpose of it will be for self-promotion and will be aimed toward family-oriented audiences. The price to produce one 7 by 5 notepad with no bleed and 50 pages is $3.79. There will also be a QR code included in the final image. The very top picture are my series of thumbnail sketches with the bottom picture being my Rough prior to translation onto InDesign. Update on the pre and post print pics will come soon!

Chapters 1, 2 & 3

In this new post, I will discuss facts of interest in chapters 1, 2 and 3 in Claudia McCue's "Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications". To begin I shall talk about the Finishing Processes. The Finishing Processes when it comes to print jobs vary due to the specifics of each individual job.It is the process that occurs after the job is printed. Essentially, the final touch ups before distribution. An example of a Finishing Process is Die Cutting. Die Cutting is often used for a print job that requires special shaping to edges or folding. This type of cut often involves scoring or "the act of pressing an indentation into the stock to facilitate folding the final piece." ( McCue, 72).
Other aspects included in print jobs are aspects such as the Folding Dummy which is a blank sheet of paper folded in the shape of the print job. This dummy is used like a rough draft of the finished print to check that folding and imposition are correct.
 Other well known terms that follow the life cycle of a print job include hearing about your image being RIPed. A RIP or Raster Image Processor is a special computer that combines proprietary technology to translate PostScript/PDF input into very high resolution images. In this computer, an Imagesetter is used as the means of translating the RIPed image into the high-res bitmap. It takes the film and images it by exposing the film with laser/light-emitting diodes (two digital devices that produce energy).
In terms of how the image is measured, it is usually done with picas and points. The difference between the two is that picas are the smaller unit of the two as one pica is equal to twelve points.

Moving through to chapter two, it discusses the different ways ink can be placed on print and the way colors are distributed to create the images. When thinking on what colors prints can be, one must know that a basic print is almost always a two color job, meaning that to print the image, two colors are needed to print it. With that said, let's begin the breakdown of chapter two. First, when broken down to the tiniest form, resolutions occur in three different ways: Dots per Inch (DPI) which is typically used for printers and imagesetters, Lines per Inch (LPI) which is used for measurement along the rows of dots and Pixels per Inch (PPI) which is used to describe image resolution. In terms of color prints, most images are printed are generally made with the four colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black or, CMYK.  When the print colors separate from CMYK, they use Spot colors. Spot colors are colors that have special additions to their hues such as neon green or navy blue. With Spot color rendering, images with color falling out of CMYK can still be printed onto an image medium.

Some last additions I'd like to share that I've learned about is the importance of registration and VDP. With Registration, printed inks are applied to paper in alignment. This helps the overall neatness of the image as the inks are applied in rapid succession rather than at the same time. Last but not least VDP or Variable Data Publishing is important in that it personalizes the printed products to target specific people rather than generic mailing. VDP is beneficial in that it sparks active and positive responses from the customers the printed material is being distributed to. 

QR Codes, What Are They, How Do They Work, and Why Use It ?

After conducting a bit of research, I have figured out that a QR code (Quick Response code in non-abbreviated form) is a a two-dimensional bar-code which usually contains an encoded web address, text or another form of gathered information. This allows for people to scan the code off of a printed material to content on a website in minutes. When one wishes to generate a QR code, one can go to any number of various QR generator websites ( some popular ones being myqr.co, Kaywa, and Delivr) and then posting the URL into the generator and out pops the the blocky, concealed code. Once the code is generated, it can be tracked by a QR tracking website. Some websites such as myqr.co can even show you anything from how many times your code is scanned by people to how many people peruse your website as a result of scanning the code.

So with all that in mind, my next question is why use QR codes at all? The simplest answer: Marketing. QR codes are now being used often as marketing tools for which to sell their products and get their name out there. These codes can be put on most anything printed like posters, packages, stickers, the list goes on and on. Another reason why to use a QR code is technology. By now, people the world over use or can use some form of smart phone and most of these phones have QR apps that are easy to download and for free. Smart phones give people portable scanners in a sense and many companies are getting in on the tactics of using bar codes to pique the interest of the people and to get as many hits on their websites as possible to help boost business and sales.

So overall, QR codes are pretty neat codes, and are in many ways, like a box of chocolates. Once scanned, you never know what you're going to get.

Preflighting: My First Post!

Hello my name is Brett Robert Baker and this my blog site! To start this new venture off, I will first be explaining the Pre-flight Process as well as give an example of a Preflight checklist. I will also be covering a job description and a salary range.  First off, after perusing Google for a website that appropriately explained the Preflight process, I settled on the site http://www.printernational.org. This site explained the Preflight process for Indesign. In essence, the purpose of Preflight is the means to check all the files used in a document and to double check if anything has gone missing, been changed, etc. within the file.

For  a Preflight checklist on Indesign, the checklist it goes through besides the aforementioned above is the types of fonts the package is to be printed in as well as making sure the bleed is correct and making sure the size is formatted for the printer. Other things to check for in Preflight are making sure your PMS colors are separated from your CMYK (or vice versa), exporting correct registration marks, making sure the image resolution is the right size so the image will not be blurry or pixelated and making sure the overall document is the size you want before exporting it to print.

A job that has resonance with the topic of this post is the job title of Print Production specialist, a job that offers anywhere between 30k-70k yearly. The type of work this job entails consists of meeting or exceeding sales requirements as well as offering sales expertise and advice.  Information was obtained from both careerbuilder.com as well as glassdoor.com.

Hope this gives some good insight into the purpose of Preflight and provided some helpful examples of how a preflight checklist is made and exemplified well certain jobs and salaries in the field of Preflight.

-BRB-