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• • October 5, 2010 at 4:33 am #57251
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi guys,

    I am trying to create a magazine.

    The problem I am having is that using Indesign I cannot get the desired Neon effect on the magazine's logo. I have instead decided to do the front cover in Photoshop and then export this to pdf.

    The printer we are working with requires the files to be a PDF X-1A:2001 file … would it be possible to give her the rest of the magazine exported from Indesign, and just the front cover exported from Photoshop to PDF X-1A:2001 as a seperate file??

    Thanks

  • October 5, 2010 at 5:46 am #57252
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Yes, that is possible (as long as the printer can accept it, which they normally would).

    But it's also possible to place the Photoshop image into InDesign and then export the whole thing as PDF/X-1a. Or use Acrobat Pro to combine the two PDFs.

  • October 5, 2010 at 9:20 am #57254
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi David,

    thanks for the response. I'm having a problem with that in that when I try and place the picture intto Indesign, it loses all of it's neon quality. I'm sure this is to do with the conversion from RGB to CMYK. Is there anyway around this?

    Or is there any way to create a decent Neon looking effect on a CMYK palette in Photoshop?

    Thanks

  • October 5, 2010 at 1:15 pm #57256
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Yes, you may just be seeing the difference between RGB and CMYK. It will get more dull. But that's not InDesign; it's reality. What happens when you export as PDF/X1-a from Photoshop and open it in Acrobat? Same thing?

  • October 5, 2010 at 4:56 pm #57257
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Oh, okay. I see what you mean.

    Yes, the same thing does happen. So is there any way to create a neon effect using cmyk, apart from using a spot colour ? (because i am soon to try this one anyway)

  • October 7, 2010 at 1:27 pm #57286
    Alan Gilbertson

    Participant

    Without seeing exactly what you're trying to duplicate, it's hard to say, but a Day-Glo type of effect definitely requires spot color, and you're probably not going to get what you want without one.

    That said, try exporting your PDF/X-1a with a GRACOL color profile or (way better) ask your printer for a .joboptions file specific to his press and the type of paper you will run on, add it to your PDF presets and use that. David mentioned GRACOL and how antiquated SWOP is in IDS podcast 91.

    InDesign defaults to SWOP for CMYK export to PDF, and that's often (usually, in fact) not the color profile you want because it's intended for web presses, not the sheetfed workflow that's much more common. You might be quite startled by the difference.

    SWOP isn't a good choice for web press jobs either, in many cases. Magazines with any kind of decent regional, never mind national circulation are always done on a web press, but when I prep an ad I always use that publication's .joboptions (from their print provider), never the InDesign/Creative Suite default.

  • October 9, 2010 at 1:28 pm #57311
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Guys, thanks for all the informative responses, I've drawn certain conclusions from this:

    Neon will never look that good in CMYK, but to make it look better you probably need a spot colour.

    To get an additional spot colour or jobpress file, this will cost a certain amount more for each page its used for.

    Question – I was just wondering, is it even worth using a neon effect for the magazine title? because even if we get it onto the front cover I'm imagining it will be difficult (or costly) to get in other pages – & being that it is a magazine it is very likely that wwe will want to put the logo in different places in the magazine and make it noticeable –

    am I right in saying i would be better off in the long-term if we went with a non-neon title?

  • October 9, 2010 at 2:33 pm #57314
    Roland

    Member

    The cover is most likely a different paper kind than the inside. So you could offer a “plain” version to be used inside, and a more flashy one on the cover. It's not the most usual way to do it, but it could work depending on the logo and its treatment on other (printed) materials.

    Edit: It's not a tough message to convey, really. The client will end up paying, and it's up to them to decide whether or not it's worth paying the extra money for the cool looking logo.

  • October 15, 2010 at 7:15 am #57386
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Guys, thanks for all the advice and info, much appreciated.

    Just so you know, we've decided to go with something non-neon for now, until more advertisers are on board at which they will be willing to pay for it ideally.

    Thanks

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