InDesign CS5 Bible- P16: InDesign is a powerful tool that serves as the standard program for professional layout and design. The latest version boasts a variety of updates and enhancements. Packed with real-world examples and written by industry expert Galen Gruman, this in-depth resource clearly explains how InDesign CS5 allows for better typography and transparency features, speedier performance, and more user control than any other layout program. | Chapter 31 Printing Documents Crop Marks These are lines at the corners of the page that tell a commercial printer where the page boundaries are and thus to where the paper is trimmed. Bleed Marks These add a very thin box around your page that shows the bleed area where you expect items to print into even though they re past the page boundary. A bleed is an object that you want to be cut at the page boundary the object needs to overshoot that boundary in case during printing the page is not trimmed exactly where it should be. Normally 0p9 9 points or inches is sufficient area for a bleed. You set the bleed area in the Marks and Bleed pane which I cover in the next section. Registration Marks These are the cross-hair symbols used to ensure that the color negatives are properly aligned on top of each other when combined to create a color proof and to make sure that the colors are not misregistered on the final pages when they are lined up on a printing press. Color Bars These print the CMYK colors and tints so that a commercial printer can quickly check during printing whether ink is under- or oversaturated the shades could be too light or dark. The CMYK colors also help a commercial printer know which color a particular negative is for after all negatives are produced using transparent film with black images . Page Information This lists the file name and page number. If a printer has options for printer s marks they display in the Type popup menu but most simply have one option Default. You can also adjust the thickness of the printer s marks using the Weight popup menu settings of and points the default is points a hairline rule . You can also control the offset of crop marks from the page corners by adjusting the Offset value the default of inches 6 points usually suffices. For all of these check with your service bureau. Because printer s marks print outside the page your paper size may not be large enough to print the printer s
