Advanced
Tutorial Raster Preview
In this lesson you learn what Raster Preview is and how you can use it in your pre-
press workflow.
Duration: You will need ! Lesson Objectives ........................................................................................................ 2
approximately one hour to ! Before You Begin ...................................................................................................... 2
complete this Tutorial. ! Licensing ...................................................................................................................... 2
! About Raster Preview? ............................................................................................. 3
! When to use Raster Preview? ............................................................................... 3
! Lesson: Preparing a Job for Preview .................................................................. 3
! Lesson: Checking the Raster Dot Percentages ................................................ 5
! Lesson: Measuring the Screening Angles .......................................................... 7
! Lesson: Verifying Overprint Settings.................................................................... 8
! Lesson: Using the Measurement Tool ................................................................. 9
1
2 BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Lesson Objectives
In this Tutorial, you will learn all about the ApogeeX Raster Preview application.
You will learn how to check raster dot percentages, measure screen angles,
verify the use of overprint and use the measurement tool.
Before You Begin
Ensure that you have administrator access and that the following files are avail-
able on the Advanced Tutorial DVD:
■ ...\\Tutorial Tickets\Raster Preview
! Raster [Link]
■ ...\\Tutorial SampleFiles\Raster Preview
! [Link] (cover page)
! [Link] (pages 2 to 4)
! 163x225 4up PB 4pages [Link] file
NOTE: Copy the pjtf sample file from the Advanced Tutorial DVD to the pjtf
folder located in the Shared SampleFiles folder on the ApogeeX System.
CAUTION: It is recommended to execute the exercises in this Tutorial on
Macintosh. If you perform the exercises on Windows, you may need to
make some minor changes to the exercises.
Licensing
Ensure that you have a license for the following:
■ Required ApogeeX package: Light, Commercial or Packaging
■ The Raster Preview option.
APOGEEX 1.0.0: Advanced Tutorial
RASTER PREVIEW 3
About Raster Preview?
Raster Preview allows you to examine generated bitmap results from the
ApogeeX Renderer in great detail. In order to have the full ApogeeX Raster
Preview Application, you need to purchase the Raster Preview option. If you do
not have the Raster Preview option, you can use Raster Preview in contone mode
or low resolution only.
When to use Raster Preview?
You can use Raster Preview to view rendered job results. A job is rendered when
you can see the separation indicators next to the thumbnail(s) in the Results tab.
NOTE: If there are no separation indicators next to the thumbnail in the Results
tab, this means that your job result is a PDF document coming from the
Normalizer, the Flattener or the PDF Trapper.
The detailed job preview in Raster Preview allows you to approve and send the
job directly to your output device (platesetter, imagesetter, etc.) or abort the job
before committing it to output.
CAUTION: In Raster Preview, you cannot make any changes to the raster
data. If errors are found in the previewed data, you need to correct the
documents in the source application and then resubmit the job.
If you want to keep the rendered job results, you need to place a Keep Results
action on the Renderer. This allows you to preview the rendered data, also after
imaging and outputting your documents.
Often, a Soft Proof action is placed before the Output Task Processor. The job is
put on hold before imaging, and the soft proof icon indicates that the job needs
to be previewed.
LESSON 1: Preparing a Job for Preview
In this exercise, you will create a new Job Ticket, and use it to process two
PostScript files. The processing is paused after rendering so that the rendered
results can be checked in Raster Preview.
APOGEEX 1.0.0s: Advanced Tutorial
4 PREPARING A JOB FOR PREVIEW
" To create the Raster Preview Job Ticket
1 In the Jobs window, choose File > Open.
2 Browse for the Raster [Link] on the Advanced Tutorial DVD.
3 Click Open.
In the Administration tab, ensure that the following information is set:
! Order Number: AGFA-0020
! Job Name: Raster Preview
4 In the Plan tab, ensure that the variable $ORDER is in the Hot Folder location
path.
5 Click the Impose Plan Component.
6 In the File Selection pane, browse for the 163x225 4up PB 4pages [Link]
file.
7 Check the Screening settings. Ensure that the following settings are
selected: ABS - 175 lpi - round
8 Choose File > Submit Plan.
" To input a document
1 Copy the sample files [Link] and Mecca-dec2002-p2-
[Link] in the AGFA-0020 Hot [Link] can find these PostScript files on the
Advanced Tutorial DVD.
2 When all pages are available in the Page Store, drag them to the Run List.
Make sure the cover is put on the first place holder, and pages 2 to 4 on their
corresponding place holders.
3 Choose File > Commit Changes.
The processing of the job continues, the four pages will be rendered.
APOGEEX 1.0.0: Advanced Tutorial
RASTER PREVIEW 5
" To preview the job results
! In the Results tab, double-click the flat when the job is rendered.
The Raster Preview application starts and you can examine the bitmap
results for your job in detail.
NOTE: Do not double-click one of the individual pages. Double-clicking a
single page opens that page in Acrobat.
LESSON 2: Checking the Raster Dot Percentages
The Raster Preview application allows you to calculate the ink percentage of the
area you select.
" To check the Raster Dot Percentages
1 In the Navigator window, set the zoom factor to 1/8.
You will see a little red rectangle in the middle of the Navigator window.
APOGEEX 1.0.0s: Advanced Tutorial
6 CHECKING THE RASTER DOT PERCENTAGES
2 Position the red triangle in the top left corner of the window.
3 In the Raster Preview window, use the Area Selector tool (dashed
rectangle) to draw a rectangle on the first Cyan color patch in the color bar.
Ensure that this rectangle is as big as possible.
4 In the Inks window, select the Calculate Ink Coverage option to verify the
Raster percentage for this cyan color patch.
You will see that the Ink Coverage is 100%, because this is a solid color patch.
5 Use the Hand tool to scroll to the right of the color bar until you see the first
rastered cyan color patch.
6 In the Raster Preview window, use the Area Selector tool to draw a
rectangle on this rastered Cyan color patch.
7 In the Inks window, select the Calculate Ink Coverage option to verify the
Raster percentage for the rastered cyan color patch.
APOGEEX 1.0.0: Advanced Tutorial
RASTER PREVIEW 7
You will see that the Ink Coverage is 40%.
NOTE: You can most accurately measure the ink coverage for a color patch at
zoom factor 1.
LESSON 3: Measuring the Screening Angles
The Raster Preview application enables you to measure and verify the screening
angles for a specific color.
" To measure the screening angle for cyan
1 In the Raster Preview window, zoom in to 1/1 on a rastered cyan screen dot
patch. Scroll to the top of your screen.
2 Select the Measurement tool (ruler).
3 Click in the center of a cyan dot and draw a line to the right following the cyan
dots on the same line.
In the Measurement window, you can see that the screening angle here is
15°.
NOTE: The measuring direction is indicated by the measurement angle icon
in the Measurement window.
Refer to the Tutorial on ‘Working with Screening’ for more information on
halftone screens.
APOGEEX 1.0.0s: Advanced Tutorial
8 VERIFYING OVERPRINT SETTINGS
LESSON 4: Verifying Overprint Settings
In the Raster Preview application, you can choose which separation you want to
see by selecting or deselecting them in the Inks window. This way, you can easily
check whether overprint was used in your documents.
" To verify the Overprint Settings in Raster Preview
1 In the Navigator window, zoom out to 1/128.
2 Use the Zoom tool to draw a rectangle on the top left page in the area where
the black text has a background color.
3 Set the zoom factor to 1/4.
4 In the Inks window, deselect the Black separation by clicking the eye symbol
in front of the Black separation.
APOGEEX 1.0.0: Advanced Tutorial
RASTER PREVIEW 9
You will see that Black disappears. This way, you can easily check whether
Black Overprint was applied on these documents.
LESSON 5: Using the Measurement Tool
You can use the Measurement tool in Raster Preview to check the dimensions of
various elements of the raster results, such as borders, page gutters, page sizes,
flat sizes, traps, etc.
In this exercise, you will measure the page gutters.
" To measure page gutters
1 Zoom out to 1/128.
2 In the Inks window, select the Black separation.
APOGEEX 1.0.0s: Advanced Tutorial
10 USING THE MEASUREMENT TOOL
3 Use the Zoom tool to draw a rectangle around the crop marks on the left side
of the flat.
4 Zoom in to 1/4 on the crop mark.
NOTE: The more you zoom in, the more accurate your measurements will be.
5 Select the Measurement tool.
6 Draw a line between the outer crop mark lines.
The distance between the two crop mark lines is 6 mm or 0.23 inches, as
shown in the Measurement window.
APOGEEX 1.0.0: Advanced Tutorial