[Tim Kurkoski]

AE has to rasterize the PDF, just like Illustrator and EPS files. Turn on the Continuously Rasterize switch for the layer, and you should be able to scale it without getting pixelization. (The switch causes AE to re-rasterize the layer every time you scale it.)

[Tim Kurkoski]

Yes, it has to do with color profiles. Specifically, the profile Windows is using to send color information to the monitor. (I had the same problem with the stock profile for my Dell LCD monitors- the blacks had a slight brown tinge to them.)

Go to Control Panel > Display. Settings tab, select the monitor, click Advanced button, then the Color Management tab. If there’s a profile listed there, try removing it first. If there isn’t one, go to the web site for the monitor manufacturer (or look on any CD that came with the monitor) to see if they have a profile for you to use. Make sure to follow the instructions to install it into the right place. (Which is usually C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color)

Because monitors (especially CRT’s) physically change over time, any stock profile may not be entirely valid any more. The best bet is always to get a color calibration device, which can create a custom profile for your monitor.

You can also create monitor profiles with software applications, but these rely on you to eyeball the color measurements, which isn’t the most accurate method. Adobe has included an app called Adobe Gamma (should be in the Control Panel) for many years that you can use, but again, the result will vary by how well your eyes can pick out the right settings.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Color management is a vast and hairy topic. The bottom line is that the colors on your monitor will never exactly match what your printer creates, simply because they use color in completely different ways.

But what you can do is calibrate your monitor, use the color profiles for your printer, and make a best effort. Photoshop has all the tools to help you manage the color for your documents between screen and paper, but it’s up to you to use them wisely.

First thing I’d recommend you do is to read up in the Photoshop help files on color management. Don’t worry if you don’t grasp it all on the first try, no one ever does (including me; it took several years and a three-day class to learn). Learn what you can and apply it.

Second thing, make sure you have the correct profiles for your printer (and the paper you’re using!), and turn on the Proofing view in Photoshop to check your colors before you print.

Third, buy or borrow a color calibration device for your monitor. I use the Eye-One by Gretag-MacBeth. There are others out there that are just as good (and possibly cheaper). This will save you TONS of headaches compared to what you’re doing now, which is calibrating your monitor purely by sight. Chromix.com has a good selection of devices.

Fourth, get a book like Real World Color Management, by Bruce Fraser and friends:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201773406/102-7989790-2962535?v=glance&n=283155
Or take a class, or search the web, or do whatever you need to do to learn. Color management can be overwhelming at first, but it makes sense once you get into it, and it makes things SO much easier once you take the time to learn it.

[Tim Kurkoski]

I’m not familiar with DVD Workshop. You’ll probably want to ask them what type of alpha channel support they provide for PSD files and other file types. Note that in the Layers to Files dialog you can specify a few different file types, though not all of them (for example, JPEG) support alpha channels.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Toggle the Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction button at the bottom of the comp window.

[Tim Kurkoski]

You didn’t state what version of Premiere you’re using. I assume you’re using Premiere Pro 2.0, because the earlier versions all saved titles as external files by default, which you can import into any project.

Select the title in the Project window, then choose File > Export > Title.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Use the File > Export > Frame option to create a still image file of a single frame from your timeline. (Position the current time indicator on the frame you want to export first.)

Then print the file using any imaging program, like Photoshop or MS Paint. Premiere itself won’t talk to printers.

[Tim Kurkoski]

The big question here is what is your output from Premiere going to be?

If you’re going to output to DV, DVD, or other standard video formats, use the 720×480 frame sizes and scale the clip up to cover the whole frame.

If you’re planning to output back to 320×240 for the web or iPod or other computer-based formats, you can customize your project settings. In the New Project dialog, click the Custom Settings tab. Set the Editing Mode to desktop, then you can change the Frame Size dimensions. Also change the Pixel Aspect Ratio to Square Pixels (unless for some very bizarre reason you have a non-square pixel 320×240 clip).

[Tim Kurkoski]

When you create a new document in Photoshop, there’s an option for what the background contents should be. Choose Transparent.

You can also just delete the background layer, though first you have to make it a regular layer. In the Layers palette, double-click it, OK the dialog, then trash the layer.

In Photoshop CS2, there’s also an option that can save you the step of moving your layers to separate documents. Use File > Scripts > Layers to Files.

[Tim Kurkoski]

You can change the frame rate used for sequences in the Preferences > Import.

You can always change the frame rate after import by using File > Interpret Footage.