Hi all,
I would first of all like to thank LL for accepting me as a member on this forum, a forum i have visited several times every day the last 2-3 years and it has always been a source of very useful information, information not easily available from where I live and work.
My first questions are perhaps in the wrong forum or on the wrong site all together, but I wanted to ask here since I have the impression that most members on this forum are working professionals with a lot of knowledge, and since offset printing often is the 'end' product for users of MFDB's.
Being self thought and 'off the grid' for the last 10 years, and having no one to ask for advice locally, it's not easy to get everything right, specially when things are getting more and more sophisticated with more parameters and boxes to tick off than ever before.
I publish magazines (art gloss paper, uv varnish, your typical glossy fashion magazines...) and are trying to optimize quality where possible (the printer I'm using is using Heidelberg Speedmasters and MAN Roland 700's and we print on 115/170/250gms art gloss, with other words, sheet fed and not web).
My current, relative new workflow is:
-I shot with a H3D - then download 3FR files onto my mac (@44mb) - then import into Phocus creating FFF files (@57mb) using factory 'standard' adjustment - then open FFF file and apply adjustments and export as 8-bit TIFFs (@90mb).
-Open TIFF in PS and scale down to A4 (@25mb). Do color corrections, and tweak file for offset print (following instructions from the color guru at the printer).
-Place file in InDesign, A4 size. Export to pdf (press quality) using jpeg compression. File now 3.5mb. Upload on ftp to printer... and print. Result: As good as any magazine out there...
My question:
1. Will there be any visible gain in quality by exporting to 16-bit TIFF in Phocus (@180mb), scaling this file down to A4 in PS (@50mb), place it in InDesign and export to pdf when I still use jpeg compression when creating pdf? (file remaining @3.5mb)
2. Will there be any gain in quality by using the 8-bit tif file, export to pdf (press quality) using no (none) compression (file grow to 33mb) or zip compression (file18mb)?
3. Will there be any gain in quality by using the 16-bit tif file, export to pdf (press quality) using no (none) compression (file still 33mb) or zip compression (file still 18mb)?
4. Is there anywhere else in my workflow I do obvious mistakes or can improve?
(when asking the printer the above they say 'it doesn't matter'... something I just can't believe...)
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Regards
Andre R
.. on location in Africa.
