False InDesign Preflight report with placed AI files

For a number of reasons, AI (Adobe Illustrator format) is the preferred file format instead of EPS for placing Illustrator artwork in InDesign. However, there is one small drawback to the AI format. If you have an AI file that contains only black or spot colors, and you place the AI file in InDesign, the Preflight command (File > Preflight) gives a false report. In the Colors and Inks section of the Preflight report, process C, M and Y will be listed as being used, even if they are not used in the AI file.

This is unfortunate, since in this case Preflight is no longer helpful as a way to see if you mistakenly used process colors in your layout. The best workaround is to choose Window > Output > Separations Preview, and examine the C, M, and Y separations individually to make certain that no objects using these colors appear on your pages.

InDesign & InCopy 5.0.1 update

Today, Adobe released InDesign and InCopy 5.0.1 updates, which promise to fix a number of bugs discovered since the initial release of InDesign and InCopy CS3. I have not yet installed and tried the update, but wanted to give you a quick heads-up. A list of the bugs that were fixed is available here for InDesign and here for InCopy.

Note that one of the bugs that Adobe lists as being fixed is the InDesign CS3 backspace bug fix first described here on 04-27-2007.

InDesign & InCopy fractions

I've been a long time user of Dan Rodney's useful and free "Proper Fraction" script for InDesign. Now Dan has released Proper Fraction 2.0, which is available in a free and a "Pro" version. For a measly $75, the Pro version will automatically format all the fractions in a document, use OpenType fraction formatting if available, automatically stroke the numerator and denominator slightly to improve the appearance, allow you to set custom kerning pairs for fractions, and more.

Both the free and the Pro version work in InDesign and InCopy CS2 or CS3.

If you ever create fractions in InDesign or InCopy, you need at least the free version of the script. I'd strongly encourage you to check out the additional functionality of the Pro version.

Use GREP to find URL's

In a previous Blog entry I wrote about the GREP search capability in InDesign CS3. GREP searches are great for making a computer recognize complex patterns. I recently developed the following GREP string for a client, and thought I'd share it here, hoping you might find it useful or educational.

The procedure below will allow you to quickly search for all URL's (Web addresses) in your text, and format them as non-breaking, or blue, or whatever formatting you wish.

1. Start InDesign, and choose Edit > Find/Change

2. Type the string below into the Find what: field (all on one line)

(?i)(http|ftp|www)(\S+)|(\S+) (\.gov|\.us|\.net|\.com|\.edu|\.org|\.biz)

3. Copy the string below into the Change to: field

$0

4. Click on the More Options button, and then click on the magnifying glass icon next to the Change Format area. Enter whatever formatting you would like here, then click the OK button.

5. Click on the small disc icon at the top of the Find/Change dialog box, and give the Query a name. Now, any time that you want to find and change URL's, you can just choose this name from the Query drop-down list, indicate the scope of the search, and click on the Find button. Another GREP example is here.

Better Bridge previews with Illustrator's Crop Area tool

When you save artwork as an Adobe Illustrator (AI) document with the Create PDF Compatible File option selected, the preview that appears in Adobe Bridge is of the entire Artboard (typically a letter-size page). To make Bridge preview only the artwork, and not the entire page, do the following:

1. In Illustrator CS3, double-click on the Crop Area tool, or press Shift-O (the letter O, not the number zero) followed by return or enter.

2. Choose Fit Crop Area to Artwork Bounds from the Preset drop-down list at the top of the Crop Area Options dialog box.

3. Save the file normally, with the Create PDF Compatible File option selected.

This will make Bridge previews of your Illustrator files larger and more useful.