Greetings everyone. I am starting work on a small book that I plan to have printed by lulu.com. I've chosen a book size, 9" x 7", and have read their recommendations for submitting full-bleed PDFs -- 1/4" outside, 1/8" top and bottom, so page size in the PDF is 9.25" x 7.25".
I've played with an approach to making the final page dimensions apparent during layout and wanted to check with the list to see if anyone sees any problems with this approach before I get too far along. I did a quick check on the wiki, and don't see anything like this, so here it is. *Step 1* Create master pages of the full-bleed dimensions (9.25"x7.25") with all extras like margins and page numbers layed out as desired. *Step 2* Create document pages from the appropriate master pages. Add a filled black rectangle of the same size as the page at (0, 0) so it exactly covers an entire page. I call this rectangle the "bleed layout mask". Make sure the "bleed layout mask" is at the bottom in z-order. Lock its location and size. Check the no-print option for the "bleed layout mask." *Step 3* Create a rectangle of the final page dimensions (9"x7") filled with white and having no line for its border. Position this "page background" as appropriate for the page instance (left or right), Make sure the "page background" is just above the "bleed layout mask" in z-order. Lock its location and size. Check the no-print option for the "page background." Now, I still have pages that are the desired full-bleed dimension, but show a black perimeter during layout for the portions that will be trimmed after printing. During layout, I can enable printing of these extra layers when I generate check PDF's so I can verify my document with some final layout clues still in place. I just have to be sure to check the no-print options for these layers before generating my final PDF. I've tried some test cases, and don't see any reason other than the added complexity for not doing this. Comments or thoughts? Cheers, Scott __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
