Transparency

tina

New member
I have an issue with CS3 and drop shadows. I have talked to technical support about this, figuring it was an issue with Xitron. I have a job that I designed in InDesign. It is a 4 color job. I have drop shadows and some other effects, bevel and emboss. When I rip the job, I get a white box in the place of the drop shadows, and some other funky stuff to the beveled areas. I don't want to steer clear of the effects, and I know in the future I will have jobs come in from designers with all these problems. How can I fix this job without going back to the original and making moves and changing anything? I know there are transparency issues with spot colors, but this is a 4 color process job.
Anyone know anything??? I would appreciate any input.
Thanks Tanna
 
Re: Transparency

Make a PDF by printing to the Adobe PDF printer, or export to a PDF and set the compatibility to Acrobat 4. This should flatten all transparency into image blocks.
 
Re: Transparency

It works for me making a PDF 1.3 file - like Kyle says. Also, read about your 'transparency blend space' in the InDesign online help.

This also might mean your RIP isn't up-to-date with the newer PDF specs.
 
Re: Transparency

Make sure that all your colors are defined in your swatches pallet as process (not spot).
 
Re: Transparency

We used to have transparency problems but haven't for quite some time, probably since about CS. Like the others say, make sure your apps are compatible with the version of PDF you're using, that seemed to help with ours the most, I was using a higher version than Preps or my RIP supported. Once I started using PDF 1.3 seems we've not had those problems. I do use PDF 1.4 now, exporting out of Indesign and have no problems and I will up that when I see that Preps and Xitron both support it.

Terry
 
Re: Transparency

There are also 2 other ways to go about it that we have had luck with. 1 is kind of a pain and you will lose any spot call-outs you may have and the other is much more simple but you may need a little tweaking to finalize.

1. Just bring you file into Photoshop or the equivalent and flatten it. Then place it into whatever template or plate file you need it in.

2. Output it as a postscript file using a virtual printer. This can usually be found with Adobe suites or with very little search on the net. Then, depending on what type of machine it's going to you can either send it as postscript or you can distill the postscript into a pdf and send that. Going through postcript usually fixes all of our transparency issues.

*I believe there are also ways that might work as noted above about going straight to pdf but I have also had issues with that way.
 
Re: Transparency

Double-check with Separation Preview to make sure the InDesign file is truly using only CMYK. Or use the Print Production Output Preview in Acrobat 7/8 Professional to check for spot colors. Convert any spots with Ink Manager in InDesign (or double-click the problem swatches and redefine as CMYK).

How do you submit to the RIP: PostScript, EPS or PDF? If it's PDF, export to PDF/X-1a from InDesign and submit that.

Finally, turn ON PostScript overprint at the RIP (the settings and description vary by RIP vendor).

Let us know if this helps!

--Claudia

Author of Real World Print Production (Peachpit Press, 2006)
===================================
Practicalia, LLC
http://www.practicalia.net
 
Re: Transparency

Hey, Claudia! I've got a copy of your book. Very entertaining (well, for prepress people at least...) and, of course, informative.

Thanks for joining the discussion.

(Tanna, I'd listen to her... likely she knows what she's talking about.) ;)
 
Re: Transparency

Tanna,

Not sure if this is worth mentioning but here goes. Im not sure how your viewing the file but make sure that OVERPRINT PREVIEW is turned on in indd and/or acrobat.
 
Re: Transparency

We have a design project in CS3 build with all sorts of transparency effects (blends/drop shadow/etc.). The white box is subtle but visible regardless whether we print from Indesign or as PDF 1.3/1.4 to our epson 7600 proofer using Colorburst RIP.

The test result from our repro house yielded the same thing. They adviced us to put text and line art on top most layer, which only prevents it from being rasterized. As for the white outline from their Indigo proofer, they concluded it's an optical illusion because the dot pattern is consistent. I'm not fully convinced on this.

Edited by: Tech on Oct 25, 2007 5:05 PM
 
Re: Transparency

Our process for flattening is to save/print as postscript, and distill. Seems to work most times, but we also sometimes use the flattener in Acrobat 7. 99% of the time one of these works.
 
Re: Transparency

If you output a postscript the file is already flattened, no need to distill. Can your Xitron handle transparency and keep it live? If so then use a PDF 1.4. Do you have any options that set colors to knock out? if so turn them off. I don't know anything about the Xitron but if it can't handle live transperencies then a postscript is the way to go. or check to see if you have any options you can enable for overprint handling.
 

PressWise

A 30-day Fix for Managed Chaos

As any print professional knows, printing can be managed chaos. Software that solves multiple problems and provides measurable and monetizable value has a direct impact on the bottom-line.

“We reduced order entry costs by about 40%.” Significant savings in a shop that turns about 500 jobs a month.


Learn how…….

   
Back
Top