Free Lynda.com Video: InDesign Insider Training – Print PDFs

Mike Rankin

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On the surface, it seems simple to use PDFs for a print workflow. Heck, it is way simpler than what we used to have to do: collect all the files and fonts* and send them off to the printer with a stack of instructions and proofs that indicated what we hoped the final product would look like.

But producing a PDF for a professional print job is not so simple that you can just ignore all those settings in the PDF Export dialog box. At least, not if you want to get results worth paying for. That’s why David Blatner made a course just to walk you through the process of the PDF print workflow, InDesign Insider Training: Print PDFs.

Here’s the course description:

Making a PDF: it seems like such an easy thing, but it’s the way you make the PDF and the settings you choose that make a huge difference in quality, not to mention whether your printer will accept or reject your file. Learn everything you need to know to create a great print PDF with Adobe InDesign from insider David Blatner. David covers terminology, destination considerations, transparency flattening, and Adobe’s large selection of presets. Once you have the basics out of the way, he’ll show you how to optimize your PDFs for print and address common scenarios PDF designers face, like converting text to outlines and creating PDFs for email.

In the free video below, David shows how to export your PDFs quickly and easily. Check it out!

Exporting PDFs quickly and easily

For Lynda.com members, if you are currently signed in to your account, you can also check out these videos from the series.

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On the topic of flattening transparency

Using Adobe PDF presets

Color and grayscale conversions

*Not that we ever sent fonts to our print service providers, since that would be in clear violation of our font licenses. But we have heard stories…