Problems when trying to make pdf from ps using distiller

Question

Hi,
I'm using Adobe Design Standard CS4 and I'm trying to make a PDF from Indesign, using Distiller. I made a ps and when I opened it in Distiller the pages were cut, as if the sizes were smaller than those set in Indesign. But I did modify in jobs the dimensions so that they would be the same as those from Indesign. I thought at first that maybe the ps was badly made, but when opened in Photoshop it displayed the same sizes as those in Indesign. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Bob's answer will certainly work, and those are usually fine settings, but you may want to know more about the what and why of export settings.
Conversion is handled in the dialog in the output panel under, of all places, the "Color Conversion" field. You have three choices: No conversion (self explanatory, and if you've got everything in the correct space to start with a good choice), and two flavors of "Convert to destination," Preserve Numbers and Preserve Appearance, which have subtle, but major, differences. The target profile is selected in the next field below.
In the case of either one, anything RGB will get converted to CMYK if you pick a CMYK target profile (and vice versa if you pick a RGB profile). The difference is in what happens to objects that are already using the color model, but not the specific profile, of the destination.
When you preserve numbers a CMYK object in ISO coated with values of 25,38,40,10 can be converted to SWOP with the same numbers. You can expect slight shifts in color appearance this way (of course, there are also MANY RGB colors that can't be reproduced using CMYK inks at all, so you'll pretty much always get some shifting in RGB to CMYK conversions).
When you preserve appearance the numbers used to represent the colors are altered so the output looks the same on both devices.
You might think this is superior, but there is a glitch. What happens to solid black (100% K only)? If you've set type in InDesign you probably colored it with the [Black] swatch. If you pick preserve numbers, you type stays 100% K and will continue to overprint, and your pressman will be happy. If you pick preserve appearance, one of two things will happen: If the document working profile is the same as the target profile, there will be no change and everyone is happy. If the profile is different, your simple black type will become a four-color mix that has the same visual appearance (when in perfect register) in the target space, and now it no longer overprints and is separated onto 4 plates, and your pressman is cursing you.
This will happen with anything that is just a single process ink, but generally speaking this isn't an issue for the other three colors if you are printing them anyway. It might be a problem for one-color hairlines or small type, though, so you should at least be aware of the potential.
So, the bottom line is you should assign the correct output profile as the CMYK working space in your document, if you know it in advance. If not, make your best guess and consider re-assigning the working space before exporting to PDF if you guess wrong. Any conversion from one profile to another is going to have some sort of consequences and it's up to you to choose the best answer based on the particular circumstances of your file.
Peter