TechNote (Archived)

How can I print spreads from FreeHand?

Issue

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I have many letter size pages, and I would like to print them as spreads on a single wide tabloid page. I know I can do this in Quark, InDesign and PageMaker, but I can not find a way to do this in FreeHand.

Reason

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FreeHand currently has no feature to create or print spreads. However, there are a couple of workarounds to achieve this result.

Solution

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FreeHand MX Only

1. Using the Output Area tool drag a red marquee around the two pages to be printed as a spread
   
   Note: You will need to use the page tool to adjust the position of the pages so that they are next to each other.
2. Select File > Print
3. Choose the print area:
   • Windows - In the Print Range area of the print dialog select the Area option
   • Macintosh - In the FreeHand MX options in the print dialog select the Print Area option
4. Select the Advanced button to specify the PPD for your printer, paper size and any additional options that you may require for your output.
   
   Note: The output page will share one common set of page labels, crop and registration marks.

All Versions

1. Set the active page to the page that's in the upper-right of the spread you want to print (the "Fit All" view comes in handy for this).
2. Position the zero point at the lower-right hand corner of the spread.
3. Display the Print dialog box.
4. Enable the Tiling option and set it to manual tiling. Set the page range to the active page (if you have chosen page 2, set the range to "from 2 to 2").
5. Go to the Print Setup dialog box and specify a page size equal to the size of the spread you want to print.
6. Print. You will get as much of the spread, measured from the zero point you specified. This can fit on the manual tile you have printed, because the zero point is the origin of the manual tile FreeHand prints from.
   
   Note: If you want, you can even create a rectangle that is the size of the page you want to print, then use the rectangle to help you align the zero point (this is helpful when some of the material you want to print is on the pasteboard).

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