Guys, guys... Quark ain't going anywhere. If they still have 2% of the market share, they are gonna produce more versions looking for that old glory they used to dominate with.

I feel for them in a way. I remember if it wasn't Quark or Freehand, I HATED doing the job.

Yep, not really a way to do it without some sort of PDF editing software, and Illustrator really isn't one of them, unless you plan on doing a total make-over, and even then, you take a lot of unnecessary risks.

It's been mentioned MANY times, even by me earlier... GET PITSTOP. You will wonder how you survived without it after a short time.

Quote from: Tracy on August 10, 2016, 12:43:29 PMPressman was out for medical once and we were hiring a temp, one pressman came in
and turned right around because of the condition of the press.

Our pressman is a slob, you should see his console, seriously crap all over it
not sure how he finds anything

They are usually cut from the same cloth. There are good Pressman out there, I have seen them. It's usually finding a diamond in the rough, or more like in these days, a unicorn.

Quote from: abc on August 10, 2016, 09:23:31 AMWell it's what you would expect isn't it?
Not sure if we need some better ICC profiles or maybe some kind of adjustment options like you have in Photoshop.
Then again one size doesn't always fit all in these cases.
But we can certainly look and improve what we do now, or at least have additional options.

Expectations are one thing, a software company actually following though and actually helping is another thing entirely.

Not something I have seen in a LONG time, I mean we're talking Freehand 5 days. I too, feel better knowing a Prepress guy is taking care of business. Puts things in total perspective.

Through Prinergy you can do it, but you may want to peruse through your files to make sure large concentrations of black DO NOT overprint. Text and lines are good, but sometimes lines can be thicker in size and cause color shifts set to OP. Like everything in Prepress, just double-check and you should be good.

Might want to get Pitstop though. It's pricey, but totally justified and a money and time-saver in the long run.

Quote from: Tracy on August 10, 2016, 09:02:51 AMNo, No, No and No :laugh:

Haha, that's pretty funny.

Quote from: abc on August 10, 2016, 08:30:47 AMOk so we have some work to do.  :-)
If anyone is interested, could you send me, PitStop result, acceptable result you created elsewhere, and your PitStop color management settings.
We can then take a look at how we can improve.

I wish I could. I longer work in Prepress. I admire the fact you want to get this resolved, however.

Quote from: Joe on August 10, 2016, 07:08:35 AM

Quote from: DigitalCrapShoveler on August 09, 2016, 11:14:37 PMI know I'm gonna catch shit for this, but I really never had very good luck with converting 4-color grays to black only with Pitstop. The problem I always had, was the converted image was just too dark and concentrated and plugged up bad on press, especially with offset substrates.

I manually opened every image in PS, run levels to balance it, then run an action with curves set to add 5% dot in the highlights and take the shadows down to 85 - 90%. It gives the Press guys a little more room to maneuver and does not plug up with offset paper.

It takes longer, but once you get into a groove, it goes pretty quick.

I agree about not liking any end result with Pitstop. They are either too light or too dark it seems. But you can do corrections within Pitstop now so I don't really feel the need to open them in Photoshop unless it is a special case. My go to right now is to use the 'Acrobat' setting in Pitstop CM and then do a curve change 92% to 100% within Pitstop and it looks pretty good.

Quote from: elko on August 10, 2016, 12:03:48 AMand what about change color (dot gain 15% works fine) by acrobat?.....it should leave text 100K and change only objects in CMYK and so on

Yeah I've tried that but I still don't like the quality of the images being converted. Either too dark or too light for my liking.

Well, I haven't had to do it in over a year. Getting behind the times, pretty quick.

I know I'm gonna catch shit for this, but I really never had very good luck with converting 4-color grays to black only with Pitstop. The problem I always had, was the converted image was just too dark and concentrated and plugged up bad on press, especially with offset substrates.

I manually opened every image in PS, run levels to balance it, then run an action with curves set to add 5% dot in the highlights and take the shadows down to 85 - 90%. It gives the Press guys a little more room to maneuver and does not plug up with offset paper.

It takes longer, but once you get into a groove, it goes pretty quick.

I find, doesn't matter what kind of handy-dandy software, bells and whistles and froo-froo are on a press. If the press isn't cleaned, maintained and you have a meth-head running it, you will NEVER achieve true linearization, therefore nullifying any software miracle.

Is your press clean? Does the Pressman take pride in his machine? Does he actually know what he's doing? Does he come to Prepress on every job blaming you for HIS problems?

If yes to any of these questions... save the 20K.

This may not be your situation, but every shop I have worked with, it is.

Quote from: DPSprint on July 31, 2016, 01:59:54 PMOMG that PINK thing is going to give me a migraine!

Don't stare at it too long... it will make your face melt.

Quote from: DigiCorn on July 29, 2016, 06:35:01 PM

Quote from: DigitalCrapShoveler on July 29, 2016, 06:20:03 PM

Quote from: DigiCorn on July 29, 2016, 05:53:29 PM

Quote from: DigitalCrapShoveler on July 28, 2016, 10:19:55 PMI can talk the pants off of you.

Can you at leatht buy me a drink firtht, thailor?

Sure... after you help me get this couch in my van.

You looked like you could use some help, with that broken arm and all, Mr. Bundy.

It calls me DCS!

Quote from: DigiCorn on July 29, 2016, 05:53:29 PM

Quote from: DigitalCrapShoveler on July 28, 2016, 10:19:55 PMI can talk the pants off of you.

Can you at leatht buy me a drink firtht, thailor?

Sure... after you help me get this couch in my van.

Quote from: DigiCorn on July 28, 2016, 06:08:53 PMI tried to do a broker/graphics thing back in '04. I printed up brochures and hit the pavement. I went absolutely nowhere, but I wasn't pushing social media because it wasn't really around yet. I got a few jobs, and got stiffed on payment. At that time, my house had a "studio," in the back so I even had brick and mortar free of charge.

This is a little different. Same principal, but I won't physically be doing "anything" except, maybe pushing graphics on occasion and wrangling customers. If it comes to calling people, I am lost, but walk-ins, I'm gold. I can talk the pants off of you.

Quote from: Ear on July 28, 2016, 11:11:08 AMI'm through the first couple chapters of your opening post... I'll weigh in once I finish it.

I did warn you. Let me know, I value your opinion.