Your printer may support native application files however most like to receive PDF versions of files. If you are using QuarkXPress 6.1 or 6.5, the following tutorial will help you create a print ready PDF file.
Select Usage under Utilities then select fonts.
- If fonts are missing from your document, a negative will be displayed before the font (i.e.{-3, Palatino <> }).
- If fonts are missing they will have to be loaded into your system using a font utility program or into the fonts folder of your Operating System.
Make sure the status of all the graphics used say “OK”. If graphics are Missing, you will have to Update them by locating them in your computer.
Exporting PDFs from QuarkXPress
Select Export under the File menu then Choose: “Layout as PDF…”
- Save As: (Name file)
- Pages: “ALL” (or enter page range)
- Select “Options…”
Select Layout Info
Leave Blank (or fill out any metadata that you would like to be saved into the PDF file for identification.) *Note that this metadata is not the same as metadata used in eBook conversions.
Select Hyperlinks
If Include Hyperlinks is checked, uncheck it. Note that having this checked may cause issues during printing. For instance anchor text can come out blue and underlined in a printed book. As a best practice, you should use a separate PDF file for eBook conversion submission where the presence of hyperlinks is required.
Select Job Options
The following settings are generally optimal however you should double check with your printer to ensure they need PDFs configured in this way. Different printers will have different workflows.
Under Font Options:
- Check “Embed all fonts”
- Uncheck “Subset fonts below”
Under Color Images:
- Compression: “Manual ZIP”
- Resolution: “Keep resolution”
Under Grayscale Images:
- Compression: “Manual ZIP”
- Resolution: “Keep resolution”
Under Monochrome Images:
- Compression: “CCITT Group 4”
- Resolution: “Keep resolution”
Lastly, Check “Compress Text and Line Art” and uncheck “ASCII Format”
Select Output
- Type: “Composite”
- Print Colors: “CMYK”
- Check “Produce Blank Pages” Note that leaving this unchecked could result in no blank pages being included at the front or back of your title during printing. sometimes prepress departments notice this and ask the customer but sometimes they don’t.
- Uncheck “Use OPI” Note that this setting is obsolete for many printers.
- Registration: “Centered”
- Offset: “12 pt”
- Type: “Symmetric”
- Amount: “0.125″
On the last tab for OPI settings, make sure OPI Active is unchecked then click OK.
Once you have all settings configured the way you need them, you can click save and make the PDF document.