Bleed issues with FP/Imposer

[mrositch]

We are automating business cards in our office - some with a full bleed on the back. We have set up the imposition file to include the bleeds, and it works OK except for on the outside two (vertical) rows. We have modified the file in Imposer to remove the spaces between the rows. What is going on is that on the bleed area, the image is being shifted to the left in the left row and to the right in the right row. Center three rows are fine. There are 27 business cards set up on a 19x13 sheet. Crop marks are all fine - 3.5x2 - and the images on the cards which are set up without a bleed are good. We are doing this without a bustout because the backgrounds are a solid color and we can fit more up to a sheet/fewer cuts. Am I just missing a "check box" somewhere?

Michelle
Mac OS X 10.4.11
FusionPro 6.0P1f

[esmith]

Could you post your FP template file along with your FPImposer layout file? Perhaps if we could see how your files are set up we could offer better advice?

I assume all your business cards include bleed in the PDF even if they don't have physical bleeds? I imagine FPImposer would have a problem if it were trying to impose cards with bleed and cards without all in a single layout.

By "rows" (left-to-right) I assume you mean "columns" (top-to-bottom) otherwise indicating a LEFT and RIGHT row don't make sense to me. You mention a 27-up template. Does this suggest 3 columns and 9 rows? Even with minimal bleed in layout, I don't think 9 rows would fit on a 19" sheet. Again, seeing your working files would help with the diagnosis. :)

[mrositch]

Here are the files. The original pdf we imported for the second page (maroon) was set up with bleeds in InDesign. This template is set up with 5 across, 6 down for a total of 30 cards. Thanks for any insight

[esmith]

I'm glad you posted these files as I think it's a perfect example of what some of us end users consider a bug in the FPImposer software. This shows why I do not create layouts with Imposer in situations where I have a bleed AND a bust cut. Perhaps Alex, Mark, or Dan could use these files to look into this issue on behalf of all of us!

In the meantime, for situations like these, I usually turn to a 3rd party shareware utility (for the Mac) called Crackerjack. It is a plug-in for Acrobat made by ARTS PDF that I use for imposition. (On the PC there is a similar utility called PDF Snake.) I would output all my cards as single pages and then use Crackerjack to impose them correctly. Alternatively, you could include the inner bleeds and stick with a smaller number of cards per sheet. :(

I am attaching a PDF with some notes regarding changes I would make to your imposition template, although they do not solve the specific problem you are inquiring about. My apologies if you already know these things -- I just noticed the settings in the file you attached and wanted to play it safe. :)

[mrositch]

Thanks for your input Eric. We can work around the issue on these cards by running more, our bindery guy would not be happy with making extra cuts :) I will look into Crackerjack in the meantime.