Saving your PostScript or PDF files
To save PostScript files for PDF using Acrobat Distiller and your favorite desktop publishing software, or to output PDFs directly from your desktop publishing software, follow the instructions provided both in the documentation for your software and the online help file provided with Distiller. In addition, the following things need to be taken into account:

a. Save as composite PostScript. You should always save the PostScript file with Separations turned off. If the program you're using doesn't have an option to turn separations off, it likely only outputs composite PostScript.

b. Always include all fonts and images. Your PDF file will not RIP properly without them.

c. Save your pages with bleeds and registration marks. As you probably know, any photos, tinted areas, etc., that run to the edge of a page need to be extended, or bleed, at least 1/8" beyond the edge of the page. Acrobat PDF files, however, do not include bleeds, so in order for the files to be properly configured for RIPping and output, certain adjustments will need to be made.

Ries Graphics highly recommends that when the pages are saved out of your desktop publishing program, the page size be set to 1" larger in both directions than the document size, and that registration (or printer's) marks be included. Registration marks should be set to offset 1/8" (9 pt.) instead of the program's default (usually 6 pt.). This will allow Apogee to "see" the bleed. In addition, it will allow you to double-check whether items are bleeding before sending the file to us. This step could potentially save you time and money, since we cannot add bleed to pages in a PDF file.

We also suggest that you do a quick preflight of your job before exporting your PDF, paying particular attention to the following items:

Make sure that all color images are CMYK, not RGB. We suggest using Photoshop to make the conversions so that you can control the results. (It also does a better job.) Although Apogee can convert images from RGB to CMYK, the results may not be what you are expecting.

By the same token, make sure that all grayscale images are set to grayscale (unless they are intentionally printing in CMYK).

Spot colors in your document that are not being printed as spot colors should be converted to process. In InDesign, you can do this via the Swatches panel. In Quark, go to Edit > Colors... , select the colors in question and uncheck the Spot Color box. Colors created using the RGB color space should be converted to CMYK, as well. Don’t forget spot colors in linked Illustrator files — you’ll have to change those in Illustrator.

Distiller settings and preferences
Several preferences need to be set in Distiller to get proper output. These are set in Adobe PDF Settings (Settings > Edit Adobe PDF Settings). (NOTE: The following settings and images are from Distiller 8.0. Other versions of Distiller may may differ somewhat from what you see here, but the basic principles are similar.)

1. General
Compatibility — Set to Acrobat 5.0. If you don't, spot colors in your document will be remapped to CMYK.
Object-Level Compression — Set to Off.
Auto-Rotate Pages — Set to Off.
Binding—Set to Left.
Resolution — 2400 dots per inch, All Pages.
Embed Thumbnails — Unchecked.
Optimize For Fast Web View — Unchecked.

Default Page Size — Set to the page size you plan on distilling. (NOTE: This setting may be overridden, depending on the program the PDF files are written from.)

2. Images
Color Bitmap Images, Grayscale Bitmap Images — all sampling and compression settings should be set to off. Quality for each should be set to Maximum.
Monochrome Images — same as above. Anti-Alias to gray should be off.

3. Fonts
Embed all fonts — Checked.
Subset embedded fonts when percent of characters used is less than: — Set to 99%. This setting is the percentage of characters in the typeface that can be used before Distiller will imbed the entire font. Subsetting can dramatically reduce the size of font-intensive PDF files.
When embedding fails: — Set to Cancel Job. (NOTE: Occasionally, some fonts get stubborn and refuse to embed. If this happens to you, change the setting to Warn and Continue and remake your PDF file. You will then need to provide copies of all fonts used in the document with the PDF file.)
Embedding, Always Embed: and Never Embed: — These are user-defined settings that, for Apogee purposes, should be left alone. The other settings in this section will take care of the fonts in your document; marking fonts to Always Embed can add fonts to the PDF that aren't used in your document, increasing its file size. Conversely, marking fonts to Never Embed could potentially cause fonts to be left out of your PDF file, which could cause problems when the file is being processed through Apogee.

4. Color
Settings File — set to Color Management Off.
All settings in Color Management Policies and Working Spaces will be grayed out.

Device-Dependent Data:
Preserve Under Color Removal and Black Generation — Checked.
When transfer functions are found — set to Remove.
Preserve Halftone Information — Unchecked.

5. Advanced
Options:
Allow PostScript file To override Adobe PDF Settings — Unchecked.
Allow PostScript XObjects — Unchecked.
Convert gradients to smooth shades — Checked.
Convert smooth lines to curves — Unchecked.
Preserve Overprint Settings — Checked.
Overprinting default is nonzero overprinting — Checked.
Save Adobe PDF settings inside PDF file — Checked.
Save original JPEG images in PDF if possible — Checked.
Save Portable Job Ticket inside PDF file — Unchecked.
Use Prologue.ps and Epilogue.ps — Unchecked.

Document Structuring Conventions (DSC):
Process DSC comments — Checked.
Log DSC warnings — Unchecked.
Preserve EPS Info from DSC — Checked.
Preserve OPI comments — Unchecked.
Preserve document info from DSC — Checked.
Resize page and center artwork for EPS files — Checked.

6. Standards
Leave as is.

Create a Preset...
Save your new job options so that you can use them when needed. We suggest a name like "PDF for Ries" or "Ries Graphics Press Quality."

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