We’ve done some further investigations into the differences in Same as Source printing from Acrobat 7 and Acrobat 9. For our tests we created a simple InDesign file with two red vector rectangles, one defined as Adobe RGB (1998) and one as U.S. Web Coated (SWOP). This file was then exported to PDF with “No Color Conversion” and “Include All Profiles.” The resulting PDF contained both rectangles tagged as specified, as verified with PitStop.
We then opened this PDF in both Acrobat 7 and 9 and printed to PS files (at the time, the queue for our HP5500PS was selected). Our cursory findings are:
1. The file sizes differs, which suggests that there is a difference right off the bat.
2. The printed artwork differs visually, which is troublesome.
3. In both instances, when opened in Notepad2, the page objects appear to be tagged properly with Adobe RGB and SWOP specified as the objects color space. This, on the other hand, is good.
a. Acrobat 7
i. RGB – Line 3342
ii. CMYK – Line 3400
b. Acrobat 9
i. RGB – Line 8406
ii. CMYK – Line 8468
4. And here's the biggie: When the PS file created from Acrobat 9 is opened in Illustrator, it says "The document does not have an embedded RGB profile" and it allows for the specification of an RGB profile ONLY. When the PS file created from Acrobat 7 is opened in Illustrator, it says "This document contains objects using both CMYK and RGB color modes. Illustrator allows only one color mode per document. Which color mode would you like to use?" Of course, this PS file SHOULD contain mixed color modes (because it came from a mixed color mode PDF), but only the PS files from Acrobat 7 do. The PS files from Acrobat 9 do NOT. This suggests to us that the PS files (and therefor print data submitted to PS queues as Same As Source) created by Acrobat 9 are not honoring the embedded ICC profiles of tagged artwork.
Files are attached.
Does anyone out there have any thoughts or experience? If what we are finding is true, this is a major problem for Adobe's Acrobat 9 print engine.
Matt
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