LO > PDF > Indesign? Please!
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I'm doing up a project home catalogue for a client at present and for the first time working with Adobe Indesign. Part of the project requires the export from LO of about 30 separate floor plans (LO is so cool for this purpose).
Now I'm wondering if there are any issues or issues I should be cautious with exporting to PDF > importing to Indesign and setting up for professional book printing?
From what I'm seeing so far the import of the PDF brings in the plan with lineweights correctly as set in LO (all plans drawn in LO, not from SU integration) - however nothing like a bit of assurance that through processing nothing will go astray once 1000 books hit the press!
Anyone with experience with this would love to hear from you!
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Hi Richard,
Would some kind of a raster image output not be safer? I'm pretty sure you can export at quite high resolution from LO (2)
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Mate I did consider that, I've just done a similar 74 page catalogue using PNG exported plans at 6000px wide exports, though then have to take them into PS convert to CYMK crop save and import. Then the result though good is still rough on close up.
Mind you then when finished as a draft sent to the client for proofing, they made changes to nearly every plan, so the process had to be undertaken again! Grrr! Paid for it though still Grrr!
When exporting PDF I can just drag straight to Indesign and like layout any changes made to the originals can be updated with one mouse click. Also the result even when you zoom way in on the final export from ID is perfectly smooth curves!
The other big plus! Each range (7) has similar layout with minor changes (5). In layout I've used the same plan base with layer management to create the variences. If I export PNG I have to do one for each variance, by PDF export / import I can keep the layer management in Indesign - which is WAY COOL!
Though I hear LOUD what you are saying mate! Caution could be wise thing!
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Well, I understand the difference indeed. Though png's would bve "safer", pdf is much more flexible.
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Generally the PDF should be fine, unless you run into issue with font not on printers machine that may not be included in the PDF. But when exporting from InDesign you can package fonts with the file or with PDF export.
I agree keeping it Vector (PDF) is better than raster. You can always have the printer run a test of early version to test the workflow. And you could always dump to raster at the end and just swap those links into InDesign in place of the PDF's.
By the way a great workflow from Layout>PDF export is into Adobe Illustrator. It brings in Layout Layers (but doesn't not keep the SU layers of any viewports). You can do offset lines (someone mentioned this as LO feature request in a different post), you can use any of Illustrator's pens for very cool line styles. You can turn layers on and off, add text, make last minute changes etc. Then this cal all still be linked into InDesign to layout the book.
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