PDF Artifacts After Normalizing

[vaugh6288]

A lot of times when we normalize a file and then send a customer a PDF file for proofing, we do this either by "publishing to PDF" or downloading a high resolution proof from Insite, there are artifacts like chocked type (that being the most prominent artifact) in the post normalized PDF files. If we tell Acrobat to "simulate overprinting" then the artifacts go away. Many of our customers complain about these artifacts in the PDF files that we send post-normalizing. I can even turn off trapping or "remove traps" from the publish to PDF dialog and the artifacts are still there.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be causing this and is there a method to correcting it?

Thank you all!

 

[Joe]

Are you flattening the PDF during the refine/normalize process? And can you put up a screen shot of what it is you are seeing?

 

[gabrielp]

Like Joe said, a screenshot would help. Sounds like it could just be simple JPEG compression.

 

[vaugh6288]

No Title

Here are 3 attachments. We do not flatten the PDF files during the normalizing process.

Thank you!

 

[Joe]

First thought...you should always have overprint showing if you want to really see what the file will actually look like in the end. I would tell those customers to turn on Overprint Preview in the Acrobat/Acrobat Reader preferences. I set mine to "Automatic" so it will show overprint if the file has anything set to overprint.

 

[johnny_jay]

If under File format you have "Delete Traps" checked, this should not be happening.

I agree with Joe, overprint preview should be on for viewing PDF proofs from Prinergy or Insite. In Prinergy you have the option to delete the traps but PDFs generated and downloaded from Insite do not have this feature, at least not that I am aware of.

John

 

[vaugh6288]

Gentlemen,

I played around with this in the Publish to PDF File window and if I select to output to PDF X-3 then these artifacts go away. If we output to the standard "PDF" file type then the artifacts appear.

I tried making a process in loose page output to make the file PDF X-3.....however, when I attempt to do that through a process template then the process fails with an error stating that the PDF cannot support X-3. What's weird is that in the "Publish to PDF file" window it works great - it fails though if I do it through a process template.....

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Gentlemen,

I played around with this in the Publish to PDF File window and if I select to output to PDF X-3 then these artifacts go away. If we output to the standard "PDF" file type then the artifacts appear.

I tried making a process in loose page output to make the file PDF X-3.....however, when I attempt to do that through a process template then the process fails with an error stating that the PDF cannot support X-3. What's weird is that in the "Publish to PDF file" window it works great - it fails though if I do it through a process template.....

PDF/X-3 used Acrobat 4 (PDF1.3) – which I believe will flatten transparency.

It may be more beneficial to examine a before/after PDF file.


Stephen Marsh

 

[Stephen Marsh]

First thought...you should always have overprint showing if you want to really see what the file will actually look like in the end. I would tell those customers to turn on Overprint Preview in the Acrobat/Acrobat Reader preferences. I set mine to "Automatic" so it will show overprint if the file has anything set to overprint.

How does one ensure that OP is turned on, or that the client will not use a PDF viewer such as Apple Preview that will display incorrectly?

VIGC published a PDF file that can be inserted before a PDF proof page, which will show warning text if the viewer is setup incorrectly or is non compliant.

http://www.vigc.be/download/pdf-viewer-check/

http://www.wan-ifra.org/articles/20...e-tool-that-checks-correct-use-of-pdf-viewers

http://www.wan-ifra.org/sites/defaul...erCheck_eg.zip


Stephen Marsh

 

[Stephen Marsh]

How does one ensure that OP is turned on, or that the client will not use a PDF viewer such as Apple Preview that will display incorrectly?

At the risk of quoting myself :]

One method is to change overprints for multiply blend (not for the production file, just for softproofing in an unknown/uncontrolled PDF viewer).

A PitStop Action List is attached.

EDIT: Disclaimer, even multiply blend mode may not preview correctly for all objects in all PDF viewers, but it does overcome issues with Apple Preview. Still try to “enforce” that a decent PDF viewer such as Acrobat Reader is used and get the user to turn on overprint preview in the page display settings.


Stephen Marsh

 

[johnny_jay]

Stephen,

Wouldn't the printer be putting themselves at risk by editing the properties of the pdf proof so that it will view correctly? The proofs we send will output as viewed in Insite or in Acrobat but if the proof file is modified this may no longer be the case.

We try and educate customers to use Smart Review on Insite for proofing but also tell them that if they do download proofs to use Acrobat with overprint preview turned on.

John

 

[Joe]

Stephen,

Wouldn't the printer be putting themselves at risk by editing the properties of the pdf proof so that it will view correctly? The proofs we send will output as viewed in Insite or in Acrobat but if the proof file is modified this may no longer be the case.

We try and educate customers to use Smart Review on Insite for proofing but also tell them that if they do download proofs to use Acrobat with overprint preview turned on.

John

This! 100% agree. The customer is NOT always right. Inform them they have to use a viewer that supports viewing the file properly for print production. There is no need to try to jump through even more hoops for customers than what we already do. It isn't that hard to download and install Acrobat Reader. And the price is perfect for customers. FREE!

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Stephen,

Wouldn't the printer be putting themselves at risk by editing the properties of the pdf proof so that it will view correctly? The proofs we send will output as viewed in Insite or in Acrobat but if the proof file is modified this may no longer be the case.

We try and educate customers to use Smart Review on Insite for proofing but also tell them that if they do download proofs to use Acrobat with overprint preview turned on.

John

John, Joe –

If you have InSite, my position is that customers should ONLY use this the SmartReview tool and they should not be directly provided with a PDF which encourages them to view the PDF in potentially less capable software.

Overprints will only preview correctly in Acrobat if the page display prefs are turned on to display overprinting (on, auto or pdfx) – or if overprint simulation is turned on in the output preview window. There are no guarantees that Acrobat will be correctly configured to render prepress proofs correctly on a particular installation. There is just more chance of doing this correctly in Acrobat than in other PDF readers.

If a recipient is viewing a PDF outside of Acrobat, there is no way to enforce that they use a correctly setup Acrobat or that they will even use Acrobat and use some other software.

Not everybody has access to tools such as InSite and many still have to email low resolution PDF proofs to clients. Yes, changing a PDF in any way could potentially create issues, however I believe that simply swapping overprinting to multiply mode may be workable for some users that have to deal with clients that will not view in Acrobat and always use Apple Preview instead. This is why I originally suggested adding the VIGC PDF as the cover page of the PDF proof, it will warn viewers that don’t use a prepress capable PDF viewer or even users of Acrobat that don’t have it configured correctly and no additional modifications need be made to the proof pages.

Adobe could simply preset Acrobat to have overprint display set to ON or AUTO as a default, rather than having overprint off (however prepress is not the major market for Acrobat and their support would be increased with people asking why white objects disappear or don’t print).


Stephen Marsh

 

[johnny_jay]

Stephen,
We are lucky to have Insite for proofing. One problem is that some of our clients insist on PDFs to send to their clients or for other uses. I would love to have it so all of our customers had to sign off in Smart Review before giving final approval. We have even created a rule that will alert us when a job has been approved and that the files were not opened in Smart Review. We try to follow up with the client on it's benefits.

My fear with editing a proof file would be that we would change something from how it will actually print. Adding the VIGC PDF is a great idea and I plan on making something similar to help educate our customers when they do need to view PDFs.
John

 

[Joe]

Fortunately for us all customers are required to approve all of their pages within Insite before we will run the job. Unfortunately many of them just upload their files and approve them without viewing them. If there is a problem that gets through and they approved it well...it's their tough luck. We do check their pages though so we find and fix a lot of stuff so 99% of the time it isn't an issue. We do have some clients that download PDF's from Insite and view them instead of using Insite. If they view it in some other viewer that doesn't display it correctly and still approve it...well that is their problem as well.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Stephen,
We are lucky to have Insite for proofing. One problem is that some of our clients insist on PDFs to send to their clients or for other uses. I would love to have it so all of our customers had to sign off in Smart Review before giving final approval. We have even created a rule that will alert us when a job has been approved and that the files were not opened in Smart Review. We try to follow up with the client on it’s benefits.

That is a great use of a rule John!

My fear with editing a proof file would be that we would change something from how it will actually print. Adding the VIGC PDF is a great idea and I plan on making something similar to help educate our customers when they do need to view PDFs.
John

Agreed, there are all different types of proofing workflows and the less done the better, however not everybody has that option.

The following action list adds the VIGC PDF Viewer Check before page 1 of the PDF and is intended to help ensure that a PDF softproofing recipient is using a suitable PDF viewer that correctly shows overprinting:

http://tinyurl.com/VIGC-PDF-Viewer-Check


Stephen Marsh

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Fortunately for us all customers are required to approve all of their pages within Insite before we will run the job. Unfortunately many of them just upload their files and approve them without viewing them. If there is a problem that gets through and they approved it well...it's their tough luck. We do check their pages though so we find and fix a lot of stuff so 99% of the time it isn't an issue. We do have some clients that download PDF's from Insite and view them instead of using Insite. If they view it in some other viewer that doesn't display it correctly and still approve it...well that is their problem as well.

I wish I had $1 for every job where we had to compromise and charge reprints at cost or lose time/money due to clients not correctly viewing a proof. Their problem always seemed to be our problem, despite disclaimers etc…


Stephen Marsh

 

[Joe]

I wish I had $1 for every job where we had to compromise and charge reprints at cost or lose time/money due to clients not correctly viewing a proof. Their problem always seemed to be our problem, despite disclaimers etc…

Stephen Marsh

Yeah I remember those days. I'm glad we don't have to deal with that anymore.