Tips and Tricks

Tip 1
Add PDF Workflows to the Print Dialog
In Tiger, you can add your own PDF workflow (a series of automated steps) to
the PDF pop-up menu at the bottom of every Print dialog box. To do this, create
a PDF Services folder in your user folder’s Library folder, use Automator to create the desired workflow, and then save it to this new folder. Its name will then appear in the PDF pop-up menu of the Print dialog.
Rob Griffiths
Macworld 10/05, pg.58

Tip 2
PDF Formats Explained
Adobe CS2 applications let you export to PDF using several built-in presets, or
your own. Here’s what the built-in presets mean:

High Quality Print: suitable for desktop printing.

PDF/X-1a:2001: preferred for commercial printing. It flattens transparency.

PDF/X3:2002: for use in color-managed workflows.

Press Quality: generally OK for commercial printing, but it doesn’t flatten transparency.

Smallest Files Size: suitable for email or Web posting.

If your printer doesn’t provide specific settings for generating PDFs, the safest choice is PDF/X-1a.
Claudia McCue, Layers


Tip 3

Preview Non-Embedded Fonts in PDFs
When you choose not to embed fonts in a PDF, how can you know how the PDF’s fonts will appear on another computer? Acrobat has a feature that lets you see just that: disable Use Local Fonts from the View menu in Acrobat 5, or from the Advanced
menu in Acrobat 6 or 7. When Use Local Fonts is disabled, Acrobat temporarily
forgets about all the fonts currently active on your Mac and uses its built-in fonts to display any fonts that are not embedded in the PDF — just like it would do on someone’s computer who doesn’t have the fonts that were used in the PDF.


Tip 4

Protect a Text Frame from Text Wrap
In InDesign, sometimes you want a text frame to overlap a picture, but the picture has a text wrap setting applied to it and so the text is pushed away from the picture. You can override the text wrap for a specific text frame by choosing Object> Text
Frame Options, and then enabling the Ignore Text Wrap checkbox. This allows
that one text frame to be unaffected by the text wrap settings of any objects
it encounters.


Tip 5

Edit Grouped Items in QuarkXPress
In QuarkXPress, you can edit an individual item that is part of a group, without ungrouping it — just use the Content (hand) tool.With the Content tool, you can reposition a picture inside its box by simply dragging inside the picture box. Resize a
box by dragging one of its handles. Edit text by clicking inside a text box. If you
want to move an entire box, hold down the Command key and the Content tool will temporarily turn into the Item tool.


Tip 6

Control Adjustment Layers
To make an Adjustment Layer affect only the layer below it in Photoshop’s
Layers palette, highlight the Adjustment Layer in the Layers palette, then
choose Layer> Create Clipping Mask or press Command-Option-G. Now the adjustment layer will only affect the layer below it in the Layers palette. To undo this operation, choose Layer> Release Clipping Mask.



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Bug Fixes

Fix 1
Creative Suite 2 Updates
Adobe has released updates for InDesign CS2, GoLive CS2, and Illustrator CS2.
These updates fix serious problems and are available at www.adobe.com/support/
downloads/
. You may also download them directly from each applications’
Help> Updates menu item.

Fix 2
Acrobat 7.0.5 Updater
Adobe’s 7.0.5 updaters for Acrobat and Reader fix several problems, including this show-stopping bug: if QuickTime 7 is installed, Adobe Reader 7 cannot play sound or
video embedded in PDF documents. Version 7.0.5 fixes this. An easy way to apply the updaters is to choose Help> Check for Updates… from within your Acrobat application.

Fix 3
StuffIt Deluxe 10 Unstable
StuffIt Deluxe 10 ($80), from Allume Systems, seems to be unstable and bug-ridden. Early upgraders are reporting problems with the application crashing, incorrect file
names and unStuff times, Archive Assistant removing tasks without authorization,
and more. Allume recently released the StuffIt Deluxe 10.0.1 updater, but it doesn’t seem to correct most of the problems. Until Allume addresses and repairs the problems, we recommend sticking with StuffIt Deluxe 9.
www.allume.com
Fix 4
Delete All the Bits & Pieces of an Application
Removing a complex application from Mac OS X may not be as simple as throwing away the application’s folder. For example, Adobe applications also require that you throw away their folders located in Users/[user name]/Library/ Preferences/. If you have trouble reinstalling an application, try throwing away its preference folder,
then emptying the Trash.

Tips and Tricks brought to you courtesy of Design Tools Monthly:
www.design-tools.com







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