Quark Forums

Hi, I have been producing a magazine for several months and have sent the document to the printer (pdf) in individual pages as instructed.  They have now come back and said that they need the front cover (Pages 36 & 1) and inside cover (Pages 2 and 35) combining.  It is A4 finished size.

Please help - I don't know how to make what appears to be 2 pages of A3 and the rest A4 within one document.

I am running Quark 8 on Windows.

Many thanks

Duplicate your document so that you are working off of a copy.

Open and delete pages 3-34. Arrange your pages so that you have page 36 and 1 together and 2 and 35 together (I usually use the Document Layout Pallete). Save. Export to PDF like you normally do, but before you export click on the Options button. Somewhere in there should be the option to print spreads. Make sure that is checked. Export Pages 36 and 1. The export again, again choosing spreads and export pages 2 and 35.

Hope that helps. 

Hi Eric, hope you are well. I am working on a new magazine cover and want to set up the back cover so that that each page is aligned on top of each other. Basically I created a page that was 16 3/4 (8 3/8 wide magazine width) by 10 7/8. Then just set up a center guide on the 8 3/8. Now I want to create the back cover, but when I add a page it keeps dropping over to the left. I want to be able to just scroll up and down and not have to keep scrolling down, then over to the left to see my back cover. I tried to add the pages several different ways, but it did not work. Is it better to just create single pages or ? The magazine I have been doing was already done so I just kept the existing format. Thanks!

When you create the new document, you need to make sure the Facing Pages box is NOT checked in the New Project dialog box. I'd create a new single-page (non-facing-pages) document, then you can just copy your current contents into the new file.

Thanks, that worked perfect, but now I am trying to set up the following specs on the cover. I have been working on it. When I export it, I have a burst that goes outside the trim and it appears whole. I don't want it all to show, and I want to show the trims and all that in the pdf. Can I set these up now, or is it too late? Thanks! Page Trim Size: 8 3/8" x 10-7/8" Bleed Size 8 1/2 x 11 1/8

You're exporting to PDF?

Set the PDF Style drop menu to Press (unless your printer gave you a different preset to use).

Click the Options button. On the Marks page, set it to Centered, width .003", length .25", offset .125" (those might already be the defaults). That will create your trim marks.

On the Bleed page, set it to Symmetric, amount .125", and check the Clip at Bleed Edge box. That will allow 1/8" all around for the bleed area, then cut off anything that goes beyond the bleed (thus cutting off the extra burst area).

Disclaimers: I'm on a Mac. And I don't usually create PDFs that way (it's fine, I just use a different process). Hopefully this will get you in the ballpark.

Something isn't quite right Eric. Your suggestions worked, but my document size when exported is 17.5 x 11.62. Shouldn't it be the size I want, and that is the finished/trimmed size of 16 3/4 x 10 7/8? Even if you add the 1/8 in bleeds on each size it would be 17 wide. I have the Layout Properties set at 16 3/4 x 10 7/8. Doesn't the document auto add the bleeds of 1/8 to each side? Then how does the whole margin of 1/2 in fit into this all? Sorry for all the questions, this is the first time I set up a magazine cover and text from scratch.

 It all depends on the settings. Just as an example, let's say your page is 8x10. If you export normally, your PDF would also be 8x10, but since you want spreads, it would be 16x10. If you add the 1/8" bleed on all sides, you would add 1/4" to the length and width to get 16.25x10.25, which is what you seem to want.

What probably is happening is that you have crop marks on, which you probably do want to keep, because the printer will use them to either register when printing or align if placing into an imposed flat. The extra size you are getting is because the length and offset of the crop marks is being added to the size.

If you include the crops, you have to add the length of the crop mark, plus the offset. If your offset was set to .125, the crop would begin at the outer edge of the bleed image. At zero offset, the crop mark would begin at the trim, but you don't want that because if the cutter is off by a bit, you will see crop mark on the page. If the offset is .125 and the crop mark length is .25, you have to add .375 to each side, or .75 total, which would give you a PDF that was 16.75x10.75.

Yeah, Mig's got it. It's the size of the spread, plus the 1/8" bleed all around, plus it adds additional space (often an odd size) to show the crop marks.

If you want to confirm that the crop marks will trim the page at the correct size, you could add 2 pages to your master document, then import the final PDF pages back into the document - select the Media Box option in the dialog when you go get the PDF so you can see the crop marks - and line up the crop marks with your page edges to verify that it's correct. Then you can just delete those 2 pages from the document if it all looks good.

Oh, and, uh, I sort of hijacked Eric's thread where he was helping people, but I'm not him. :-)