If you layout your 8.5 x 11 brochure for a tri-fold by splitting your page into 3 equal columns, it will NOT fold correctly. Text and images will appear off center once folded on several of the panels. The thickness of the paper during the fold must be accounted for to achieve a finished panel that is centered. The panels on the inside, being a mirror image in placement of the ones on the outside, must also be offset an equal but opposite (in the other direction) amount. The amount of offset, however, can vary depending on if you are printing on text weight, cover stock, or other paper types. Below you will find a general setup that works for a tri-fold brochure. (With InDesign, multiple page sizes are supported within one document so you can set up your different sized panels there as a 6 page document as well).
How to set-up a tri-fold, 8.5 x 11 brochure:
Allow a .375” margin on all four sides of the paper (unless you are sure you are printing on oversized paper to accommodate a bleed.) Two panels are 1/16” larger than the third. Pages 1 & 2 of your document must be set up INDIVIDUALLY with different panel widths, being mirror images of each other – see the diagrams below. Unless you are using heavy paper, an amount more than 1/16” will be far too much for a fold allowance.
The FRONT COVER or outside panels:
Panels 2 & 3 must be slightly larger than Panel 1.
The Back or INSIDE PANELS:
Panels 1 & 2 must be slightly larger than Panel 3 (the mirror image of the outisde setup)
Dimensions for the inside panels of a Tri-Fold brochure
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Any vector art can easily be converted to pixels (rasterized). The journey back from pixel to vector however is not an easy one, if possible at all. Some sound advice: get the original, vector, fonts-turned-to-outlines version of your logo from the designer as soon as it is created and signed off on. Even if you can’t place or use it any of the programs you use daily, get it and guard it! It can be reproduced at any size and mainting its clear, perfect resolution, it can be repurposed into any other file types needed for print or online usage, and it can contain the needed PMS spot color information needed for color separation to maintain your brand standards.
It is truly amazing the number of companies out there who have an established logo and brand, but are unable to lay hands on a vector version of their logo. They are ready with a marketing budget but armed only with a tiny .gif or .jpg someone nabbed off a website, or possibly a fuzzy print of a logo placed in a Word document. Many do not know the PMS color designated for their brand/logo. Imagine Target or Coke thinking any old red will work work their printing… or leaving it up to a random printer to decide which red to use!?! The original logo design for any well-made brand will have begun its life as a vector-based artwork. As many offices use software that requires a .jpg or .tif format for placed art and websites require low-res .pngs and .jpgs…. so the value of the vector art is often overlooked.
In the Old Days When You Needed a Vector Logo….
I use to love Adobe Streamline. It saved many print jobs from disaster. Discontinued with the advent of Illustrator CS2, Streamline was the program used to convert pixel-based art into vectors… and when it worked the way you wanted, it was a lifesaver for a prepress department. Could it redraw any logo to perfection? Of course not, but it could be used to re-create some logos for vector output.
A potentially huge new client gives you their first print job… you have to print some forms in black and their spot PMS color, but the logo they supply is a fuzzy RGB jpg – no way to properly color separate the pixel-based file, no built in spot color, no chance of impressing the client! But Streamline, if the logo scan was high enough quality, could render the proper shapes in a vector format that allowed you to print the job correctly, reset the logo as needed, and gain a new client’s trust.
Image Trace
Image Trace in Adobe® Illustrator (formerly called “Live Trace”) is a great asset for designers, and useful for far more than just a prepress department stuck with a lousy jpg and a deadline. As with most tools in Illustrator and throughout Creative Suite, the best way to learn Image Trace is to simply use it: open up a document, place a pixel-based tif or jpg on the page and the try the different options under the Image Trace button in your menu.
Drop down menu of actions under the Live Trace button.
Try converting full color photographs, scanned drawings, images that have been run through PhotoShop filters – the results can be amazing. From the results you will begin to understand what kinds of effects you can apply in Photoshop before conversion in order to make your Image Trace output more of what you are after. For logo “re-creation,” a clear, large size scan of the logo is preferable to start from – and the cleaner the scan, the better the results. Once you select the preset you want, you will have to click the “Expand” button to actually apply the conversion, and then Ungroup the objects to work with the individual vector shapes. Image Trace will not give suitable results for scanned type in most instances. For more advanced controls over your vectorization, try the Tracing Options dialogue box by going to Window > Image Trace and choose a preset or specify the tracing options. You can enable Preview to see the results of your modifications. and play around with the blur, threshold, path fitting and other tools you find there.
A full color photograph before and after Live Trace - notice each color area has been turned into a vector shape.
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Rack cards are one of the most concise, effective and affordable marketing tools to put information into the hands of your customers. You can maximize their impact by keeping a few key issues of content and design in focus. Include a QR code, and you have bridged the gap between your printed marketing and your online presence.
High Impact, Low Cost, Full Color – The Benefits of Rack Cards
Full Color, Low Cost, High Impact Rack Cards
The very simplicity and size of rack cards make them a powerful, straightforward marketing tool. Standard rack card size is 4″ x 9″, suitable for easy display in high traffic areas and convenient to pick up and carry. They also fit nicely into a #10 envelope for mailing. Eyecatching color and graphics can work to ensure your content is noticed. Some rack card subject ideas include: company overviews & introductions, mission statements, sales events & promotions, specific product information, announcements, and informational/educational content. They should also encourage connection to online content and purchasing.
6 Tips for Designing & Printing Rack Cards
The size of rack cards encourages you to be specific about the information you include – keeping content focused, clear and effective. Here are a few tips for creating your layout – some are common to all printing projects, some unique to rack cards:
Maximize use of color and photographs. You only have a second to catch the eye of a consumer passing your rack card display and you will want to make the card something they pick up and enjoy visually. The top portion of the card needs to include either your logo or the title of the card’s content, and an eye-catching colorful image. Maximize use of unique, original photos of your business or subject matter, minimizing use of stock photography when possible. A good tip for inspiration: visit rack card displays and notice the cards that pop out and make you want to pick them up — study those!
Brand your work. Rack cards are a “high touch” marketing tool, and many people will see your card, even if they do not pick it up and carry it with them. It is essential your rack cards are designed to maintain the standards of your brand in both color, quality and content. To select a generic template online that does not match your brand, or to throw together a quick layout may save you money in the short run, but will establish a perception that is confusing and/or negative to many potential clients or customers.
Focus your content. Before you begin to write copy, be clear about the message you want to relate and your target audience. A specific message, directed to a specific type of consumer, increases your card’s chances of being picked up and remembered. Practice defining the subject of your copy in five words or less. If you can’t do it effectively, you need to narrow the focus of your subject matter.
Don’t limit print with low-tech assumptions. Printed pieces are a time-proven means of getting your information into the public. But they can now be the essential link between a hands-on contact and your online marketing. Use QR codes on your cards to drive traffic to online promotions or websites. You can then track exactly who, by clicking their smartphone’s camera, is coming to your site, and judge the effectiveness of your rack card promotion. At the very least, include your web address and direct people to find you online.
Multipurpose. A run of rack cards can and should be used in several different ways to maximize their effect. You can arrange a display at your business and find as many appropriate places as possible in public areas to display your cards. Ask vendors, neighboring businesses, and related but non-competitive businesses if you can leave some cards in their lobby. Also, use the cards for bulk, targeted mailings.
Don’t forget to include the basics… and proofread! You have limited space left after your photos and branding but you need to include the information a potential customer will need to contact you. Include a map (they are easy to get your hands on these days) to your location. If you want to push traffic to your website instead, replace the map with a LARGE version of your web address and a QR code. Phone numbers, fax numbers, mailing address… check and double-check for errors. The amount of waste due to one misplaced character is incalculable.
Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on rack cards, and more useful tips on how to create custom, high impact marketing solutions.
For the first time in years, Adobe has released an upgrade to Creative Suite “between versions”… version 5.5. In looking over the reviews and information from both Adobe and unconnected sources, it appears that the developments have been in response to the rapid proliferation of change in the world of mobile devices, apps, HTML5, CSS3 and ePUBs.
As you may know, Creative Suite comes in 5 different “flavors”, each specialized with a specific focus. This release contains a new 5.5 version of each. At ImageSmith in the PrePress department, we rely on Creative Suite Design Premium, tuned for print content as well as web design, e-books and other digital content. However the other flavors may be more perfectly suited for your line of work and creative output: Design Standard: excellent for print production, typography, image manipulation and eBooks; Web Premium: for websites, mobile apps and tablets; Production Premium: focusing on video production; and Master Collection: the best of all for “delivery of design across media.”
From what I can read online, the improvements and changes deal specifically with HTML5, CSS3, and affect mostly the production of eBooks and web content. For example, jQuery and PhoneGap are now supported – frameworks widely used in the mobile phone app development world. You can read a nice review of the changes at Bob Levine’s InDesign blog.
For the first time, Adobe now offers a SUBSCRIPTION method of payment for its software – apparently in an attempt to entice users who have been scared off by the high pricetag of the Creative Suite and its individual programs. You can still purchase as in the past or pay for the programs in a monthly fee. For an article about this see Dave Girard’s post at ARS TECHNICA.
Word is that the new CS6 will be released in 2012. You can follow up to the minute details and read questions and answers about Creative Suite by clicking this link for their Twitter timeline.
Planning bleed in your print layout
One of the most common issues we encounter daily in our ImageSmith prepress department with incoming files concerns bleeds – or rather, a lack of bleeds! When designing and proofing, it is easy and tempting to ignore bleed allowances as we concentrate on the look of a finished piece. However, additional unexpected costs can be incurred when a bleed area has to be “created” from your digital files, or when printing on a larger paper size that exceeds your quoted specs is required to accommodate a bleed area. It is, however, very simple to avoid these costs and confusions when creating PDF files for your print provider.
Basics about bleeds
A “bleed” is any image (including text, color, etc) that extends off the edge of the printed piece. No press can print exactly to the edge of a piece of paper, especially over the course of a run of hundreds or thousands of sheets. Therefore if you have designed a bleed, your piece must be printed on a larger size of paper and then cut down to your finished size. This may or may not incur greater costs for the production of your piece, so you should be aware of this before printing begins and your printer should know in order to accurately quote your job. Good communication with your print provider from the beginning of your project, as always, can save you lots of time and money. Design: Bleed vs. Bleed Area
When designing your bleeds, your artwork or text must physically extend over the edge of your document size, onto the surrounding pasteboard. When first setting up your document, provide a bleed area of .5 inches on all sides. This will give more than enough room for the elements to bleed. The “bleed” itself is the part of the picture, text or design that actually extends past the finished edge. As for the distance the artwork needs to extend over this edge, ImageSmith suggests .25 inches as adequate. So the actual bleed does not completely fill up the bleed area.
Exporting to PDF
Even though you design a bleed correctly in your document, exporting a pdf that does not include the bleed area will defeat the purpose!. Choose the PDF/X-1a:2001 preset in your PDF dialog box, and under the “Marks and Bleeds” tab, be sure to click “Crop Marks” and “Page Information” and to enter .5″ in the Bleed section, as seen in the accompanying diagram. If your Document Size is 8.5 x 11, you will be creating a pdf that is 9.5 x 12 – including 1/2 inch on all four sides to accommodate your bleed.
Keep in mind that your pdf will always be larger than your finished document size if you have accommodated for bleed area. Call on ImageSmith for any advice or questions you may have about desktop publishing or digital file submission tips. It’s one of the ways we earn our stripes!
