TheMagPiPdf

Overview of PDF Creation
For each individual page within the magazine, two PDFs must be produced using different settings; one for display on screen in the PDF version of the magazine and one for the print version.

The screen version is optimised for size while the print version must be optimised for quality and include extra information for the printer.

As articles are worked on and exported by multiple people, it is very important that the PDF generation settings are identical each time to allow us to produce a magazine of consistent quality month after month. To assist with this we are currently looking at using scripts to automatically generate PDFs from Scribus based on fixed settings, but until this can be put in place the instructions below detail every setting for both the print and screen versions of articles.

Preparation for PDF generation
The MMS site requires that article PDFs are uploaded using a specific naming convention based on the article identification number and the page number within the magazine where the article will sit.

Before generating PDFs it is good to obtain this information from MMS.

If you navigate to the article you are working on in the MMS site, the article and page number / numbers are clearly displayed.



Further down the article page on MMS, the exact naming convention can be seen e.g. ArticleNumber_PageNumber.pdf and ArticleNumber_Pagenumber_pub.pdf

If you are replacing PDFs that are already uploaded, the actual file name is visible also on the existing files.



PDF Export
Note: All PDF exports must be created using Scribus on a Raspberry Pi

Once your article is finished within Scribus:


 * Click on the PDF Export icon at the top of the menu bar or click on "Export" and then "Save to PDF" from the File menu.
 * Then follow either the Screen or Print sections below.

Once the PDFs are produced:


 * Rename the pdf files using the correct format article number_page number.pdf or article number_page number_pub.pdf
 * Upload the pdf files to the MMS article.

PDF for Screen
The key settings for screen PDFs are:


 * Create separate PDF files of each page. (The pages are joined together at the end and uploaded to our mirror sites and to issuu.com.)
 * Select:
 * Compression: Lossy JPG / Medium
 * EPS Graphics: 600 DPI
 * Resample Images: 600 DPI
 * All fonts embedded except FreeSans Bold which should be outlined
 * Output intended for Screen / web
 * No print marks or bleeds

The screen shots below show the exact settings for each section of the PDF export dialogue:

General settings must be as follows:



Example fonts settings, any fonts used should be embedded apart from FreeSans Bold:



No changes should be needed in Extras:



No changes should be needed in Viewer:



No changes should be needed in Security:



Color settings must be as follows:



Pre-Press settings must be as follows:



Once you are happy that the settings are correct, click save and the pages should be exported to the location specified.

PDF for Print
The key settings for Print PDFs are:


 * Create separate PDF files of each page. (The pages are joined together at the end and uploaded to our mirror sites and to issuu.com.)
 * Select:
 * Compression: Automatic / Maximum
 * EPS Graphics: 600 DPI
 * Resample Images: 600 DPI
 * All fonts embedded except FreeSans Bold which should be outlined
 * Output intended for Printer
 * Convert Spot Colors to Process Colors
 * All printer marks on
 * 3mm bleeds

The screen shots below show the exact settings for each section of the PDF export dialogue:

General settings must be as follows:



Example fonts settings, any fonts used should be embedded apart from FreeSans Bold:



No changes should be needed in Extras:



No changes should be needed in Viewer:



No changes should be needed in Security:



Color settings must be as follows:



Pre-Press settings must be as follows:



Once you are happy that the settings are correct, click save and the pages should be exported to the location specified.