A significant capability not described in last month’s article on Publishing to PDF from CorelDRAW® 9 is its additional capability of Job Ticket File generation. Job ticket files can be created when publishing to PDF, and either embedded in the PDF itself or saved as a separate .JTF file. These .JTF files can be opened in any Job Ticket Editor and basically contain details such as customer contact and delivery information as well as job and finishing notes according to the Portable Job Ticket Format specification. It is safe to say that as workflows continue to incorporate PJTF, so will CorelDRAW®.

With the enhanced Interactive Drop Shadow tool in CorelDRAW® 9, it is a sure bet that drop shadows will continue to be a popular (and perhaps over-used?) feature to CorelDRAW® users. Historically, this feature has been seen by some as problematic, and at times frustrating for printers, however that has gradually changed with the evolvement of CorelDRAW® since version 8.369. The interactive drop shadow feature in and of itself is quite innocent, but in the hands of an untrained user with little regard to how the feature operates, is where it can get dangerous. Whether receiving a file from someone with little design experience or an expert designer, a service bureau still needs to be wary of drop shadows used in situations they perhaps shouldn’t be. With a little explaining of how drop shadows are rendered, along with some general know-how, potential problems with drop shadows can be averted.

Simply discouraging users from using this feature to begin with is the WRONG answer, especially when CorelDRAW’s powerful print preview and preflight capabilities quite often detect such problems before they even are output.

The following points explain how the Interactive drop shadows work in CorelDRAW® and provide tips on how to best work with them when a file is destined for professional output.

• Drop shadows created using the Interactive Drop Shadow tool are bitmaps. In fact, they are by default CMYK black bitmaps with a transparency applied. The amount of transparency is defined by not only the opacity setting but the featuring as well. (i.e., A drop shadow with 100 opacity and 0 featuring would not be transparent)
• Drop shadows being bitmaps, they have a finite resolution, as defined by the rendering resolution set in CorelDRAW®, which by default is 300dpi. This rendering resolution can be set from Tools | Options... Document | General - Rendering Resolution.
• For each drop shadow that is created, there is a corresponding control object that is associated with it. For every separate object, another bitmap is created, therefore having the potential to create multiple transparent, 300 dpi bitmaps. Minimizing multiple drop shadows whenever possible (overlapping) is recommended. To do this, you may either combine the control objects into one when possible prior to adding the drop shadow effect, or separate each of the drop shadows created and convert them into one bitmap. This procedure will significantly improve RIP times, but at the same time, reduce the possibility of output and trapping problems occuring.
• Another important consideration when using drop shadows is the type of objects behind (beneath) each semi-transparent drop shadow. By nature of a transparency lens effect, everything under the lens is accordingly going to be rendered in process color. This poses a significant issue when dealing with spot colors and fountain fills. Situations such as these require special attention and may require the drop-shadow to be separated, re-created or omitted, especially if trapping is necessary.

This Issue...Q&A about Using PPDs directly, preflight warnings, saving custom n-up layouts & print styles, and resolution settings in CorelDRAW

Question: What does the "use PPD" checkbox do? And why/when would one want to use it?
Explanation: The ‘Use PPD’ option allows PostScript to be generated for a particular device (device dependent) which is mainly useful for sending files directly to the corresponding device. It can also be a useful troubleshooting option or may be necessary to take advantage of particular features of a device – for example AGFA's backup capabilities, etc. It should be no secret that many other DTP applications don't rely on a system's PostScript driver for generating PostScript output, like CorelDRAW. By parsing a PPD directly, CorelDRAW can assume complete control for not only device setup, but all the PostScript generated and therefore not rely on the system's PS driver. There are pros and cons of using a PPD directly. For example, using a PPD directly in CorelDRAW® 9 currently has a limitation of not having any options for custom pages sizes. However, using a device’s PPD virtually guarantees PostScipt compatibility with the device, but may not be compatible with third party applications and workflows. Having the ability to choose between these methods of PS output, and the additional option of Device Independent PostScript, gives CorelDRAW® 9 the PostScript compatibility required for professional use.

Question: In setting up a pagesize, there's a place to specify resolution. Why? What does this do?
Explanation: This setting is mainly useful for web or screen work and is applicable when rulers are set up to work in pixels. When changing the resolution at which you plan to view or print your document, CorelDRAW adjusts the Horizontal and Vertical rulers to reflect the new resolution. The number of pixels equals the resolution multiplied by the page dimensions. For example, a document that is five inches by five inches at 72 dpi has 360 pixels.

Question: How can custom imposition layouts be saved as a Print Style in CorelDRAW® 9?
Answer: Print Styles can include layout (n-up) information, however this information is not saved by default in a print style. Once an imposition layout has been selected, custom or preset –save the Print Style (General tab in the print dialog) and make sure that under Settings to Include | Layout in the Save Settings As dialog, n-up layout is checked (it is unchecked by default).

Question: Virtually every time, I go to print a letter page onto letter extra with crops, the "preflight wizard" says there is no room for the page and the crops and such. Why?
Explanation: Due to a device's unprintable margin, some of the parts of marks may be cutoff slightly with most _Extra type page sizes. The amount cutoff would be negligible however it is enough to trigger the preflight warning. This may be more prominent with imposition layouts. Note: only imagesetters that impose unprintable areas for _Extra type page sizes would trigger this particular preflight warning.

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