PS or InDesign for B&W print ad?

LF
Posted By
Linda_Farmer
Feb 10, 2004
Views
379
Replies
11
Status
Closed
This is more of a curiosity question than anything else.

I designed a color brochure for a client in InDesign. He now wants to use elements of it in a black and white print ad. It’s a very simple ad with mostly text, accompanied by a product photo.

I’ve created the ad in Photoshop (6.0.1) by converting the product shot to grayscale and adding the text. But now I’m wondering if the output would be better in ID. Or is there any difference?

I’ve never sent out PS files for commercial print before, so I’m wondering if there are any "gotchas" I should know about. I’m accustomed to color print jobs from ID or PM, and this job seems too simple!

TIA, Linda F
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J
JasonSmith
Feb 10, 2004
As long as the printer will take .PDF, you can save with vector text and elements intact, which should be fine for printing.

If you were designing from scratch, I may say to just start with InDesign, but since it’s already in Photohsop, there’s no reason why you couldnt use Photoshop.
SJ
sandy_johnson
Feb 10, 2004
Setting text in Photoshop is not a good idea, the text will be pixelated (unless you were to send a layered file and the size would be uneccessarily large). Converting the color photos to grayscale is correct. Build the ad in b/w in InDesign with the text as text and place the grayscale tiffs. Then export it as a hi-res PDF with fonts embedded.
J
JasonSmith
Feb 10, 2004
"the text will be pixelated"

Unless you leave the text vector and save as PDF with vector data.
RL
Robert_Levine
Feb 10, 2004
Not true, Sandy. Save as PDF from PS 6.0 or later and the text is maintained as are any vector layers.

Bob
LF
Linda_Farmer
Feb 10, 2004
Are you guys saying that exporting a PDF from either program is comparable in print quality?

I would think so, but since ID’s export PDF dialog box is replete with checkboxes of choices/decisions, and PS almost none … well it makes you wonder.
RL
Robert_Levine
Feb 10, 2004
Yes, that’s pretty much what I’m saying.

And I’m basing it on experience.

Bob
J
JasonSmith
Feb 11, 2004
Yep – I’ve sent Photoshop PDF’s with type less than 6pt – as vector, for newsprint 170PPI – 85LPI print.

Turns out great. Heck, you could send a PS file that is 2PPI, if the text is vector it wont suffer.

Designing in Photoshop is a tradeoff – better visual textural choices, but less (more painful) type options.

The fact that it’s already layed out in Photoshop is why I’m saying it might be in Linda’s best interest to keep it in Photoshop.
LF
Linda_Farmer
Feb 11, 2004
Thanks folks, great input.

I certainly feel more comfortable using Photoshop type output knowing that you’ve had success with it.

If I leave the type as vector, does PS include the fonts with the PDF? I was originally planning to send the art as a TIF file, but maybe PDF would be better.

(The ad is for a trade magazine, so the print quality will be higher than for newspaper.)
J
JasonSmith
Feb 11, 2004
"If I leave the type as vector, does PS include the fonts with the PDF? I was originally planning to send the art as a TIF file, but maybe PDF would be better."

Yes, when saved as PDF, you can either set it to embed the fonts, or to automatically convert to outlines. I would recommend setting it to convert to outlines.

Tiff will rasterize the type, something you dont want to do with newsprint.

You should probably find out if PDF is fine for them, if not, see if they can handle EPS. Either file format will let you save from Photoshop with the type intact.
RL
Robert_Levine
Feb 11, 2004
First save your file as a PSD to make sure you have a backup. Then save as PDF. When you get the save menu choose without layers, embed fonts and retain vector data. Those are from memory and the wording may be a bit different.

Bob
LF
Linda_Farmer
Feb 12, 2004
Thanks folks, worked like a charm.

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