How to Preview Color Separations and Export Documents as PDF with Indesign

Adobe InDesign is a powerful page layout program renowned for its ease of use, precision, and integration with other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite. Hallmark features of InDesign include professional type and graphics handling, drawing tools, transparency, and reliable print and PDF output. With powerful creative tools and flexible workflow features at their fingertips, graphic designers around the globe are using InDesign to produce all types of print and electronic publications. From magazines, books, and newsletters to posters, CD covers, and bumper stickers, many of the publications you see are produced with InDesignoften in concert with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

As you work on a publication, you'll probably print several proofs to one or more desktop printers before the publication is completed. After you've added the final touches and the publication is ready for final output, you or your print service provider will print the finished document, probably using a high-resolution printer. If you're producing a color publication that will be printed on a printing press, final output means printing color separations that will be used to print the document on-press.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to preview color separations onscreen, how to export documents as PDF.

How to preview color separations onscreen

InDesign includes several features that let you preview and prepare documents before you print final versions or send them to a print service provider for high-resolution output. The Separations Preview palette (Window > Output > Separations Preview) is one of the most useful production tools for color publications. It lets you show or hide individual colors, display color values for objects and graphics, and show areas that exceed a specified maximum ink coverage.

To preview color separations onscreen, open the Separations preview palette and then choose Separations from the View menu. The color list in the palette includes process colorscyan, magenta, yellow, and black, as well as any other spot colors in the Swatches palette regardless of whether you've used them.

Separations Preview Palette

Clicking the small square to the left of a color name alternately shows and hides the color. Clicking CMYK shows and hides all process colors. You can show or hide whatever colors you want, although at least one color must always be displayed. The Show Single Plates in Black command in the Separations Preview palette menu lets you control how a color is displayed when all other colors are hidden. When it's checked, single colors are displayed as black.

As you drag the pointer over a page, the values associated with the colors in the Separations Preview palette change to reflect the color of the pixel that the pointer is over.

Because too much ink on a page can cause drying problems, you may also need to know if the colors in a layout exceed the maximum ink coverage value suggested by your print service provider. To highlight areas that exceed maximum ink coverage, choose Ink Limits in the palette menu, and then specify a maximum ink coverage value in the accompanying field. (Check with your print service provider for the suggested percentage.) Areas that exceed the specified maximum ink coverage value are displayed in shades of red. The more an area exceeds the maximum allowable ink coverage, the darker the shade of red.

When you're done previewing separations and areas that exceed maximum ink coverage, choose Off from the Separations Preview palette menu to return to normal view.

How to exporting documents as PDF

At many publishing sites, publications in progress are exported as PDF documents for electronic markup and review, and finished publications are exported as PDF for final, high-resolution output. When it's time to export an InDesign layout as a PDF file, you have many options for controlling the size and many other characteristics of the file. The choices you make when you export a PDF file depend on how the PDF will be used. For example, if you want to distribute a PDF via email to colleagues or clients for electronic review and markup using Acrobat or Reader, you should save a compact, low-resolution PDF that's ideal for electronic distribution and review but not appropriate for high-resolution output. If you intend to send a PDF file to a print service provider for high-resolution output, you should save a high-resolution file.

To export a layout as PDF:

1. Choose File > Export.
2. In the Export dialog box, enter a name for the PDF file and choose the folder in which the file will be saved.
3. Choose Adobe PDF from the Format menu (Mac OS) or Save as Type menu (Windows), and then click Save.
4. At this point, you can simply choose a PDF preset in the Adobe PDF Preset menu, and then click Export, or you can choose a preset, customize the settings in the various panels of the Export Adobe PDF dialog box and then click Export. If you change a setting, "(modified)" is displayed to the right of the preset selected in the Adobe PDF Preset menu.

Export Adobe PDF Dialog Box

When you make changes in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box. they're saved with the application and used the next time you export a layout as PDF.

One of the main advantages of page layout software is that it lets you view publications onscreen before you print them. However, displaying a publication onscreen and printing it are very different processes. InDesign includes several features for troubleshooting potential printing problems before they occur, as well as an abundance of print-related controls that help ensure you get the results you want when you print a document.

Assign colors to your artwork

The Assign tab of the Live Color dialog box lets you assign colors from a color group to your artwork. You can assign colors in several ways, including using a new color group chosen from the Harmony Rule menu. In this next section of the lesson, we will practice assigning new colors to the color bar and "Aquo Life" text at the bottom of the poster.

1. Choose View > Fit in Window.
2. Choose Select > Deselect and with the Selection tool, click and drag to select the blue bar and "Aquo Life" text at the bottom of the poster.
3. Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork to open the Live Color dialog box.
4. From the Harmony Rule menu, choose the Complimentary harmony rule. This will pick a set of colors that is complimentary to the green color. Leave the Live Color dialog box open.
   
   Notice in the Live Color dialog box that the green color has a new green color assigned and the blue color has a new purple color assigned. The white color has no new color assigned because the complimentary color group that was chosen only had two colors.
   
   Artwork selected.
   
   
   
   From the Harmony Rules menu choose Complimentary.
   
   
   
   The result.
   
   
   
5. With the Live Color dialog box still open, click and drag the purple color on top of the green color in the New column. This will swap the green and purple colors. Leave the Live colordialog box open.
   
   Drag to swap the new colors.
   
   
   
   The result.
   
   
   
6. From the Colors menu, choose 1.
   
   Notice that in the Colors menu, some of the numbers are dimmed. You can select up to the number of colors originally found in the object. In this case it is three (green, blue, and white).
   
7. At the bottom of the Live Color dialog box, make sure that the HSB sliders are showing. If they are not, select HSB from the Color Mode menu by clicking on the Color Mode button to the right of the sliders.
8. Change the HSB values to H=360, S=87, and B=84. This will edit the purple color to a red.
   
   Notice how the new purple color has changed to red. Also notice how the blue and green colors are merged in the Current Colors column. The red color in the New column is split into 3 different sections (The 3 sections are subtle because one section is a tint of the red). This indicates the new red color (the top half) and the tints of the new red beneath it. The darkest color in the row (the blue) is replaced with the specified new color (the red). Other current colors in the row (the green) are replaced with a proportionally lighter tint of the red because you chose to use 1 color.
   
   

   Change the number of colors to 1.
   
   
   
   Change the HSB values to red.
   
   
   
   The result.
   
   

9. Click on the Show Color Group Storage icon on the right side of the Live Color dialog box to show the Color Groups list if it isn't already showing. Click New Color Group to create a color group from the colors you edited. The color group called Color Group will appear in the Color Groups list.
10. Double-click on the new color group name in the Color Groups list to open the Edit Name dialog box. Change the name of the group to LogoBar and click OK.
11. Click OK in the Live Color dialog box and click Yes if a save dialog appears. The new color group should appear in the Swatches panel.

 

Creating a color group using Live Color

You can create a color group in the Live Color dialog box by choosing a base color and a harmony rule. The harmony rule uses the base color as the basis for generating the colors in the color group. For example, if you choose a blue base color and the Complementary harmony rule, a color group is created using the base color, blue, and its compliment, red.

Next you will create a color group from the colors you edited in the Live Color dialog box.

1. Click on the Show Color Group Storage icon on the right side of the Live Color dialog box to show the Color Groups list. Click on the New Color Group icon to create a color group from the colors you edited. A new color group will appear in the Color Groups list.
   
2. Double-click on the new color group name to open the Edit Name dialog box. Change the name of the group to Logo2 and click OK.
   
3. Click on the Hide Color Group Storage icon on the right side of the Live Color dialog box to hide the Color Groups area.
   
4. Click OK to close the Live Color dialog box.
   
5. Look in the Swatches panel to see the new Logo2 color group appear. You may need to scroll down in the Swatches panel top see it.
   
   Create a new color group from the edited logo colors and rename to Logo2.
   
   
   
   The result in the Swatches panel.
   
   
   
6. The copied logo should have the purple and green colors of the new color group you created.
   
   Original copied logo.
   
   
   
   The result.
   
   

 

Editing color with Live Color

Adobe Illustrator CS3 has many tools for working with color including the Color Guide panel and the Live Color feature. Use the Color Guide panel (Window > Color Guide) as a tool for color inspiration while you create your artwork. The Color Guide panel suggests harmonious colors based on the current color in the Tools panel. You can use these colors to color artwork or you can save them as swatches.

In this section you will see how to edit colors using the Live Color dialog box. You will make a copy of the Aquo logo and test colors.

1. With the Selection tool, click and drag a marquee selection around the Aquo Natural Energy logo and choose Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste. Move the copy down below the original logo and keep it selected.
   
2. Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Convert to CMYK. This way the yellow PMS color in the copied logo has been converted to CMYK.
   
3. Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork. This will open the Live Color dialog box and allow you to edit the colors in the logo.
   
   The Live Color dialog box should appear, so keep it open for the next steps.
   
   You use the Live Color dialog box to create and edit color groups, as well as reassign or reduce the colors in your artwork. All of the color groups that you create for a particular document appear in the Color Groups storage area of the Live Color dialog box (as well as the Swatches panel). You can select and use these color groups at anytime.
   
4. In the Live color dialog box, click on the Hide Color Group Storage icon on the right side of the dialog box. This will hide the color groups storage area for now.
   
5. Click on the Edit tab to edit the colors in the artwork using a color wheel.
   
   Hide Color Groups storage area.
   
   
   
6. Click on the Color Mode button and choose CMYK from the menu (if the CMYK sliders are not already visible.)
   
   Choose CMYK from the color mode drop down menu.
   
   
   
7. While still in the Live Color dialog box, click on the Link Harmony Colors icon to link all of the colors together (if you see a link icon, then they are already linked). This way if you make an edit to one color, it will affect the others. These are called Harmony colors.
   
8. Holding the Shift key, click and drag the yellow color circle to the left into the green area of the color wheel. Drag the Brightness slider to the right to make the colors brighter overall. This will perform a global adjustment. Keep the Live Color dialog box open.
   
   Link the colors, adjust the yellow color, change the brightness.
   
   
   
   Close up.
   
   
   
   A. Color display options.
   B. Color of selected color marker or color bar.
   C. Recolors selected artwork when checked.
   D. Show saturation and hue on Wheel.
   E. Color Mode button.
   F. Color Group To Colors In A Swatch Library button.
   G. Unlink harmony colors.
   H. Add and subtract color marker tools.