"Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

[Gregg]

Has anyone had any rip issues with text set to Small Caps (InDesign CS2)? On a couple of occasions our proofs have come back from our vendor with the Small Cap text having gone greek. Their workflow is Artworks, and I'm not sure if it is specific to the workflow, or more of a universal issue.

 

[Tech]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

Was small caps set using menu-style or was it open-typeface's small cap? I can't imagine a true postscript small cap font would create a problem.

 

[Gregg]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

It was selected in the menu, for this particular font we did not have a true small caps version.

The odd thing is that it has been so random. Sometimes it has appeared on the digital proof, other times it only appears once plates are ripped.

My solutions are to either: create outlines, or fake the small caps look be reducing the horizontal and vertical scale. Better to be safe than sorry...

Edited by: Gregg on Jun 14, 2008 7:01 PM

 

[gordo]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

RE: "My solutions are to either: create outlines, or fake the small caps look be reducing the horizontal and vertical scale. Better to be safe than sorry..."

If you scale the font to make it a small cap - the weight will also change. It will look lighter. Which may not be revealed in an inkjet proof but will show up in press work. And you customer may not like the result.

gordo

 

[Gregg]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

Good point, Gordon.

I'll have to keep an eye on that than, perhaps a small stroke will help.

In this case, I am the client (i'm the in-house prepress guy for a book publisher). Which is why I'm not too keen on the outlines solution. I don't want to have un-editable text for any of our archive files.

Edited by: Gregg on Jun 15, 2008 12:50 PM

 

[Guest]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

The best solution is to quit faking around and get the small caps for that font. But if that font has no small caps, change to another that does.

 

[Tech]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

I agree with Al, sounds like a repeating issue, outlining is a quick fix and not a permanent solution. It's best to replace the old font with open typeface that contains a true small cap.

 

[Gregg]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

Absolutely, having the true small caps version is the best way to go.

But when faced with budget constraints, buying a new font, and enough licenses to satisfy all legal obligations, is not always possible.

 

[4stateprint]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

I agree with Al and the others, It is YOUR font. I don't know if your printer has told you that, but I hope that they caught the greeking before it hit the press - that would suck. The only way to REALLY FIX IT is replace, purchase or go cheap and outline and hope for the best. Good luck getting fixed to you liking and I hope you can convince your employer to give you the budget to look into some fonts.

 

[rich apollo]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

You're spending the money one way or another. You're getting charged for the extra handling involved with the files, and for the extra proofs. And if your files continue to be problematic, your company will simply be upcharged for all their jobs.

Now, I wonder if you could set up a character style that fulfilled your needs by scaling the characters.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think you have an obligation to design within your budgetary constraints. A satisfactory font could probably be acquired for less than the cost of an extra round of proofs.

 

[Gregg]

Re: "Forced" small caps going Greek when ripped?

I agree with all of you who suggest getting an actual true Small Caps font. I certainly believe in doing things the right way- the first time. The intent of my initial post, though, was really trying to figure out why this was happening with InDesign CS2. The issue has occurred with the same print vendor that we have used for years. Until about a year ago we were still using Quark 4 (I know, I know, but it was solid so we stuck with it). Anyway, out of the 2000+ jobs we sent to this printer (making use of forced small caps), we never had one issue. It wasn't until making the switch to ID CS2, that the issue presented itself. Now, I must say, we are not menu-style crazed, we never sent out Quark jobs with fake itals, or bolds - just small caps.

Where I am confused is that I can rip a PDF (either export or distill) and the font looks fine. I can receive a proof and the font looks fine, then receive a second proof and the font looks like crap. I can sign off on a proof, where the font looks fine, and then go on press and the font has gone corrupt when the plates were made. And rest assured, I would not pay an extra penny given that situation.