Complete Final Checks and Export to PDF

Explanation

In this assignment, wrap up your work on the magazine feature by running through a list of final checks, and exporting the design to PDF.

Instructions

Complete these checks on your design

 Set your timer: 25 minutes

At the end of every project, it’s a good idea to have some kind of checklist to make sure you’ve not missed anything important. This is especially critical in editorial and other print design projects, because once you’ve sent your files to the printer, there’s no going back — and having to reprint because of an error can be extremely costly.

Review your design, and go through the following checklist, making any necessary changes as you go.

• All the copy provided in the brief has been included in the design
• Any images requested in the brief have been included in the design
• All required page furniture is present and consistent from page to page or spread to spread (running headers and footers, page numbers, etc.)
• Body text is set at an accessible size (minimum 8pt / 11px)
• Body text uses an appropriate, legible typeface
• All text columns and graphic elements are aligned to the grid as intended (zoom in to check — sometimes things are just 1 or 2 pixels out)
• (Figma only) All elements are are within their Frame. To check this, scroll through the Layers list on the left of the screen, and identify any elements that aren’t within a Frame. If you find one, select it, cut it using command X (Mac) or control X (PC). Then, select the Frame where it should be, and paste it back in using command V (Mac) or control V (PC).

• (InDesign only) Images and illustrations have been inserted using the Place command, not pasted in directly
• (InDesign only) Images are saved together in the same folder as the InDesign file
• (InDesign only) Ensure your file uses the correct colour space for the intended media (CMYK for print, RGB for screen)

Export your design to PDF

To export your design to a PDF, simply follow the steps below.

For Figma:

1. Select all four frames for your final page designs. To do this, hold down shift, and then click the name of each frame. (You can click the name either in the Layers list, on the left of your screen, or on the canvas itself. It’s usually easier to just do it on the canvas.)
2. Press command C (Mac) or control C (PC) to copy these frames to the clipboard.
3. Create a new “Page” within your Figma file. To do this, click where it says “Page 1” at the top of the Layers panel on the left of your screen. Then, click the “+” symbol to add a new page. Figma will take you to the new page automatically.
4. Press command V (Mac) or control V (PC) to paste your frames into the new page.
5. Select the “File” menu, then “Export Frames to PDF”, and confirm your save destination.
6. Open the PDF in a PDF viewer like Adobe Acrobat or Preview to check that it exported as intended.

For InDesign:

1. Click the “File” menu, and then select “Export”. Alternatively, press command E (Mac), or control E (PC).
2. From the dialog box, select “Adobe PDF (Print)”, and then “Save”.
3. Open the PDF in a PDF viewer like Adobe Acrobat or Preview to check that it exported as intended.

In conclusion...

Next up, complete a short reflection exercise on this guided editorial design brief.

Once you’ve finished that, it’ll be time to move forward to our final graphic design topic — information design.

Assignment version 1.1
Last updated 18 October 2021

Change notes:
18 October 2021, v1.1: Step 3 (“Review the example solution”) removed, and instructions added for exporting from InDesign.