*Where I said:
You need to go and change all the color to C 0% M 0% Y 0% K100%, and don’t use registration.

What I meant was:
You need to go and change all the BLACK to C 0% M 0% Y 0% K100%, and don’t use registration black.

Also:
Where I said:
4. Lastly, when you’re using a making a PDF through InDesign, under the setup tab, make sure there are no color conversions.

What I meant was:
4. Lastly, when you’re *making a PDF through InDesign, under the setup tab, make sure your Output is set to no color conversions.

Ooops. :D

because I’m not sure what version of InDesign you’re using, I’m going to start with acrobat.

When you’re viewing your page in adobe acrobat, go to Advanced on the menu bar and scroll over Print Production. Select Output Preview. A box will pop up.

In the middle of this box under the Preview: section, you have three options to choose. Select separations.

When I do this with your page, I see you have 4 spot colors:
PANTONE Red 032 CVC
nascar red
NASCAR BLUE
NASCAR BLUE DK

This can be a problem that you’re having more than just CMYK plates.

I also see that when I uncheck the Process Black box, your type is in 4-color black. If it wasn’t, all the type should have disappeared when I did that. It didn’t, which means it’s made up of all the colors. Also, not good.

ALSO: There’s a box that says “Total Area Coverage” followed by a little color box (mine’s green) and then a number drop-down box for a percentage (i think they’re usually set at 280%)

Check the box, and then type in 240. This is checking the ink limit. Most newsprint can only support 240% of ink limit. When I do this with your page it is VERY much over-saturated, some of it over 290%!

To fix these problems in InDesign:

1. Go to Window»Output»Separations Preview
2. You should only see 4 colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black)
If you see more than four colors (i.e. a spot color), go to your swatches tab and scroll through looking for spot colors. You will be able to tell if it is a spot color because next to the little CMYK logo box, it’ll have a box with a circle in it instead of a box that looks like a very tiny chess board. Right click on all of these and Select swatch options. Change the color mode to CMYK. Then change the Color Type to Process. After you have done that there should only be CMYK left on your separations tab.
3. Turn off the black layer. All solid black should disappear at this time. If you have black anywhere on the page not in a photo that doesn’t disappear when you turn off black, this is a problem. You need to go and change all the color to C 0% M 0% Y 0% K100%, and don’t use registration. IF the photo is dark, take the photo into photoshop and:
3a. Go to image»adjustments»levels
3b. below the histogram is a black/white gradient slider. Slide the black nob up by increments of 25, saving and rechecking in indesign after updating the link (there’s an easier way to just check this in photoshop, but too long to put here).
4. Lastly, when you’re using a making a PDF through InDesign, under the setup tab, make sure there are no color conversions.

I’m not sure if you found any of this helpful at all, or if you already did all that stuff or whatever. These are just the problems I found when I downloaded your original PDF.

-colleen kirsten
colleenkirsten@gmail.com

• When exporting, choosing PDF-x1a (Adobe PDF preset)
• Also, another tool we swear by here at our paper is the PRE-FLIGHT tool under the File Menu in InDesign and the PRE-FLIGHT tool under the Advanced Menu in Acrobrat. That tool is usually gold when telling you what is wrong and what you need to adjust.

Hope this helps.

JULIO LARA AND NICK ZEUZEM
SAN MATEO DAILY JOURNAL