Preparing Print Items for The Guardian and Evening Standard InDesign (ISOnewspaper26v4)

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Preparing print PDFs for The Guardian and Evening Standard requires some careful steps.

How to pass print validation checks for the The Guardian and Evening Standard Newspapers

Newsprint paper is thin and can’t take much ink without it bleeding through to the reverse of the page, so handing over a standard print-ready PDF wont cut it. We’ll be reducing the amount of ink being laid down by tuning some settings in InDesign and Photoshop.

To avoid having your artwork rejected, plus dodge a handful of errors being flagged by the newspaper’s print validation software, take the following steps to victory:

  1. Gradients should be embedded in images

    Don’t use gradient overlays or Multiply blending effects in InDesign, – InDesign will miscalculate how much ink to lay down. Make your gradients and overlays as part of your images in Photoshop

  2. Make sure your PSD images don’t have transparent areas

    Don’t leave a transparent background or gaps in your PSD.

  3. ICC profile install

    Unzip the ICC profile in this zip file.
    Right-click the file and click Install Profile.

  4. Convert your image profiles in photoshop

    Edit > Convert to Profile
    Destination space: ISOnewspaper26v4

  5. Convert your InDesign profile

    Edit > Convert to Profile
    Destination space (CMYK): ISOnewspaper26v4

  6. Export your PDF

    Select File > Export
    Set Adobe PDF Preset to PDF/X-1a:2001
    Set Compatibility to Acrobat 4 (PDF1.3)
    In the Output tab, check that Output Intent Profile Name is set to Document CMYK – ISOnewspaper 26v4

  7. Check Ink coverage

    Applying too much ink will make it bleed through the newspaper. The maximum coverage is 240%
    e.g. C100 M100 Y0 K39
    Follow next steps to check:

  8. Open the file in Adobe Acrobat (not Reader).

    Click View More under All tools on the left
    Click Use print production
    Click Output Preview
    Tick Total Area Coverage at the bottom and adjust the maximum amount of ink to 240%. Places where the ink coverage is too high will be replaced by the selected color.