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Most .ai files are actually PDFs, except they have a different filename extension, and Illustrator's native data is hidden inside. When you place a .ai file in Indesign, it's actually using the PDF data and ignoring the Illustrator data, which is why you don't have to worry about nested link...

AI files are really PDF files to Indesign. Place the file with "import options" checked, then crop to the crop box. You can probably then update it without it moving, since it won't be looking at the art bounding box (which is subject to change) anymore. This doesn't, however, help you keep it...

Indesign should show the links as missing if they cannot be found at the path location that is saved in the native file. Then if it finds them, they will need "updating" if the file's modified time is not the same (and perhaps the file size also). Open the Indesign file on two different...

I start out by creating a small partition at the "end" of the hard drive (where access times are usually slightly faster unless you have solid-state drives). 64 GB is more than plenty for 4 versions of the complete CS Standard suite (e.g., CS2-CS5), Quark, Freehand, etc. I leave the rest as an...

Printdrive stores time in seconds as a 32-bit unsigned integer with an epoch of 12:00:00 AM, January 1, 1901 UTC. I assume the developers had standard library functions available they wanted to use, since I'm pretty sure Printdrive didn't exist back then, and there's never a need to record past...

If you manually screen in Photoshop as Gordo suggests, keep in mind that 800 ppi on an Indigo really means 812.8 ppi (32 pixels per mm). If you used 800, you'd probably get a nasty moire problem. Also, you can't exactly set the lpi in Photoshop - it will quantize the number you enter to make the...

Printdrive stores all of its settings in the registry. I suggest saving the entire Software/Agfa branch under HKey_Local_Machine & HKey_Current_User. The server processes are installed as system services, so also grab the relevant bits under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services...

Acrobat rounds the shown values, I think to two decimal places in the main document window and to three in the "crop pages dialog). Try opening the exported PDF with Illustrator, or placing it in Indesign to confirm the real size. You should then see the values rounded to four decimal places.

When you save an Illustrator file as .AI with "PDF compatibility," or as .PDF with "preserve Illustrator editing capabilities," you are actually saving all the vector data twice: once for the Illustrator native part of the file, and once for the PDF part of the file. An Illustrator file is just...

Using a spot ink in addition to CMYK will almost certainly be more expensive than CMYK alone. If the quantity is very high, the gradient is large, and the color requires a high total ink percentage (like a dark violet that would be 100% cyan & magenta plus 50% black), then less ink would be...

Photoshop can trap images. If everything you need to trap is 1-bit images at the same resolution, just open them all, convert to grayscale, then if they're the same dimensions, you can choose "merge channels" from the menu of the channels palette, and get a multi-channel or CMYK image. Then...

For ICC profile-based out of gamut RGB to CMYK conversions, Bruce Lindbloom explains the problem here: How the Munsell Display Calculator Works

Exactly. Spot inks (especially metallic, and "opaque" white) are more opaque, but CMYK inks are formulated to be transparent, so it is entirely appropriate to think of them as filters. If anyone suspects that process inks primarily reflect light instead of absorbing and transmitting it, try...

I don't think I've ever been unable to grab an image, and I use it all the time. I believe there is a relevant preference in Acrobat - something about the edit object tool preferring images versus text/objects. If I did have the same problem, I'd probably try bringing the object to the front...

One curve. In our calibration process, we ran a test form that was ripped with no curve, and the response of the plate/press combination was measured. If (number of different platesetters or plates used) X (number of different press & paper combinations) is greater than the sum of those values...

If I understand your post correctly, it sounds like you need to apply a mirror image of your press curve to the data (imagine taking the press curve and mirroring it around the 45 degree axis line that a perfectly linear curve would be). You can do this in Excel with the lookup function. Create...

Window > Automation > Data Merge. In the palette, select "choose data source," then find the text file. I always use CSV, but a plain text file will probably work. The first line in the text file should be "name" or some other label, because the first line is used as a label for the column. With...

I usually use Preps 4 on OS 9 (I have 5 on a Windows machine, but prefer the OS 9 version). There is no provision for having two signatures on a form, and I'm not sure our RIP would handle it if there were. So as far as Preps and the RIP are concerned, the form is just one signature even if it's...

ZIP and LZW won't harm the image in any way - just as good as uncompressed except for possible support issues in non-Adobe software. Compressing generally requires more processing than decompressing - LZW or ZIP shouldn't slow down a read too much, but the initial save will probably take longer...

I've never seen that before, but try saving with "Save as...." When you change a PDF and use the "Save" command, the changes you made are usually appended onto the end as a cumulative change. You can often revert a PDF by simply removing the proper amount of data off the end, and maybe that is...