The problem arises when you produce graphics with a background that graduates to black  in say Adobe Photoshop and then import those graphics into page layout programme Adobe InDesign in this case, which also has a black background.  The two black merge and create an invisible join and the job is done… right? ….wrong!  Whilst it might look OK on your screen when printed or output to pdf the Photoshop black is grey and sticks out like a sore thumb.  See example below.

As you can see the oval Photoshop vignette to black is visible against the background black in InDesign. The problem relates to the way the two programs create their black swatches and the final image processing when creating the final pdfs for print. (If you don’t see a difference increase the brightness on your monitor)

However help is at hand, if you have experienced this problem and been tearing your hair out trying to fix it, here is a simple step procedure to remove the problem.

In Photoshop or other image editor

1. Make sure your file is using the CMYK colour space.
2. Ensure the printer profile  is the same that to be used in InDesign (I use the default setting)
3. The black swatch that you use to create black needs to be set to C100, M100, Y100, K,100

In InDesign
In preferences set ‘Appearance of Black’ to rich black
Do not use the default black swatch in InDesign to create your background.  Create a new black swatch in the swatches tool panel and as in Photoshop set its CMYK values to 100 each and use to set the background colour of the piece.

I hope you found this short article useful.  If  Applause can help with any of the tasks in your digital day please call.

In my own experience, it’s a huge benefit to  have  manuals, tutorials, video all at hand so I can instantly cross reference from one media to another,  mix animated demonstration or video with detailed study in text form and listen to audio description without having to consider the Internet. As, whilst an almost inexhaustible library of research material, it can also be quite frustrating.  Setting aside the issues of connectivity and bandwidth, for the provider the cost of delivering constant access to such large quantities of media rich applications on a continual basis going forward can be prohibitive.  For the user constant online access over a long period of time to media rich material can also be expensive consequently the benefit of  having everything on your hard drive in your own computer is clear.

A company with huge expertise in this area is International publisher Macmillan Education. With over 150 years of publishing experience and operating in over 130 countries they work with local teachers, students, institutions, and educational authorities to develop high-quality coursebooks, supplementary materials and digital products to suit the needs of classrooms around the world.

At the end of 2010 Macmillan asked Lemon Digital and Applause to provide an interactive DVD resource for two of their forthcoming projects;  ‘Learning Teaching’ a training manual first published in 1994, now revised as a third edition and to be complemented with a DVD training video produced by MTJ Video in Oxford and a range of digital publications provided in pdf format;   ‘The Business’ a DVD resource bank  at pre-intermediate to advanced level, containing a massive resource of video, worksheets, teachers notes, authentic listening activities, Powerpoint and more.

Both interactive Enhanced DVDs were to be distributed world-wide and required accessibility across a wide range of media platforms, basic DVD player, PC and Macintosh computers Applause were asked to develop the programmes which would then be exhaustively tested across virtually all known combinations of hardware and software  by Testronic Labs in London.  Both titles passed out with flying colours and are now available on Macmillan’s website.

Learning Teaching

The Business

Guy Jackson at Macmillan commented “The Enhanced DVD was a steep learning curve for us but Applause worked tirelessly and patiently on both projects taking complete responsibility for the builds. We handed over the assets and let them get on with it!”

Photo real image creation has been a specialism at Applause since the days of ‘comping’ colour transparencies, working with such clients as Westland and Racal (now Thales Group) to provide visual representations of complex projects under development.  More recently we have worked in the events industry providing pre-build 3D simulations of conference and exhibition stand creative concepts. And now expanding the skillset to cover a wider range of applications, delivered as high resolution still images, HD, standard or streaming video.

Clients are often not really sure  if they like an idea until they see it; also with complex long term  projects it may be necessary to demonstrate work in progress as a final situation. In these circumstances it can be a real advantage to be able to show exactly how things will look. Illustrating packaging in variety of colours and label designs, showing how seating will work in a particular event venue or just how good stainless steel, glass, acrylics and marble can look in a new build are just some of the ways photo real 3D can help. A particular advantage in high value projects where expensive materials and high labour cost will be involved.

Take it a stage further and add animation, fly your customers Peter Pan style, take a micro journey through places a camera wouldn’t fit, create the ‘impossible’ to interest and engage your customers.

Here are just some of the potential applications:

• Confex & Event Visuals
• Architectural Photo Realism
• Product Simulation
• Photomontage and Digital Retouching
• Packaging visuals
• Video Wall and Studio Backdrops

Until recently if you wanted to send a simple form for a client or potential customer to complete and return to you there have been four broad options

1. send a word document – pretty much works but difficult to design and layout properly; and your carefully crafted fonts will disappear on receipt, usually screwing up the layout at the same time.
2. send a printable pdf -  this works, design and layout are retained but can’t be electronically completed and returned thus taking you back to fax or post.
3. create a web based form – works well but a lot more work, requires technical staff to manage or outsourcing to developers.  Either way it is expensive.
4. create an xml coded pdf – again this works well but as in 3. above needs qualified people to administer.

For large businesses or systems using standard forms on a mass scale clearly the web route works best, but for SME’s the cost of this route can be prohibitive.  For smaller operations MS Word or resorting to print and fax has been the answer, and anyone who has ever tried to creatively brand and format a Word document will be aching for a better way . . .

. . . and so here it is.

With the latest upgrade to Adobe Acrobat the age old problem of not being able to save edited pdf has now been removed. It is now possible to create forms  in a design programmes such as Quark, Illustrator, InDesign using creative design, images, logos, brand fonts and typographical design export these to pdf and then add all the data fields you want the recipient to complete and return to you.  The finished pdf can be easily managed by non technical staff who simply email to the recipient who complete the form and email by return.

Hey presto, clear, well designed forms that retain brand identity and professionalism managed simply.

Adobe haven’t exactly made this crystal clear but here is the method to produce editable AND saveable documents

1. Create your branded form in your preferred software package and export to pdf
2. Using Acrobat Professional ( you can’t do this in the Reader sadly) open the pdf

3. In the menu bar below the main menu find and select ‘Forms’ and ‘Start from Wizard’.  Go through the wizard process Acrobat will create a new version of your pdf and will have tried to insert all the forms fields guessing where they should be.  If you’ve made your form field areas pretty obvious the wizard is pretty good and will have sorted it all for you.
4. Now you can fix the fields where the wizard has got it wrong, adjust and edit to suit or add more as required.
5. Save the form using a different name and reopen.  Youl will now see all your field areas, check boxes  etc. (important to Save as a different file name as you can’t go back to the original)
5. The final step is to make the form editable and savable in Reader. Go to the ‘Advanced’ menu and select ‘Enable Useage Rights in Adobe Reader.  Now you have a form that can be emailed completed and returned

Send a test email to a colleague, get them to complete and return to check all is OK.

Job Done

If you need any help with this process please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Call 0117 933 4416 or 07770 750327

Applause have created a new brand identity, logo design and layout for the newsletter which will be distributed intially in printed form to give recipients the option to opt in to an email electronic version.

By using Adobe’s InDesign and InCopy technologies we can help with this process.  Allowing content providers to work in MSWord or InCopy to provide the raw text, while we  integrate content with design and layout. If you would like to know more please call to see how we can relieve some of the stress in providing creative design and content clarity to your proposals

We try to ensure your money is spent in the right way developing media assets that you only pay for once and can use for may purposes

As a recent example we have just produced a range of stationery and marketing media for two new companies CC Two video services and Set & Staging conference equipment hire. Using logo design provided by Neil Phipps a local designer Applause has created artwork for the conventional letterheads, comp slips, business cards. But also provided more specific print and online solutions for email stationery, bar code labelling, dvd digipack cases, powerpoint and proposal document templates and exhibition pop up banners.

On the back of the Pensford Beer Festival which had its first outing in July 2008 and proved to be a roaring success the organising committee, as well as now planning the second beer festival, have organised the first Pensford Wine Festival to be held on the 14th of March in a few weeks time.

John Durston of the West of England Wine & Spirits Association has been persuaded to put together tutored tasting of new and classic wine styles and this will be followed by an evening of entertainment and tastings of around 30 of his specially selected favourites from around the world.

Applause had produced the Beer Fest website last year and were asked to produce the Wine Festival site together with promotional leaflets and posters plus display graphics for the event itself.  It is fair to say we rather like jobs like this can you guess why!?

If you hail from around Pensford, South Bristol or North Somerset checkout the information on www.pensfordwinefest.co.uk
and make a beeline for this not to missed event.