Photoshop

Set output options

If you are preparing your images for commercial printing directly from Photoshop, you can select and preview a variety of page marks and other output options using the Print command. Generally, these output options should be specified only by prepress professionals or people knowledgeable about the commercial printing process.

Page marks

A.
Gradient tint bar

B.
Label

C.
Registration marks

D.
Progressive color bar

E.
Corner crop mark

F.
Center crop mark

G.
Description

H.
Star target

  1. Choose File > Print.
  2. Choose Output from the pop‑up menu.
  3. Set one or more of the following options:
    Calibration Bars
    Prints an 11‑step grayscale, a transition in density from 0 to 100% in 10% increments. With a CMYK color separation, a gradient tint bar is printed to the left of each CMYK plate, and a progressive color bar to the right.
    Note: Calibration bars, registration marks, crop marks, and labels are printed only if the paper is larger than the printed image. Calibration bars and star target registration marks require a PostScript printer.

    Registration Marks
    Prints registration marks on the image (including bull’s-eyes and star targets). These marks are used primarily for aligning color separations.

    Corner Crop Marks
    Prints crop marks where the page is to be trimmed. You can print crop marks at the corners. On PostScript printers, selecting this option will also print star targets.

    Center Crop Marks
    Prints crop marks where the page is to be trimmed. You can print crop marks at the center of each edge.

    Description
    Prints any description text entered in the File Info dialog box, up to about 300 characters. Description text is always printed in 9‑point Helvetica plain type.

    Labels
    Prints the file name above the image. If printing separations, the separation name is printed as part of the label.

    Emulsion Down
    Makes type readable when the emulsion is down—that is, when the photosensitive layer on a piece of film or photographic paper is facing away from you. Normally, images printed on paper are printed with emulsion up, with type readable when the photosensitive layer faces you. Images printed on film are often printed with emulsion down.

    Negative
    Prints an inverted version of the entire output, including all masks and any background color. Unlike the Invert command in the Image menu, the Negative option converts the output, not the on‑screen image, to a negative. If you print separations directly to film, you probably want a negative, although in many countries film positives are common. Check with your print shop to determine which is required. To determine the emulsion side, examine the film under a bright light after it has been developed. The dull side is the emulsion; the shiny side is the base. Check whether your print shop requires film with positive emulsion up, negative emulsion up, positive emulsion down, or negative emulsion down.

    Background
    Selects a background color to be printed on the page outside the image area. For example, a black or colored background may be desirable for slides printed to a film recorder. To use this option, click Background, and then select a color from the color picker. This is a printing option only; it does not affect the image itself.

    Border
    Prints a black border around an image. Type a number and choose a unit value to specify the width of the border.

    Bleed
    Prints crop marks inside rather than outside the image. Use this option to trim the image within the graphic. Type a number and choose a unit value to specify the width of the bleed.

    Screen
    Sets the screen frequency and dot shape for each screen used in the printing process.

    Transfer
    Adjusts the transfer functions, traditionally used to compensate for dot gain or dot loss that may occur when an image is transferred to film. This option is recognized only when you print directly from Photoshop, or when you save the file in EPS format and print to a PostScript printer. Generally, it’s best to adjust for dot gain using the settings in the CMYK Setup dialog box. Transfer functions are useful, however, when compensating for a poorly calibrated output device.

    Interpolation
    Reduces the jagged appearance of a low-resolution image by automatically resampling up while printing. However, resampling may reduce the sharpness of the image quality. Some PostScript Level 2 (or higher) printers have interpolation capability. If your printer doesn’t, this option has no effect.

For information on the Include Vector Data or Encoding options, see Print vector data or Change the encoding method.