# Graphic designers: I need a CS4 tutorial that focuses on printing/pre-flight/overprint/traps, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772 "2010-02-20T16:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/1 "2010-02-20T16:14:25Z")
During my career I’ve always used Illustrator as a secondary application to the one I was actually ripping/printing from (i.e. placed illustrator files). Yesterday I didn’t ace a prospective employer’s Illustrator test due to my lack of knowledge about how Illustrator handles (where you identify/control/set) print settings with regard to color, trapping, overprinting. Every online tutorial I’ve checked out since then (I obviously need some training on how ALL the other apps handle printing) has been tools/styles/effects/interface-focused, but didn’t go anywhere near printing. Suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![sharding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@sharding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharding)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/2 "2010-02-20T23:05:36Z")
In the past I’ve liked the “Real World” series of books (e.g. Real World Illustrator, Real World InDesign, Real World Color Management). I haven’t looked at recent editions, but I’d be kind of surprised if they didn’t cover that stuff. I kind of just learned it as I went, but that was a long time ago (ca. PageMaker 4 and Photoshop 2)… ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/3 "2010-02-20T23:13:50Z")
As a designer I’ve always happily dumped the printing decisions on the printer. It sounds like you’re trying for a job in the printing industry. Good luck, but I can’t help much. Here’s the [Adobe Illustrator Help](http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Illustrator/14.0/WS714a382cdf7d304e7e07d0100196cbc5f-648fa.html) section that discusses printing setup, trapping, and overprinting. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/4 "2010-02-20T23:35:37Z")
I don’t find Adobe’s own [help files](http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Illustrator/14.0/WS714a382cdf7d304e7e07d0100196cbc5f-64cfa.html) to be too bad, myself. But, then again, I’ve been trained on CS2, so I only needed to catch up on the differences. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/5 "2010-02-21T03:51:30Z")
I’m not a big tutorial user, but functionality within Illustrator is pretty easy to find… As far as I know, overprinting is set on an object-by-object basis via the Attributes panel, the type of color (spot vs. process) can be controlled via the Swatches panel. And trapping is done via an object-by-object basis via the Pathfinder palette. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphic-designers-i-need-a-cs4-tutorial-that-focuses-on-printing-pre-flight-overprint-traps-etc/529772/6 "2010-02-21T03:53:13Z")
You could hire my husband.