A feature which is strangely absent from Adobe Illustrator (yet present in Adobe InDesign) is mixed inks. This gives the user the ability to make a new swatch based on percentiles of other swatches that can include spot colors, along with process colors.
InDesign’s mixed ink feature also allows groups of mixed ink colors to be made, based on how much of each ink should be in each swatch, and the increments they should differ by.
For pure spot color work, this can create colors that would otherwise require using blend modes such as multiply or darken to create similar colors. However, from a prepress standpoint, mixed inks have several advantages over applying blend modes to objects to achieve the same effect.
Embellishments
For digital devices that can apply inline varnishes, mixed inks make sense. In the following example, the headline requires a varnish
Usual way of doing this would be to create a second layer with an identical headline, but set to a Varnish spot color on another layer, with either a transparency effect such as darken or multiply applied; or overprint turned on from the attributes menu.
That’s fine if the position of the artwork is final, but if the design is in a state of flux, that requires moving the varnish to be in the same position as the type.
A solution is to use InDesign’s mixed ink to create a new mixed ink swatch. In this case, I’ll call it Varnished Headline, and give it 100% of the black and 100% of the varnish spot
This solution also applies to other common embellishments such as embosses, foils, raised varnishes, etc.
White Masks
When preparing label artwork for clear or metallic substrates, white masks have to be prepared so that the color art can appear correctly above the substrate. Take for example this logo to be printed over a silver background.
Again, by using mixed inks, it is possible to make a white mask that doesn’t require another layer, blend mode, and can move with the artwork. In this example, three colors would be created: the white mask; Red and a white mask; and Black and a white mask – the last two being mixed inks.
The art can then be recolored so that the red now uses the red mixed ink; the black now uses the black mixed ink; and the paper now uses the white mask ink.
Notice that the gold cup does not contain a white mask – that is because the gold color – when printed on a silver stock – will appear more like a gold foil.
Double-Hit Prints
On one or two spot colour jobs that have large areas of solid ink coverage, occasionally the same colour will be applied twice on the press as to hide any mechanical ghosting from the printing process.
In the above example, one plate would be for the solid color, and a second – though stippled plate – would be for the undercolor to hide the mechanical ghosting. This color can be set up using InDesign’s mixed inks.
But this is missing from Illustrator!
Despite the mixed ink feature being available in Adobe InDesign, it is notably absent from Adobe Illustrator. This is frustrating as artwork that usually requires the three solutions above is often prepared as Adobe Illustrator artwork, requiring old-school solution of layers and blend modes.
If you feel that this missing feature deserves to be in Adobe Illustrator, make sure to let the Illustrator Uservoice know!
This is the second article in the Data Merge “Did You Know” series. If you’ve not read the first article, be sure to do so here. Carrying on from the first article, let’s dive into more lesser-known Data Merge behaviours of Adobe InDesign.
Data is there… even if the link is missing
If you ever have to share a Data Merge file with anyone else but do not want to share the data with them but instead only give them the base InDesign file, note that simply removing the link doesn’t remove the data.
In Part One, I wrote that InDesign doesn’t package the source file of a Data Merge… but that doesn’t mean the data isn’t there. Take this example of a packaged InDesign file used for a Data Merge. While opening the document, there is a missing link warning.
Once the document opens, I can then see in the links panel that there is a warning next to this text file that was used as the source.
If I right click on the link, I can’t unembed the text file as it simply isn’t linked
However, if I go to the Data Merge panel and check the preview box, I can see the records that were in the unlinked text file.
If the file didn’t have fields added to the page, I can also add those fields to the page and check the preview button on and the data will appear for these records.
It also merges correctly to PDF and InDesign files.
Be aware of this if you ever have to package a Data Merge file to others whom you do not wish to provide unredacted data.
Merge fields can be removed via the hyperlinks panel
A Creative Pro article referred to this as “ghost hyperlinks” but it is a great way of solving issues where a newly provided data merge source file can’t be previewed because of a mismatch of source names.
By opening the Hyperlinks panel, it is possible to see the fields that InDesign is using for the data merge as they are within this panel, though they aren’t obvious at first glance.
If one of the hyperlinks is double clicked, it will reveal the field that is being referred to.
From here, a hyperlink can removed, thereby replacing the field codes in the document back to regular text.
Shift clicking during the import does not show options
If the show import options checkbox is toggled off when placing an image, it is possible to perform a “one-time” request to show the import options without clicking on the checkbox. This is done by holding shift and then clicking Open.
But this doesn’t work with Data Merge. A similar option is available when selecting a data source, though holding shift and clicking Open will simply open the document – the Show Import Options checkbox has to be checked if it needs to appear. Hopefully this is a bug that is eventually fixed.
Put linked images in the same folder as the source text file…
While it is possible to add images to a data merge project by supplying its link in the source file, I so often see users put the complete file path of the link being used in the field.
If the images are filed in the same location as the text file, the only item that needs to be added here is the name of the file.
However, this means the links need to be in the same folder as the source text file.
…or use relative syntax as well
It is also possible to use syntax that is relative to the folder where the database is. Take the following folder structure.
To link to these images, the database needs to use syntax for the previous folder and then folders above. That will look like this
..: is syntax for go back a folder, whereas / plus the folder’s name is syntax to look into that particular folder.
I hope you found this short series useful, and if you have any Data Merge “did you know” tips, please feel free to submit them either in the comments, or contact me via my contact page.
Regulars to the site will know that many of my articles relate to InDesign’s Data Merge feature. Given the amount of tutorials already available online elsewhere concerning basic tutorials for Data Merge, the Colecandoo site focuses more on articles about Data Merge in relation to scripts, GREP styles, or advanced techniques.
But there is a middle-ground that hasn’t been covered in many Data Merge tutorials, nor here on Colecandoo, so over the next two articles, I will attempt to bridge that gap and highlight some lesser known issues that can become a problem if users aren’t initially aware of them.
Can’t package the data or links used in the data
When InDesign packages an INDD file, it will save a copy of the file and copy any links used in the document into a Links folder, and any fonts used (within licensing restrictions) to a Document fonts folder.
However, this does not extend to the source data of a Data Merge file, nor any links that the source data may refer to.
PDF made from merge is different to regular PDF
I have written about this before but ultimately when exporting a PDF directly from Data Merge, it makes a variety of PDF that is similar but not the same as a usual PDF, as the following options cannot be chosen.
The ability to merge to an interactive PDF
The page range (not the record range)
Spreads
Create Tagged PDF
Create Acrobat Layers
Hyperlinks
I’ve speculated why this might be the case in this article but until this addressed, it is a consideration to be aware of.
Headers with the same name
If the headers in a database are exactly the same name, InDesign’s Data Merge will add a sequential number after the first instance of the field name to make a distinction between the field names.
Colons can cause weird issues in the header
This featured briefly in my creative pro article “Troubleshooting data merge errors” but in short, colons used in field names can cause one of two dialog boxes when used in particular circumstances. Thankfully, if a colon appears at the start or end (or both) of a field name, the data will import without any issues, but if a colon is within the field, then a dialog box with the words “Generic extended parser error” appears.
If there are two or more colons in the field name (neither at the start or end of a field name), a dialog box that says “not well formed” appears.
UTF-16 is the format built for Data Merge
InDesign’s Data Merge is designed with UTF-16 text in mind. However, CSV and TXT files exported from programs such as Microsoft Excel usually export to UTF-8.
This is usually fine for most circumstance in English, but can cause problems when:
using an alphabet other than the Roman alphabet;
the data contains punctuation or characters that may not be available via UTF-8
Excel does have an option to export to UTF-16 and it is worth using. The option is here when exporting via Excel:
In part two of this Did You Know series, we will look at other lesser known phenomenon, such as:
Data is there even if link is missing
Merge fields can be removed via the hyperlinks panel
Shift clicking during the import does not show options
The benefits of linked images in the same folder as the source text file
If you have any lesser-known Data Merge behaviours that you think would easily make this list, please feel free to mention them in the comments.
During an overseas holiday, I was asked by a fellow traveller what I did for a living. Because the term “prepress operator” is esoteric, my response was to say that I make food labelling and other printing. However, I was caught quite off-guard by the traveller’s response, which was “why do you have to make labels so darn hard to read?”.
That moment has stuck with me for some time now, and in this article I’d like to answer that traveller’s question comprehensively in an Australian setting.
In short: Limited real-estate vs too much information
That’s it in a nutshell – labels tend to be small in size, usually because the product that they contain is small in volume. Despite the small size, there’s also a lot of information to include within that size.
Details that have to be displayed by law
As a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer and this is not constituting legal advice on all specifications for a label.
The ingredients and additives by ingoing weight, and in some circumstances the percentage of ingredients. For example, if the label is identified as strawberry jam in the branding, then the percentage of strawberries actually used in the product has to be given.
Allergen information
Directions for use or storage
What the food is (e.g. is it strawberry jam, cookies, kombucha, etc)
The contact address of the manufacturer
The measurement of the weight or volume of the product
Country of Origin label
Some information can be presented on the label but may be presented elsewhere on the container, such as:
Batch or run of the product being produced
Best before or Use-By dates
In addition, the position of where the measurement of the weight or volume of the product can appear on the label is rather rigid and structured.
Country of Origin
From 1 July 2018, food products sold in Australia must display a Country of Origin label. This label has a specific appearance that must be adhered to, along with guidelines of how the label must be phrased.
An example of the Country of Origin label
This is enforceable at law by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – the Federal Government’s consumer watchdog which can – and does – give hefty fines to corporations and individuals for breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
There is an online generator to create such labels, so having to maintain an array of assets for this task isn’t required – simply generate a label as and when they are needed.
Details that may also be required
Barcodes
Note that in the above code, that a barcode isn’t required by law. However, if the product is to be stocked on a large scale through distributors in a logistics chain, then it will usually need a barcode. In Australia this will usually be an EAN-13 barcode but in North America a UPC barcode is more likely.
Barcodes also have limited scaling, and GS1 (a provider of barcodes and related logistic products and services) indicates that a barcode should be placed at no less than 80% of its recommended size.
Specifications from GS1 relating to EAN-13 barcodes at 100% size
In GS1’s more detailed instructions on their website, they also recommend specific locations and orientations for the barcode, so can’t just go anywhere at any size.
These recommendations sound strict, but are done with the best of intentions so that a barcode will scan first time, every time, regardless of where the product was purchased. Remember, it’s a retailer’s aim to get that product from their shelf to your pantry or refrigerator with the least amount of fuss.
The size of the barcode can also be influenced by the retail chain that is selling the product and may recommend not proportionally scaling the barcode at all but leaving it at 100% size. It is best to check with the retail chain’s specifications first.
Container Deposit Scheme
As at the time of writing, all states and territories in Australia (except for Victoria and Tasmania) have some form of container deposit scheme, usually for soft drink containers. These schemes encourage consumers to return the containers to a collection facility in exchange for a refund for each item returned.
Three items commonly seen on flavoured milk cartons (from top clockwise): The Country of Origin label; The Australasian Recycling Label; and The Container Deposit Scheme.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to certify the product or its packaging is from a sustainable source;
Cultural preparation certifications such as Halal or Kosher.
These types of logos won’t use a generic logo, but will usually contain a unique identifier such as a number that can be tied to the particular supplier.
These logos usually have strict stylesheets that have to be adhered to such as size, color, position in relation to other elements etc, and these guidelines have to be taken into consideration when juxtaposing the artwork for the label. The third party (or its auditing agency) usually requests to see the artwork prior to approval for print to ensure that the logo is used appropriately and within its guidelines.
Australasian Recycling Label
This is a private initiative to reduce landfill by informing consumers how the packaging can be disposed of once the product is used. The logos aren’t in the public domain and permission must be sought for use of this artwork.
And of course, our own branding
With all of the other details now on the label as required, it’s time to add the branding and design to the label… if it will fit!
This is just for food!
The details listed in this article are only describing what goes on a food label in Australia and aren’t exhaustive – this article doesn’t even mention regulations that concern pharmaceuticals or industrial products that may contain harmful chemicals.
Don’t even try being creative for cigarettes
While cigarette cartons aren’t labels, it is worth mentioning this as it is currently unique to Australia. Since 1 December 2012, any tobacco product (including labels on loose tobacco such as roll your own cigarettes) in Australia must follow the plain packaging guide, which – on a regular pack of 25 cigarettes – features such marketing gems as:
The brand and variant must be in Lucida Sans font in PANTONE Cool Gray 2C;
The pack surface must be in PANTONE 448C (a greenish-brown color);
A warning statement and graphic that covers at least 75% of the front surface without spaces separating the statement or graphic; and 90% of the back surface.
The limited amount of branding that can be applied to cigarette packaging due to Australia’s Plain Packaging Guide.
And this is just for Australia!
This article has focused on Australian food labels as they are the ones I am most familiar with and see on a daily basis at work. However, after spending time living in Canada, I recall seeing products that were sold nationwide (with exceptions of course) having to be in both English and French – good luck with getting all that information to fit now!
Can’t the label be bigger?
That can certainly provide more real-estate for the information to be displayed, but the size is often determined by:
Price of label production. Larger labels usually cost more than smaller labels that have otherwise identical print specifications such as stock, inks and embellishments.
Size of the package itself. An A4 page simply won’t fit on a cylinder that holds 100ml of a product;
How the labels are applied. For example, if machine applied, there may be specifications that a larger label can’t fulfill that a smaller label can fulfill.
Marketing. It may be more desirable for a consumer to see more of the product in the glass jar as opposed to a label that would obscure the contents.
Your thoughts
I hope this article has explained why labels can be hard to read – put simply it is to cram all of the required information into a tiny space. I’ve tried to cover as much as I could without trying to encompass all labelling, but no doubt there are items that I’ve missed or aren’t applicable in your part of the world. Leave a comment below on anything I’ve missed or if there is anything specific to labels in your country.
A pain-point I see regularly concerns inconsistencies in color names, particularly spot colors that are used for embellishments. Take for example a color that is used for representing a forme-shape. For consistency sake, the office has implemented a CC library with standard swatches for regularly used embellishments such as Dieline, Perforation and Spot UV. The concept is that anyone who requires an embellishment can simply open the CC library and choose one from the embellishment colors that have been established.
Despite creating this CC library, embellishment colors and names can still be inconsistent for reasons such as:
The artwork was legacy artwork prior to introducing the CC library;
Operator error; or
Art was supplied by a third party, such as a client or supplier.
Naming consistency is important with workflows that have been established with these embellishment colors. Take the color “Dieline” for example. This should be clearly visible on the native files, but not on the printed output. In this instance when printing to digital devices, the RIP will identify the color “Dieline” and assign it a white color value that will treat it as if it were transparent and not print at all, though it will appear in the PDF. This eliminates the need to toggle a dieline layer on and off in the application that made the artwork, and eliminates any errors associated with art being mapped to incorrect layers.
However, if the artwork contained a color named as “Dieforme” for example, the RIP would not identify the color as “Dieline” and the formeshape would be visible on the final print. This issue could be resolved by adding the color “Dieforme” manually to on the RIP, but the concept is to have every file the same so that operators aren’t interrupted having to make adjustments on the RIP for specific tasks.
A solution via Acrobat
My preferred solution is to use a custom fixup from Adobe Acrobat’s Preflight dialog. In this example, I’ve created a PDF that contains ten variations of Dieline spot color using different names, but the color value is identical. Here is what the separation preview looks like:
Acrobat does have pre-made fixups for similar tasks, such as Make custom spot color names consistent.
Let’s give that a go.
The fix has reduced the number of spot colors but only down to five. Names that had different casing have been merged together, and spaces or dashes have been removed and then merged together with the results.
Let’s revert that and try an alternative fixup Merge spot color name if appearance is identical.
OK, that has remapped all of these spots to one spot color.
However, this color is the wrong name. It is also unlikely that the forme-shape colors would ever be set with different names yet have the same underlying CMYK color conversion. The following would be more likely:
Let’s run the Merge spot color name if appearance is identical fixup again.
Some names have been culled but there similar names such as die and Die have not been mapped together, so this solution hasn’t worked.
Make a custom fixup in the Preflight panel
Luckily we can make our own solution from the Preflight panel by clicking on the options button at the top right of the panel and selecting Create Fixup…
In the new window, the fix will be given the name Diecut Fix. Choose Color spaces, spot colors, inks from the Fixup category in the top centre dialog; and select Map spot and process colors in the Type of fixup dialog on the top right hand side.
In the options at the bottom of that dialog box, make sure the Source color name matches with RegEx and in the field to the right, type the GREP ^die.*?$ – this will look for any word that begins with die. The destination should Map or rename, and the destination color name will be Dieline, with a CMYK value of 100% magenta, overprint on, and applied to Spot color is used. The checkbox should be checked on for ignore upper/lower case. Once OK’d from the bottom right hand corner, the fixup can then be activated using the Fix button on the bottom right of the Prepress dialog.
The fixup has worked – all of the colours have been mapped to the one color with the correct name and color value. An added bonus is that the color is set to overprint so that the color beneath won’t knock out.
Other applications
In this instance, the fixup has been used to fix a one-off issue concerning an incorrectly named spot color. But this fixup can be added to a larger workflow so that artwork from external sources can be cleansed for a workflow. See this article for more information (https://colecandoo.com/2019/02/24/droplet-like-its-hot/)
This particular fixup is also used to fix artwork that – while being set in the right color and name – did not have an overprint applied to the color. This fixup will correct this issue.
Given that the last general news update about this site was November 2012, it’s about time to provide another news update about the goings-on at Colecandoo.
10 years of Colecandoo in April 2021
April 2021 will mark ten years since Colecandoo.com was launched. The site started its life in the year 2000 on a former employer’s web forum in the form of a rant about what frustrated me about the files I had to handle on a daily basis. Upon being given the suggestion to turn frustration into education, I started documenting pain-points and writing suggestions on better practices for anyone who may be experiencing the same pain-points.
It wasn’t until 2011 that I had enough material to create a book, but given the pace of change in the printing industry, it would not be long before the information was out of date and revisions or reprints would be necessary, so what better platform to convey this information than a website?
In early 2013, interest in the site would be turned up to eleven. I was contacted by InDesignSecrets whether I would be interested in writing an article about Data Merge for InDesign Magazine. Since then I’ve written a few more pieces for the magazine, along with close to 30 articles for InDesignSecrets, and spoken at two conferences in an official capacity (as well as unofficially at CreativeWOW sessions and Ignite sessions).
Since starting this site, I’ve spoken at over a dozen events, including Adobe user groups, Adobe Community Professionals, as well as former and current employers.
My thanks go out to everyone who has supported the site, also to those who have gone out of their way to rally behind me to open doors I would have never thought imaginable. For years I’d wanted to be able to put suggestions and pain-points to Adobe Software Engineers directly, and through support of readers of the site, I’ve been able to do this several times.
Ten years on, some pain-points have gone; some pain-points remain, and new pain-points are introduced. I imagine that with the rise of Canva and the Affinity suite that there will be more to come, so stay tuned!
Data Merge to Single Records Pro beyond expectations
It has also been two years since the launch of the pro version of the Data Merge to Single Records script. The script had been on the back-burner for years after releasing the free version but I’d released the pro version after receiving dozens of direct requests for it. I didn’t think there would be much demand for the script from others, but two years on it has been downloaded more than I’d expected. To everyone who has purchased the script, thank you very much and I hope the script is saving time in your daily workflow.
Youtube
Many regular readers will note that it has been close to three years since the last upload to the Colecandoo YouTube channel (make sure you are subscribed to the Colecandoo). The aim of the channel was to show some tips and techniques that are hard to convey in the written format of the blog, and also had plans of monetizing the channel over time.
Preparing videos for YouTube takes many more hours and resources than writing articles for the blog. I also would like to increase the production values of the videos that are produced with better audio, graphics and on-site footage to demonstrate real-world applications of techniques shown in the videos. But in this environment that has been difficult to do, and in terms of production – I’m it! There’s no additional director, editor, producer, sound engineer, ADR… I’m it!
YouTube has increased the barrier to entry for monetization in 2019, effectively postponing monetization of the channel indefinitely. In short, eligibility hinges on having over 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within 12 months, in addition to providing advertiser-friendly/family friendly material.
Put simply, I’d like to continue making the videos and hope to do so in the future, but at the moment – videos are on-hold… for now.
Affiliate links
In 2021, I’ll be adding a page dedicated to Amazon affiliate links, and may mention affiliate links in articles that I write. These will always be mentioned up-front because the first and foremost aim of this site is to provide prepress and InDesign advice to anyone.
For those unfamiliar with Amazon affiliate links, they are links to products on Amazon that – if a person who clicks upon a link then makes a purchase using that link – will allow revenue to be passed back onto the person hosting that link, which in this case is Colecandoo.
To come in 2021
COVID-19 has been devastating and 2020 will largely be remembered for this reason alone. Vaccines may be on the way but won’t resolve the crisis on its own, nor do it in a timely fashion. We must still play our part by social distancing and maintaining good personal hygiene.
This year has been a slower year for articles for reasons that should be self-evident – with two articles prepared, compared to 14 articles in 2019. I aim to correct this for 2021.
I also aim to revisit some scripts on the site, and add new scripts to the list, including pro versions of scripts such as the wall planner script.
Additionally, I’d also be interested to hear thoughts on whether or not to set up a Patreon, and also thoughts on merchandise through Redbubble or Teespring.
Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous new year for 2021, and in the words of my old Design Manager, “Let’s Do This!”.
A recent forum post concerning adding page sizes to InDesign’s Document Setup highlighted two different ways to accomplish this task. This article will explain both methods, and the strengths and weaknesses of each method as while they both perform similar tasks, they are not the same and can complement each other.
First method: Saved Presets
Before beginning, it is worth noting that when making a new document in InDesign, users will be presented with one of two different interfaces. In the latest version of Creative Cloud, the default user interface looks like this:
There is also the Legacy interface that long-time InDesign users will be more familiar with:
To choose to use the Legacy user interface, go to the InDesign Preferences (Command+K for Mac, Control+K for Windows) and check the Use Legacy “New Document” Dialog checkbox on. Alternatively if the new default look is preferred, uncheck the dialog box.
Making a saved preset in the default “New Document” dialog
Go to the New Document
dialog box (Command+N for Mac, Control+N for Windows) to show the user
interface.
Once open, go to the
right hand side of the dialog box and enter the measurements, orientation and
other desired options.
To save the preset, click on the icon to the right of the Preset Details heading and a new prompt will appear to save the preset.
Once named and saved, the preset can now be accessed in the Saved portion of the user interface.
Be careful in this window as deleting a saved preset will remove it without prompting for a warning.
Making a saved preset in the Legacy dialog
Go to the New Document
dialog box (Command+N for Mac, Control+N for Windows) to show the user
interface.
Once open, enter the measurements, orientation and other desired options. To save the preset, click on the icon to the right of Document Preset dropdown and a prompt will appear to save the preset.
Once named and saved, the preset can now be accessed Document Preset dropdown of the user interface.
The preset can be deleted by clicking the trashcan in the top right corner of the dialog box, but unlike the default interface, a warning dialog is presented.
Managing saved presets
Regardless of the interface used to make the preset, they are managed by going to the File Menu, Document Presets, then Define. This will present a new dialog box:
From this dialog box,
it is possible to save presets so that they can be shared with others as a
.dcst file; load preset .dcst files that others have created, as well as make
new presets, edit or delete existing presets. Again, a warning will be
presented if a preset is to be deleted.
Note though that when
making a new preset or editing an existing preset that the Legacy dialog box is
used.
Second method: New Page Sizes.xml
This other method calls upon an XML file that InDesign references for custom-made sizes. On a Mac, it can be found here:
This file can be edited to add custom sizes. By default, the XML file looks like this:
The syntax to create a
new page size looks like this:
The <Name> tags refer to the name of the page size that the user will see in the New Document dialogs. The <Width> and <Height> tags refer to the measurements and these measurements are in points. Each page name, width and height are wrapped in their own <PageSize> tag.
For this example, I’ve taken in all A, B, C, D paper sizes as well as some imperial sizes and saved the XML file.
When I now open the default New Document interface, the new options now appear in the Print portion:
And here is what it
looks like in the Legacy user interface:
Distinctions between Document Presets and New Page Sizes.xml
The default user interface will allow users to add Document Titles to new documents and also allow users to see page sizes at a glance, as opposed to the Legacy interface where page size measurements are only visible once a preset or page size is selected from the dropdown.
Selecting Create Alternate Layout from the Pages panel will show a new dialog box that contains pages added via the New Page Sizes.xml file. These page sizes will be able to be selected from the dropdown, while page sizes made via the saved presets will be unavailable.
The New Page Sizes.xml will only add names of page sizes, widths and heights; while adding presetsstores more information such as total number of pages, page orientation, page size (including pages that can be accessed from the New Page Sizes.xml), amount of columns, margin dimensions, bleed and slug settings, and whether to have facing pages or primary text frames.
In the same way that different political or religious views can polarise a group of people, so can one specific InDesign feature: Light or Dark interface.
Introduced into InDesign CC in 2013, this change brought InDesign in line with other Creative Cloud products that had a dark interface. That said, I was not a fan and chose to remain a user of the light interface.
Many years later and
Apple released the macOS Mojave with its Dynamic Desktop and Dark mode. The
Dynamic Desktop feature shows a bright desktop during daylight hours and a dark
desktop during the dark hours. In addition, popular apps also followed suit
allowing users to switch from the usual view to a “night mode”.
In addition, I have found myself working late into the night on projects, and have found that a darker interface during these hours is easier on my eyes. That said, I still like to use a light interface when working in daylight hours.
With this in mind, I wondered if it was possible to create an InDesign startup script that – upon performing a common task such as opening a file – would check the time of day and if it was beyond a certain time of the day, would invoke the dark interface… and it was.
This refers to the color of the pasteboard. The number 1 will match the pasteboard color to the interface, whereas 0 will leave the pasteboard white.
So technically it’s not a night-mode per se, but for those who like the light interface until the night-time hours, this script may be something to consider.
As a prepress operator, a great deal of my time is spent making sure that artwork supplied by clients will print without any prepress issues. Given that most client-supplied files are PDFs, a great deal of my time is spent in Adobe Acrobat checking the files using the print production tools and an invaluable plug-in called Enfocus Pitstop Professional.
While I’ve given the Adobe Acrobat team plenty of grief over my last few blog posts, I do have to sing their praises over a rather massive feature that – for me at least – has gone unnoticed since its inception in Acrobat 7 – preflight droplets.
What is a droplet?
A droplet acts as a “hot folder” that – once a PDF is dragged onto it – will run a preflight profile on that PDF.
This works for one or many PDFs. I first learned of this feature from this Jean-Claude Tremblay’s post to an InDesignSecrets article about using the preflight feature to convert a file to outlines, rather than using InDesign-based methods. That said, the droplets feature has been available since at least 2007!
Making a droplet is simple. While in the print production panel of Adobe Acrobat, click the preflight button, and in the new dialog box, select Create Droplet… from the Options button.
The next dialog box will ask what preflight profile to use, where success/failed PDFs should be processed to, and if a summary PDF needs to be created of each file.
Many of the built-in preflight profiles either force compliance to one of the PDF/X standards, or analyse a PDF and report the errors that were encountered. However, it is the custom fixup portion that may interest readers in a production role. To see where this can be found, click the Edit Profiles… selection from the Options button of the preflight dialog box.
Underneath the warnings and standards compliance, there is a section titled custom fixups.
In this panel is a plethora of changes that Acrobat can make to an entire document to fix common preflight issues such as:
Faux blacks
White overprint, or other colours that should knockout instead of overprint
Black instead of Registration
Remove trim marks and take back to 3mm bleed
Make pantone spot color names consistent
In addition, it is possible to make your own custom fixups rather than use the built-in ones. Click the add button to add your own fixup.
It is also possible to drill down even further in the editing by clicking additional edit buttons.
This allows for further variables to be made.
Usually, many of these changes would be done using Enfocus Pitstop Professional’s action lists or global changes, but with the creation of an appropriate preflight droplet, not only can they be done without the Enfocus Pitstop Professional plug-in, they can also be done without opening the PDF.
Wouldn’t use it as a catch-all
It would be great to have one preflight that will catch all scenarios and fix the PDFs so that all that needs to be done is make sure the content is right and that the art is fit for its purpose… but because there are so many edge-cases that I deal with, it is more appropriate to make a “catch-most” preflight for common errors such as the ones mentioned earlier.
It can be confusing
With so many options to choose from, it can also be very confusing and – at times – frustrating, especially when some custom fixups contradict each other with no way of being able to sort out what one should go first.
Some of the commands are also not so intuitive. One instruction that I wanted to use – that was to make any object that wasn’t 100% black to knock out – wasn’t where I thought it would be.
It took hours of trial and error to realise that the color range to select was Gray Object (black below 96%) is set to overprint… but who would know with the other options that appear to make more sense?
It’s not a magic bullet
That’s not to imply that the Enfocus Pitstop Professional plug-in isn’t necessary – it is an absolute must for prepress operators. Preflight droplets complement the Enfocus plug-in, saving hours of time manually scanning a PDF looking for “the usual suspects” and allow PDFs in a workflow to be “normalised” for colour profile, trim/bleed size, appropriate overprints and knockouts as required, etc.
There are some fixups that work better using the Enfocus Pitstop plug-in, such as the generate bleed action. When run as a custom fixup via Acrobat preflight, it only adds bleeds to rendered art, and usually by scaling it. The Enfocus pitstop plug-in is more versatile in that it will apply to both vector and raster images, and bleed off appropriate edges only.
Importantly, the preflight fixups won’t be able to make content-related changes, such as fixing typographical errors or moving artwork away from a trim-edge… these changes have to be made with manual intervention using the Enfocus tools.
Lastly, preflight droplets are not a substitute for a skilled prepress operator examining a file, given that droplets cannot:
Ensure that artwork will fold correctly or be suitable for their intended purpose;
Confirm that the artwork is the correct version supplied by the client;
Understand the context of the content such as spelling, grammar or “design features”.
Some time ago, I wrote an article about the difference between Data Merge PDF Export vs regular PDF export. The article highlighted the difference between the two PDF exports, but not why the data merge PDF export appears to have been throttled. Admittedly, this seemed more of a curiosity than anything else, and no further research was undertaken.
The Data Merge PDF export dialog box. The yellow highlight shows items that can’t be checked.
In October 2018, the issue was once again raised by a reader who asked about preparing tagged PDFs via the Data Merge palette for the purposes of Section 508 accessibility – a way tagging a PDF so that PDF-reading software with accessibility features can assist users with limited accessibility in various ways, such as the example of tagging an image with a description that can be read aloud for users with little- or no vision.
Then one month later, I fielded a query on the Adobe InDesign Forums concerning Interactive PDF and Data Merge Conflict where a user had hyperlinks in an interactive PDF where data merge fields were present, even though they weren’t linking to anything.
Notice the tooltip displayed by the name “Zolly” – text that was a Data Merge text field.
That reminded me of an article from InDesignSecrets about Ghost Hyperlinks explaining that data merge fields can also be shown in the hyperlinks panel, meaning merge fields are hyperlinks themselves.
The highlighted field in the art is the data merge field, as well as hyperlink 2.
However, Data Merge can’t export to interactive PDF from the data merge panel, so the only way I could replicate the forum poster’s issue was to prepare an InDesign data merge file, navigate to a relevant record, then go to the file menu and export an Interactive PDF of the visible record on the page.
It was at that moment it occurred to me that THIS may be the reason that the hyperlinks checkbox is greyed out from the “export to PDF” dialog box in the data merge palette – because the merge fields are – in effect – hyperlinks themselves, and having hyperlinks enabled would also make the variable text clickable in the resulting PDF, despite having no actual link to go to. It would also explain why data merge does not offer an “export to interactive PDF” option from the data merge palette.
So, despite having a “eureka” moment of solving why the exports were different, it also made me realise that – without overhauling the way data merge works in InDesign – it may be unlikely to directly export PDFs with hyperlinks or interactivity via the Data Merge Panel anytime soon.
It is worth noting that if the data merge is exported to an InDesign file first (as explained in my workaround linked at the start of the article), and then exported to an interactive PDF, these issues do not occur. However, it is double-handling.
Still, this is frustrating in a world moving online, particularly for marketers who want to prepare unique PDFs that contain:
Hyperlinks, not just for navigating to URLs, but within the PDF itself, such as footnotes or page navigation;
Interactivity such as form fields for the purposes of surveys and feedback; and
Accessibility, not only from the legal standpoint of Section 508 conformance, but the genuine desire to engage with people with limited accessibility.
On that note, isn’t it about time to update the data merge feature so that exports are no longer limited to throttled-back PDFs or InDesign files as their only options? As an addition, how about the ability to print a merge directly from a data merge file, a feature that has been available in Microsoft Word for nearly thirty years.
Or what about the ability to merge to uniquely named files based on each record, something that I’ve already prepared a script for but would welcome as part of the InDesign user interface. And why stop at full-throttle PDFs… how about image formats such as jpg or png, or other formats such as html? Statistics from an InDesignSecrets poll show that print PDFs account for just under half of the participants’ usual file output exports.
In April 2017, Keith Gilbert wrote an article on InDesignsecrets highlighting the importance of understanding what dictionary Adobe InDesign was using when performing a spell check on documents.
This is particularly true for English speakers who live outside of the USA, UK or Canada who may not realise that there is no InDesign-installed dictionary specifically for their location.
There is no Australian Dictionary in InDesign by default
There are myriad countries that use English as its first official- or de facto language, and many are satisfied to use the English (UK) definition for their spelling. Australia and New Zealand are exceptions to this rule, but as I live in Australia, I will present the Australian arguments for using an Australian Dictionary:
With the exception of words unique to the Australian lexicon, there are other day-to-day differences between Australian English and other dictionaries, such as:
words that end in -ize in US usually end in -ise, such as criticise, realise…
words that end in -or in US usually end in -our, such as honour, colour, flavour, neighbour…
SOME words that end in -er in US usually end in -re, such as centre, metre. This is particularly a problem with metric measurements when represented in US English
SOME words that end in -og in US can end in -ogue, such as catalogue, epilogue… but obviously not all words such as smog, dog, jog…
spelling of words such as Mom/Mum, Tire/Tyre, sulfur/sulphur, aluminium/aluminum
Recognising this as an issue, both Microsoft Word and OpenOffice do provide for an Australian English dictionary. But this leads to the next problem:
InDesign can give a false impression that there is an Australian Dictionary
Take the following sentence that I have in Microsoft Word:
The ionised particles in the centre turn a red colour once the reaction is realised.
If I save this Microsoft Word file and place it into InDesign, InDesign applies the default spell-check to the text and highlights the problem words.
But if I cut and paste that sentence from Microsoft Word directly into Adobe InDesign using the clipboard defaults in the preferences and dynamic spelling turned on, here is what happens:
Note in the Character palette that the Language dropdown says English: Australian, so what’s the fuss? The problem is that InDesign is giving us a false impression. To the same paragraph, let’s type some words directly at the end of that pasted sentence – words that an Australian spell-checker would normally flag such as honor or center.
Still nothing, but the dynamic spelling should report these two words as being incorrectly spelled. What if I type some rubbish that any spell-checker should see?
Still nothing again (trust me, fxxxazzeyz isn’t an Australian word!) so any text that contains the character trait that was pasted from the original Microsoft Word sentence will be skipped from InDesign’s spell check, and it will use the default dictionary of English USA to check the rest of the text that doesn’t contain this character trait.
A similar technique of assigning text the [No Language] character trait is used to bypass spell-check and described in this indesignsecrets video:
This presents a real problem, given that none of the text with the Australian dictionary character trait are truly being checked for their spelling.
Installing an Australian Dictionary is overly-complicated
Sandee Cohen wrote up an article on InDesignsecrets detailing how to install a hunspell dictionary and there is another set of instructions on the Adobe InDesign help page on how to do this, but quite frankly both processes are more complicated than most users are prepared to tolerate.
Vote to change this!
There is a suggestion on the InDesign Uservoice page to add an Australian Dictionary to the interface. If you would like to see this added to future versions of InDesign, please vote here!
As a regular in the Adobe InDesign Forums, from time to time I see this one line given out as a “cure-all” to any issue occurring in InDesign: Trash your preferences. There’s even dedicated instructions on how to trash your preferences in the main screen of the forums, so it should be the first thing to do once InDesign goes off the rails, right?
NO!
When I see this suggestion offered as a solution to a strange or bizarre situation that a poster is encountering, the person offering the advice usually neglects to tell the poster that by doing so, all of their settings and preferences will be gone, and have to be reset. There is also no guarantee that trashing preferences will resolve the issue that the poster had, and in doing so the poster not only has the same issue, but now has the complication of rebuilding their preferences.
Instead of this advice, I would suggest a checklist of the following:
Is the issue happening in all documents, or just the one that I’m working in? What happens if I try in a new document?
Could it be a conflict with other software? What happens if I close other software and try again?
Could it be InDesign itself? Does restarting InDesign help?
Could it be the machine? Will a restart return InDesign to normal?
Is an InDesign plug-in to blame, or a recently installed script? If the plug-in or script can be turned off, does this make a difference?
If you have access to other versions of InDesign, is the issue able to be replicated in other versions of InDesign?
If you have access to InDesign on other platforms (e.g. there are other machines in the office that may run InDesign on another operating system) is the issue able to be replicated on other operating systems?
If the fault is persistent, before going to the forums, check the Adobe InDesign Feedback page first. Does the fault appear on this page as either a bug or feature request?
If the fault is not listed here, then go to the InDesign forum and search the forum first for the particular issue. Chances are if you are experiencing the issue, that someone before you has as well.
If the forum is showing no results, feel free to ask the question but remember to state:
the version of InDesign being used;
the platform and version of the operating system that is being used;
what is done to trigger the fault (e.g. When I print; When I click on the pages panel…)
what the fault actually is (e.g. a warning comes up; it crashes; the image appears backwards…)
any debugging you have taken to remedy the fault (e.g. I tried turning it off and on…)
Posting on this forum may take some time to receive an answer, as the majority of posts are handled by other users. Occasionally the Adobe staff will answer the queries, but they are clearly identified as “STAFF”.
If one of the responses that is received on the forum is “trash your preferences” ask the following questions:
What led the poster to come to that conclusion that trashing preferences would resolve the issue? Did they suffer the same fault and this solution worked for them?
Look at the poster’s history. Do they have a habit of suggesting this solution over and over again?
Did the poster warn of the side-effects of trashing your preferences?
Is this the consensus of all other posters on the thread, or are there other solutions that have been offered?
My concern with providing the “trashing your preferences” option as a solution is that it should only be performed as a last resort when all other methods short of a reinstall have failed to resolve the issue. In recent years, I’ve seen this advice given out on the forums like candy at Halloween, and no doubt I too have suggested it more than once.
If you have received “trash your preferences” advice on the forums, don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion.
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