Now in its fifth edition, this book covers the most up-to-date technological advances in graphics and print production, fully explaining all the standard prepress and printing processes, including detailed coverage of the latest digital direct-to-plate offset and small-run on-demand color printing. Production for Graphic Designers gives clear and concisely written advice on preparing artwork for printers, examines the creative potential of typography in a digital environment, and provides comprehensive coverage of working with illustrations, layout and proofing in both computerized and conventional workflows.
Preface 9
1 Introduction 11
Some history 12
Printing pictures 14
Enter lithography and photography 16
• Milestones in the history of production technology for graphic designers 20
Getting started: studio equipment 21
The design-to-production workflow 23
Design Trailblazers Saul Bass 24
2 Text & Type 27
Type 28
Some history 28
The language of type 34
How type is measured 37
Width and spacing 39
Ems and ens 39; Kerning and tracking 39; Leading 41;
Justification and hyphenation 42
Text 44
Correcting text proofs 46
Casting off and copy fitting 49
House style 49
Choosing and recognizing typefaces 49
Design Trailblazers Zuzana Licko 50
Serif or sans serif? 52; Earmarks 53
• Helvetica 54
Legibility and readability 58
Typesetting systems 60
Hand lettering and calligraphy 60
“Strike-on” or “cold-metal” setting 61
Hot metal: hand and machine setting 62
Phototypesetting 65
Computer systems 66
More choice of typefaces 66; Quality and flexibility of digital type 66;
Type manipulation and custom font design 67; PostScript 68;
OpenType 73
Summary 73
Hot metal or letterpress 73; Cold metal or strike-on 73; Photosetting 73;
Computer setting 73
Design Trailblazers Erik Spiekermann 74
3 Illustration 77
Line and tone 78
Screens and halftones 81
Color 86
Flat color 86
Duotones 88
Full-color reproduction 89
Color separations 91
Cultural implications of color 93
Design Trailblazers Chris Ware 94
Designing for disability access 96
Choosing and preparing illustrations 97
Briefing an illustrator or photographer 97
Scaling and cropping 98
Desktop scanning 100
Drawing and painting by computer 100
Copyright 105
Summary 107
Design Trailblazers Stefan Sagmeister 108
4 Computers & their Peripherals 111
Hardware and software 112
Software 112
The processor 114
ROM, RAM, and flash memory 114
Displays 115
Input devices 117
Digital cameras 119
Scanners 121
Design Trailblazers Paul Rand 122
Output devices: laser printers and imagesetters 125
Hardcopy: other technologies 127
Choosing a system 131
Turnkey systems 131
Selecting, upgrading, and networking the system 132
Health and safety 132
Summary 133
Design Trailblazers Neville Brody 134
5 Prepress 137
Layout 138
Grids 140
Imposition 142
Paper creep allowance 145
Page layout 145
Design Trailblazers Bruce Mau 146
Digital make-up 148
Page layout programs 148
• e-books 151
• Make a preflight check 152
• Color management 154
Full-color digital prepress 155
Repro 157
Film make-up 157
Picture proofing 159
Color bars 160
Summary 161
Design Trailblazers Jonathan Barnbrook 162
6 On Press 165
Paper 167
The raw materials 168
Design Trailblazers Composite Projects 170
Recycled paper 172
Handmade paper 174
Machine-made paper 174
The characteristics of paper and board 176
Choosing the right paper stock 178
Inks 180
Formulation 180
Viscosity and tackiness 182
Specifying inks 182
Selecting your supplier 184
Printing processes 185
Offset lithography 187
The litho press 189
Gravure 193
Design Trailblazers Paula Scher 196
Letterpress 198
Flexography 199
Screenprinting 200
Collotype 202
Xerography 202
Digital print 203
Digital print technologies 205
• Emerging print technologies 206
Printing processes: the pros and cons 207
Offset litho 207; Gravure 207
Flexography 207; Screenprinting 207; Letterpress 207;
Collotype 207; Xerography 207; Digital print 207
Things that can go wrong 208
Finishing 210
• How does a designer specify finishing effects? 212
Folding and binding 213
Summary 217
Design Trailblazers Malcolm Garrett 218
7 Digital Design 221
What is the internet? 222
How to get started 223
Email 223
Decoding internet addresses 224
Newsgroups 224
Netiquette 224
Acronyms and smileys 225
Ftp: uploading and downloading 226
World Wide Web (WWW) 227
Designing for the World Wide Web 229
Do designers really have to learn HTML? 230;
Writing your own home page 230
Graphics formats: GIFs and JPEGs 236
Optional extras 236
Cascading style sheets 237
Testing your pages 240
Publicizing your pages 240
Human factors in website design 241
Designing for the small screen 241
Summary 243
Design Trailblazers Airside 244
Appendix: Standard sizes for paper, books, and envelopes 246
Glossary 248
Abbreviations and acronyms 260
Further reading 261
Website resources 263
Magazines and journals 264
Organizations 265
Index 266
Picture credits 272