How do I change a color that was set using transparency in indesign?

[Mark_S]

How do I change a color that was set using transparency in indesign?
When I read the color pitstop reads 100% of the color but it has been set
to a percentage using transparency. I've come across this a couple of times
now and I am stumped.

Thanks, Mark

[almaink]

You can change the color opacity with the Transparency tab in inspector. For a complete color change like from one spot to another, remap the color in the object.

[Mark_S]

Thanks, I found the tab and I can change it there but I still don't know what the client set it to to begin with.
For instance I have a file the client changed to stroke of a dotted line to 20% using transparency but pitstop still reads this as 100%
of the PMS color.
The only reason I know it is 20% is because I ripped it on my Brisque and read the tint there.
On our Prinergy system I cannot figure out how to tell what percent it is.

Thanks, Mark

[almaink]

Transparency doesn't work by percent, it works by opacity. Why do you need to know what percent it is? I think the only way to know would be to call and ask the person who built the file, or have them send the native files.

[GraphicGuru]

This is also something I think Adobe needs to put into the help files. Use transparancies only for web when spot colors are involved with transparancies. If using spot colors that need to print on top of another spot use overprint settings. or tint values not transparancies.

I would also contact the customer as sometimes what you think they were desiring for this spot transparancy is not actually what they wanted... i.e. I wanted that to be 80% not 20%....

[fredtub]

Is this an exlusive Indesign Problem ?
I have an PDFs from Quark 6.52 files where the image is listed in Pitstop as 100% black
It is an image mask as defined by Pitstop - I can not look at it in touch-up modus - I get an error message
The image should overprint on a background.
When I look at the seperation preview, the tonal value is only 92 %
How can this be ?
Which is correct ?
We output straight to plate,(we prepare files for this) in a production site somewhere way else , so we never get to see how the final plate/product looks.
Any ideas on :
How we can check this image mask better ?
Which is correct , the seperation view in Acrobat (we have version 8.1.1)
Or the value in Pitstop (version 7.5.2 ) ?
Very grateful for any input
Fredtub

[zoran]

Are you sure transparent object is not part of form?
You can try selecting it and click on form button. That should reveal transparency setting.

[fredtub]

Hi zoran
No, in the transprency tab, there is no transparency shown but the image mask is square.
The image depicts a black circle, and is set to overprint on a background of pantone.
If I set the image mask to knock-out, only the black circle knocks out (the motif) which means the non-motif area is transparent - is this correct ? As I can not open it in Photoshop, I can only guess.
Upon closer inspection, I can also see that the tonal value is not consistent, it ranges from 85-95% in seperation preview, remains a constant 100 % when I use the pipette from Pitstop. this is what is confusing
The Form is given by pitstop as an image mask , 1500 dpi based on CMYK colour .
Does this information help more ?
Fredtub

[zoran]

No, not really.
Maybe if you post your PDF, I can take a look and try to help but no guarantees.

[fredtub]

Ok here is a simple version of file with pantone area and image mask
No there isn't !!
I tried to upload, even though my file is under the size limit it didn't work :-(
What am I doing wrong ?
Fredtub