TheOnlinePrinter Forum

Welcome Guest Search | Active Topics | Members | Log In | Register

Fonts Options · View
PeninsulaMan
Posted: Friday, June 06, 2008 2:09:22 PM
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 4
Points: 15
Many sites ask that you attach fonts when you upload a file to be printed.
How is this done? Is there a simple way to upload the fonts where you do not need a science degree?
Admin1
Posted: Friday, June 06, 2008 2:31:55 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7
Fonts are one of the problems associated with commercial printing - and it is one of the big problems.

We get sent (and on a regular basis) wrong fonts, incomplete fonts, fonts produce by Dodgy Brothers Inc., Type 1 fonts, Type 3 fonts, TrueType fonts, Multiple Master fonts, font management software and so on.

This is where Adobe Acrobat is such a boon. You can embed all your fonts and remove font worries completely. To make sure all your fonts are embedded, in Distiller, go to Settings > Edit Adobe PDF settings > Fonts, and make sure the ‘Embed All Fonts’ tick box is ticked

ALTERNATELY, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO CONVERT YOUR TEXT TO AN OUTLINE, THEN DO JUST THAT, AND ALL THE 'FONTS' ISSUES WILL BE SOLVED.
'Outlines' can be created in many types of software. If you use Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign, then high light all the text (ALT "A") or (Apple "A"), then choose "Type" > "Create Outlines".

If you are using Photoshop, then select the layer with the text, then choose: "Type" > "Convert to Shape"..

There is one problem with outlining text or flattening images; your commercial printer will have a tougher time altering the file if it is not 100% press-ready. However, these problems are minor when they are compared to the problems that fonts cause.


TheOnlinePrinter
has a page on how to prepare files using different software programs, and all commercial printers' requirements are virtually the same as those required by TheOnlinePrinter. The programs and relevant pages are:
How to prepare Adobe InDesign Files for a commercial printer.
How to prepare Adobe Illustrator Files for a commercial printer.
How to prepare Adobe Photoshop Files for a commercial printer.
How to prepare Adobe QuarkXPress Files for a commercial printer.
How to prepare Adobe GIMP Files for a commercial printer.
PeninsulaMan
Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 8:33:43 PM
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 4
Points: 15

Thanks for that. I have outlined the text. Hopefully that will solve any future problem with fonts.

 

 

BeachBoy
Posted: Thursday, June 12, 2008 7:41:42 AM
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 1
Points: 3
Location: Jandakot

I have outlined all the text, but my print supplier says the logo is not outlined. What does she mean?

Admin1
Posted: Thursday, June 12, 2008 7:50:44 AM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

I am not certain what your print provider means, but I will try to give you an answer.

Many logos are not pictures, but are bits of text with coloured backgrounds, and the text needs to be treated in the same way as text that is displayed elsewhere on your file.

Outlining Text in Illustrator

Before you outline text in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign, use your short-cut keys to select everything on the page ("Apple" + "A" on a Mac, or 'Windows" + "A" on a PC). This will select everything on the page. THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE PROCESS. SELECT ALL TEXT USING THE SHORT-CUT KEYS.

You then go to "Type", and then choose "Create Outlines" from the dropdown menu (Apple-Mac users, see the below picture).

 

Once this proceedure is complete, ALL text (including areas of text that you thought were images) will then be outlined.

Outlining Text in Photoshop

To outline text (or "Convert to Shapes") in Photoshop, choose: "Select" > "All Layers".

All the layers should be selected, and this can be seen in the Layers Tab box below. All the selected layers are coloured blue.

Then choose: "Layer" > "Type" > "Convert to Shapes".

Save the file, and you have a saved photoshop file with outlined text.

If you need help with your project, whether your project is a simple business card or a two-hundred page book, just contact TheOnlinePrinter.com.au

ANZ
Posted: Friday, June 13, 2008 8:10:22 AM
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/13/2008
Posts: 3
Points: 9
Location: Lane Cove

I am using Adobe Illustrator and I want to change the colours of the fonts. I am new to this software, and I am having all sorts of trouble. It is NOT like "Word" at all.

 

I am sure the answer is simple, but i do some need assistance.

 

Admin1
Posted: Friday, June 13, 2008 9:45:23 AM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

Good morning ANZ,

You are correct. Adobe Illustrator is NOT Microsoft Word, and the solution to your problem is easy.

Below are some pictures that show you how to change the colours of fonts in Adobe Illustrator (if you are using an Apple/Mac).

In the below image I want to change the colour of my name on my business cards from green to black.

First, click once on the button shown in the below image. This will enable you to select the text that you want to change.

Second, click ONCE on the font that needs to change colour. The relevant text should then be highlighted in a simular way to what is shown below.

 

Third, click TWICE in the colour box near the bottom left of the scree. BE CAREFUL, you must click on the box that changes the 'INSIDE" colours. The other box is for the "OUTLINE" colours.

 

A new box will appear that shows your existing colours. In the example shown below, the green colour is made up of 86% Cyan, 44% magenta, 100% yellow, and 48% black.

 

Fourth, change the colour to the one that you want. I have changed the colours of the fonts, in the below example, to 0% Cyan, 0% magenta, 0% yellow, and 100% black. Then click "OK".

 

The colour of the font has now been changed from green to black. it is that simple.

 

 

LaughingJack
Posted: Saturday, June 14, 2008 1:43:41 PM
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 892
Points: 2,532
Location: melbourne

 What is 'font'?

Admin1
Posted: Sunday, June 15, 2008 8:41:22 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

Fonts are the letters & numerals that you use to create text. This "Fonts" discussion board consists of letters and numerals, and those letters and numerals are fonts.

In the old days, you would tell your commercial printer what type of font you wanted (e.g.: Times New Roman or Garamond or whatever), and the commercial printer would get these letters and numbers (i.e.: fonts) from a draw in the printing room and construct the text for your print-job. These were steel letters that would be used to print your job.

Today, things are a lot different, because everything is created by computer. So, when you create a folded leaflet or unfolded leaflet or your business cards on your PC or Apple-Mac that you want printed, then you send an electronic file to your commercial printer to have it printed. All the letters that will create your job are computer code, and your commercial printer must have those computer codes if the commercial printer is going to print your job.

There are thousands upon thousand of different styles of fonts, so there are thousand upon thousand of various computer codes that are required to produce those different fonts.

If your commercial printer does not have that code, then your commercial printer cannot produce your job with the fonts that you want.

This is why you should either:

  1. Attach the Fonts" to your job when you send it to your printer; OR
  2. Outline all the text before you send it to your commercial printer.

 

Jason
Posted: Monday, June 16, 2008 7:54:24 AM
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/16/2008
Posts: 2
Points: 6
Location: Lane Cove

If outlining the text is such a good idea, why do you and so many other printing sites request that users "attach fonts" when files are uploaded? It seems that everyone should simply outline text, "and that is the end of the matter".

Is this correct?

Admin1
Posted: Monday, June 16, 2008 8:04:09 AM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

Good morning Jason,

For most purposes, your comment is correct. If everyone outlines the text fonts before they uploaded files, then most jobs would be printed easily. No fonts would need to be attached to the jobs, and most jobs would be printed easily.

There are really only two reasons why fonts should not be outlined:

  1. If a job is quite large and might become complex (e.g.: a book), then having the fonts attached will allow the commercial printer to 'adjust the file' when it is needed, and do those adjustments with ease.
  2. If a job is small, but quite complex, then it is more easily adjusted if the fonts are attached.

Having written the above, it should be noted that most printing jobs (e.g.: business cards, folded leaflets and stationery) are NOT complex or large, at it would be better if the fonts were outlined.

 

Admin1
Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2008 4:36:53 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

How do you create shadows on your text in Photoshop?

Well, the asnwer is quite simple.

Let us assume we want our text on a business card to have shadows. The below image is the file that we want to adjust, and we want "TheOnlinePrinter" to have a shadow.

First, select the "Layer" that you want to alter. On our business card, the text we want to have a shadow is the layer that the red arrow point towards in the below image. Just "Click" once on that box, and the text layer will become the layerc upon which we will work.

Second, go to "Layers" > "Layer Style" > "Drop Shadow" (see next image).

 

A "Layer Style" box will then come up on your screen, and you adjust the type of shadow that you want by adjusting the controls in that box.

We then go to our third step, where we decide from where the light shall come, and to where the shadow will go. The red arrow in the below image shows the wheel that determines this. The wheel has one spoke and, at the moment, the that spoke is pointing to about 10 or 11 o'clock. Therefore, the shadow in the business card comes down from the text at about 4 or 5 o'clock.

The fourth step is to determine the distance that the shadow shall be from the letters on our business card. The red arrow on the below image shows the 'slide' that determines the distance that the drop shadow shall be from the letters. The furthewr 'right' the slide is placed, the greater the distance between the letters and its drop shadow.

Fifth, we decide what the sread on the drop shadow shall be. The red arrow in the next image shows the slider that determines this.

The sread on a Photoshop drop shadow is how thick the shadow-letters will be. Will the bee the same size as the text, or will the drop shadow-letters be thicker.

Sixth, we determine the "Size" of the drop shadow-letters (see red arrow on below image). The "Size" is not a good description. It would be better called a "blur" tool, as the the movement of the button along the slide alters the crispness of (or blurring on) the edges of the shadow. The further right the button moves along the slider, the more blurred or smudged the drop shadow letters become.

Seventh, if you are happy with the result, then click the "OK" button.

You then have a business card with some drop shadows under the text.

 

LaughingJack
Posted: Friday, July 11, 2008 1:55:13 PM
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 892
Points: 2,532
Location: melbourne

How do I change the colour of my fonts on the online design system?

LaughingJack
Posted: Friday, July 11, 2008 1:57:19 PM
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 892
Points: 2,532
Location: melbourne

I like the triangles, squares, and circles in the design online system. I think they're GREAT!!!

How do I fill in the colour of the object?

Can the 'infil colour' be different from the outline colour?

I reckon your business card and leterhead design system is so VERY easy to use.

LaughingJack
Posted: Friday, July 11, 2008 1:58:16 PM
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 892
Points: 2,532
Location: melbourne

LaughingJack wrote:

I like the triangles, squares, and circles in the design online system. I think they're GREAT!!!

How do I fill in the colour of the object?

Can the 'infil colour' be different from the outline colour?

I reckon your business card and leterhead design system is so VERY easy to use.

Silly me. Howe do I change the colour of the squares and circles?

Printing
Posted: Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:05:54 PM
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member

Joined: 6/12/2008
Posts: 177
Points: 287
Location: Berwick

Can I use the same font on my businesscards and letterheads?

 

Will it matter if they're not the same size?

Admin1
Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2008 6:16:18 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

LaughingJack wrote:

How do I change the colour of my fonts on the online design system?

OK.

Below is an image of a business card, and i want to change th text.

First, click once on the text that you want to alter. Then 'block" all the words ijn that box that you want to change. This is shown in the image below where the arrow numbered "1" points..

You have selected the text, so now click once on the colour bar where the number "2" arrow points, and a drop down menu will appear (see below).

Choose the colour that you want in the drop down menu, and click on that colour once.

Your colour has been changed, and you then change the next text box that you want altered.You then do the same thing with the other text boxes.

Admin1
Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2008 6:21:43 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

LaughingJack wrote:

I like the triangles, squares, and circles in the design online system. I think they're GREAT!!!

How do I fill in the colour of the object?

Can the 'infil colour' be different from the outline colour?

I reckon your business card and leterhead design system is so VERY easy to use.

Changing the colours of the triangle, squares and circlies are easy.

Just click once on the shape that you want changed (see below where I have highlighted the triangle)

If you want to change the inside colours of the shape, then click ONCE on the Fill Colour bar (see red arrow below).

To choose the colour, just click ONCE on the colour you want changed.

To change the colour of the outline, click ONCE on the Line Colour Bar (see below), and to change the colour, click ONCE on the coliur that you want..

Your colours have now been changed to the colours that you want.

Admin1
Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2008 6:24:33 PM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

Printing wrote:

Can I use the same font on my businesscards and letterheads?

 

Will it matter if they're not the same size?

You are frree to use the same fonts on your letterheads and your business cards. It will not matter if the fonts are different sizes, as the papers are different sizes (i.e.: small cards need small writing, and big sheets need big writing).

Admin1
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 8:55:55 AM

Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration

Joined: 6/6/2008
Posts: 29
Points: -7

If you are still unsure about which fonts to use and how to outline, then restrict yourself to easily used fonts. The Fonts that ALL printers have are:

  • Times New Roman;
  • Arial;
  • Helvecia
Users browsing this topic
Guest


Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.

Main Forum RSS : RSS