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> Hi:

> Can you explain what is involved in the
> color separation. - process,getting it ready
> for the printer, etc..

> Also for black and white with black and
> white pictures - will pictures taken with a
> digital Sony Mavica provide the right
> resolution for a catalog, and how are they
> provided to the printer for use? - are they
> submitted separately, or embedded into the
> Pagemaker document?

> For compiling ads where graphics are
> involved - is there a specific software
> program you find the best?

> Thanks...I'm sure we'll all benefit from
> this answer.

> Bud

Bud,

To get color separations you need to have the photo in a format like 'Tiff-CMYK' which is the one many printers use or accept. The photo when printed will yield 4 pieces of film, 1 for Cyan, 1 for Magenta, 1 for Yellow and 1 for Black. Together they are your color photograph. Maybe someone with a printer's background can elaborate more--mybackground is more from the catalog production end.

Black & White printing is of course much easier. Some printers are now doing documents from pdf files. To use photos from a digital camera, you need to make sure you have a resolution of 300dpi at least. A jpeg photo is only 72dpi so you can imagine the resolution of a jpeg as opposed to a tiff at say 300dpi, would be much 'fuzzier'. The key is to find out what your printer wants and then give it to him (or her).

Take care,

Mike Winicki