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Re: [Gimp-user] Export to pdf

Hello Jehan and Dwain,

I thank you very much for your helpful answeres! All this makes realy
sense. I now started to work with Scribus. To be honest I had some
program crashes (I think because of my unknowingness in the first steps
:)) and some color fields are difficult to design. But all in all it is
easy to handle. You are right that this seems to be the correct program
to make our print material. I made some test pdf's and it looks realy
good. It will take some time to be on the same point where I was with
gimp. I hope that our printer shop accept the pdf, but I have a good
feeling, they are professional. I look forward to my first print. Thank
you again! Nice to have such professional help!


With best regards,
Uwe

Am 10.05.2019 um 13:19 schrieb Dwain Alford:

john and uwe,
here, here. i agree whole-heartedly. gimp is a raster (pixel) based
program while inkscape is a vector (number) based program which
produces "smooth" outlines. scribus is a page layout program that
handles the job of combining raster images, vector images and text
into a neat package that a good print shop can execute a quality
finished product of your design.

scribus exports directly to pdf and produces a cmyk file that is
"print ready". design tools are just that, tools. would use a screw
driver to try and pry a nail from a board? you would choose the
appropriate tool for the job, correct? even though gimp can be used to
design a page, inkscape is a better choice of the two. however, even
though inkscape is a good program to use for page design, scribus is
better. scribus will allow you to import text from an open document
format (open office or libreoffice); it will also allow you to import
a .svg (scaleable vector graphic) image or an adobe illustrator image.
however, i have found that certain illy files after illustrator 9 will
not import. but be not dismayed, illustrator will convert your image
to the .svg format for importation.

for my work flow, i use a raster editor (gimp, photoshop, etc.) to
size, color correct, etc. photographs; i use a vector editor
(inkscape, illustrator, corel draw, etc.) to produce and size vector
drawings and usually export to the .tif format (tif files contain more
information than jpeg or png files - most commercial print shops
prefer tif files for this reason); and i use a page layout program
(scribus, indesign, quark express, etc.) to put the design elements
together for the purpose of producing a print ready pdf file that
produces a quality finished product.

i need to mention that "properly" sizing a raster image is most
important. most commercial printers use a certain image resolution for
different types of paper and the "use" of the image. for instance, a
fine art print would be printed at 175 dpi while a newsprint image
would be printed at 75-80 dpi. all this depends on the paper used for
the job. i usually use 300 dpi for raster images and size the image
according to the size i want to produce on the page. most vector
images are either 300 or 600 dpi, depending on the program i use to
produce them.

scribus will allow you to draw a container for an image and the
program can size a large or small image to the container, but a 72 dpi
image enlarged by this process will produce an ugly final image on the
paper. there are some commercial printers that cannot print a scribus
pdf file. since adobe is the "industry standard" software they
calibrate their printers to adobe. small print shops use corel draw as
their standard software. in this case, you can provide a native file
with accompanying fonts in the file for printing. for most jobs where
i use corel draw, i will convert text to curves so i don't have to
provide fonts to the printer. and don't assume a printer knows how to
print from a pdf. i have run across one that didn't understand that he
didn't have to import my pdf into draw to print it. i guess he didn't
know he could print from a pdf viewer to his chosen printer. but i
digress. a page layout program is also a type setter. you can kern
letters and paragraphs for "readability". i'm sure you have seen where
some of your letters in a particular font will look closer together
than other letters when printed. although raster and vector programs
have the same capability, page layout programs do it better, because
that's how they are designed.

color management is key to the whole process, but that's another
conversation all together.

hope this helps.

On Tue, May 7, 2019 at 7:49 AM Jehan Pagès via gimp-user-list
<gimp-user-list gnome org <mailto:gimp-user-list gnome org>> wrote:

    Hi!

    On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 10:07 PM Uwe Sassnowski
    <uwesassnowski web de <mailto:uwesassnowski web de>> wrote:

    > Hello,
    >
    > I designed a brochure in gimp with several picture and text levels /
    > layers. Then I combined all pictures and texts to one layer and
    exported it
    > to pdf. I sent the pdf to the printing company for printing. The
    print was
    > not in a perfect quality. The printing company told us that they
    normally
    > get pdf's from their clients where they can make changes to
    improve the
    > quality. I tried to export to pdf without combining all layers.
    But then
    > all texts are changed in format. I can create pictures from the text
    > layers. But then I and the printing company cannot go into the text
    > anymore. Is there a way to export to pdf all single pictures and
    texts
    > without combining all layers so that the printing company can
    touch all
    > pictures and texts and to reach a higher quality print?
    >

    I can't remember if our implementation for PDF export rasterize
    text or
    not. In any case, if you want to lay out various items and similar
    activities common for printed objects, I would suggest to use Inkscape
    and/or Scribus. I mean: you can still use GIMP for obviously
    raster parts
    (drawing, photographs, etc.). But when it comes to complex designs,
    Inkscape may be the most appropriate tool. And if you have objects
    to set
    precisely on your page, Scribus may be better suited (it won't do
    that much
    more than what Inkscape does, simply it's rather *how* it does it
    which may
    make it much more straightforward when you think in term of print).

    Now GIMP can also work very fine, even if you have texts. But then
    you have
    to understand well the printing process to provide a perfect
    raster object
    to the printshop and not expect them to edit it (we certainly
    don't want
    printshops to edit our designs in fact!).

    Jehan


    >
    > With best regards,
    > Uwe
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