Producing Color Separations - Adobe INDESIGN 2.0 - USING HELP Help Manual

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Producing Color Separations

Two common print workflows
Successful commercial printing of a document requires several steps: planning and
organizing, design and content development, and prepress tasks, in which your electronic
files are prepared to be reproduced with ink on paper. Although the steps are similar in
today's production and prepress workflows, the sequence a document follows from start
to finish can vary considerably. For example, you can integrate proofing into the page
assembly process, or proof your document at each step.
InDesign supports two common PostScript workflows; the main difference is where
separations are created—at the host computer (the system using InDesign and the printer
driver), or at the output device's RIP (raster image processor). Another alternative is a PDF
workflow; see "Producing Adobe PDF files for a high-resolution composite workflow" on
page 362.
Host-based separations In the traditional host-based, preseparated workflow, InDesign
creates PostScript information for each of the separations required for the document, and
sends that information to the output device.
In-RIP separations In the newer RIP-based workflow, a new generation of PostScript RIPs
performs color separations, trapping, and even color management at the RIP, leaving the
host computer free to perform other tasks. This approach takes less time for InDesign to
generate the file, and minimizes the amount of data transmitted for any given print job.
For example, instead of sending PostScript information for four or more pages to print
host-based color separations, InDesign sends the PostScript information for a single
composite PostScript file for processing in the RIP. (See
on page 425.)
About separations
To produce high-quality separations, it helps to be familiar with the basics of printing,
including line screens, resolution, process colors, and spot colors.
It is also recommended that you work closely with the print shop that will produce your
separations, consulting its experts before beginning each job and during the process.
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Producing Color Separations
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"Printing and saving separations"
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