I should ammend that to say, "coming from "2" people who have spent over 25 years in the industry."

quote:

Originally posted by dale:
I have a feeling its me murking up the water with my ignorance about page layouts.. and not our printer...

If it is best to re-do the content in the creation program... I suppose my real question is.. Can I take the pdf from the previous issue and set up a template using Pages as my layout program? I think I would have a much easier time doing page layout as a novice in Pages than Indesign. Is it feasible to think I can take the previous pdf and create a Pages page layout that I can export out as a pdf for my printer?

(sorry if these are stupid questions!)

Questions are never stupid - only not asking them is. We're all glad to help. Talking with your printer, and asking them questions, is still key at this point. To avoid potential problems, it's critical that you know and supply them what they want.

It seems like you may still be undecided on how to approach the newsletter. If that is the case, I'll try to simplify at least my recommendations (I think that other people who have posted on this thread may concur?).
• Use InDesign - not Pages.
• InDesign is a professional program. Pages is not.
• As Phyllis mentioned, InDesign is really easier to use than Pages, though certainly deeper.
* If you are going to spend the time to learn a design program for similar work, spend it learning InDesign - not Pages. We are here to help, and there are tons of sources for great tutorials.
• Redesign the newsletter, by using the previous PDF as a visual reference only.
• Since you have Acrobat Professional, you may be able to find out which fonts were used in the previous newsletter (assuming that the fonts are embedded in the PDF, and you need to match fonts).

Once you've completed your redesign in InDesign, ID will provide these huge benefits (Pages won't and can't)
• Color Management (critical for print).
• You'd be able to "Preflight" the document, prior to making your PDF. This will ensure that all is good to go.
• You can create the PDF directly from within InDesign. And, since ID is tightly integrated with Acrobat Professional, you'd have total control of the distillation of the PDF.
• You'd be able to convert all of the fonts to Outlines. Fonts are notoriously problematic for print. It's normally better, and preferred by most printers, that you convert the fonts to outline, prior to creating the PDF.
• If the printer has a specific "JobSettings"file for the creation of the PDF, and they supplied you with it - that's a huge plus, because then the PDF is generated to meet their specific PDF requirements for their workflow. If not, you could still use basic print presets for creating the PDF for print. Either is extremely better than the Pages creation of a PDF.
• The benefits are almost endless

Lastly, at this stage if it is possible, I'd be happy to look at the PDF of the previous newsletter. You could send it via email, or attach it in a Private Message via the iBBS. Seeing the PDF would be extremely helpful. By my viewing the PDF, I could make some definitive suggestions, that might make your delving into it all a little more comfortable.