Pagemaker:

LINKING GRAPHICS

One of the things that makes Pagemaker very simple is the way in which it will store internal copies of all graphic elements, so you don't have to worry about a bunch of externally linked files when you archive your job to disk for backup or to send off for imagesetting.

This feature is great for small simple jobs, but can cause problems when the files you work on become larger or contain many copies of the same graphic. Once your level of proficiency moves beyond beginner you should take some time to learn how the linking features of Pagemaker work and then use them to your advantage.

Keeping all copies of graphic elements external to the program has a number of advantages: it saves disk space, allows multiple people to work with the same set of graphics and allows you to make last minute changes to a graphic, such as retouching a photo or converting from RGB to CMYK at any time without risk of the changes not appearing in the finished job. Also if a graphic is stored externally and used many times within the publication you only have to keep the one copy on disk, and don't have to worry about the size of your file blowing out to something unmanageable after performing a few copy and paste operations within Pagemaker.

One point to watch, if you have been working with an externally linked graphic and have changed the size or shape of it, you will have to delete and re-place each occurrence of the item in Pagemaker, otherwise the graphic will be distorted to fit within the size of the original object!

In order to work with external graphics you need to change some of the link settings so that you don't inadvertently end up with a mix of internal and external graphics, and get caught by making a last minute change to a graphic which doesn't end up in the file.

Graphics that have been cut and pasted across the clipboard will always be stored in the publication, however I strongly recommend you don't use this method if the job is to be professionally printed as the quality of these type of graphics at high resolution is often very poor.

To change the default settings for a particular publication, make sure you do not have any graphic elements selected on the screen then choose Element/Link Options from the menu and make sure the "Store copy in publication" checkbox is not selected. The default settings that Pagemaker ships with, and most people never touch, are to store the graphic in the publication. There is another setting in the Preferences menu that is used in conjunction with this to warn the operator if the graphic they are about to store is bigger than a certain size (default is 256Kb) and give them the option to link to the file instead. These default settings can lead to some confusion as to which files are needed to archive a job, as some are internal and some are external, depending upon whether the operator decided to store each particular graphic they were warned about when placing.

To change the default settings that Pagemaker will use for all new publications make sure that you have no publications open and no graphics selected and then make the same changes described above.

Pagemaker actually keeps track of the update status of all linked and unlinked files, and provides the facility to copy either all files associated with a publication, or just those required for correct remote printing as an option when saving a job. This often overlooked option should always be used when saving a job to be sent out for imagesetting as it is the safest way to make sure that all the files you need are saved to disk. Choose the destination of the save to be either the physical floppy or removable media you will send the job on, or a temporary directory on your hard disk if you will be sending electronically, the contents of this directory can then be compressed before sending.