Bleed Edge clipped, to next page.

narseman

Well-known member
I didn't really know what to call this. The issue when you have an image in a PDF that bleeds. But then one edge of the image is clipped off at the crop mark (vertically), and shows up on the next page.
Is this an InDesign issue? I see it all the time with submitted files. We have the same problem here too.
Our normal InDesign process is to save a PS file which is then distilled to produce the PDF. Which results in the mentioned issue.
Does anyone have any input as to how this can be avoided? Is it Indesign screwing up, the PS process, or the distillation??
I know you all have had this issue pop up.. But what to do about it, is the question.
 

Attachments

  • Weird_Page_1.jpg
    Weird_Page_1.jpg
    183.2 KB · Views: 161
  • Weird_Page_2.jpg
    Weird_Page_2.jpg
    58.9 KB · Views: 124
My guess is that this IS an indesign issue, specifically a facing pages issue. You can visualize this quite easily by making a quick 3 page document with facing pages, overlap some content accidentally on the margins between facing pages, and then exporting to PDF with bleeds. Examples:

Screenshot 2024-05-15 at 8.50.01 AM.png

Screenshot 2024-05-15 at 8.50.57 AM.png
 
overlap some content accidentally on the margins between facing pages,
I'm quite certain this - at least in my content - is not an overlap issue. The pages content is always inside of the page dimensions.
It only seems to happen when an image bleeds beyond the crop mark, ON BOTH SIDES.. still well inside the page edge. And only on one side.
The side changes depending if odd or even page.
 
I skipped over the part in your post about saving to postscript....my bad.

Do you have the source files that result in this problem? Or is there a PDF you could share? I would be interested in trying to see if I can recreate the issue when redistilling. My first thoughts go to trapping or transparency issues not being respected during the conversion process. Have you tried changing your distilling process settings to see if any of them make any difference? (Standard, PDF/X-1a:2001, Press Quality, Etc)
 
Do you have the source files that result in this problem?
I don't think that's going to help.. (I can't share the file anyway) This problem happens a lot.
I'm sure many people have seen this. I just pulled a couple pages to show what I'm seeing in this particular supplied file. And I have no idea what others are doing to the files they send me. Yet I see this often. Have to manually go page by page, for those pages displaying the error, delete the clipped part, and stretch out the background or image to bleed properly.
I'm thinking the key may be that it only happens on pages where an image bleeds to crop marks on BOTH sides. But clips only the spine side. Almost as if the SW were trying (in error) to setup for a saddle stitch bind... Eliminating the image at the crop mark to meet a facing page at the spine. To be clear, I'm not making SS books. Just trying to comprehend/explain the problem. That does not explain why the clipped part ends up on the next (or previous) page.
 
Mmk. Just trying to help. Been in prepress and inplant production for near 20 years and have never seen this. But I've never been in a shop that converts all files to ps and back. Hope someone else can help you figure this one out.
 
Why do you export to postscript from Indesign and then distill to PDF?
Why don't you just export to PDF from Indesign directly, you'll get a better result?

You workflow does not seem to make sense, it's two processes instead of one, and you are throwing a lot of data away when you use postscript as an initial output that would be used in PDF?
 
Why don't you just export to PDF from Indesign directly, you'll get a better result?
Direct to PDF I'm told, results in files often 10 times bigger. Hence this process. People do what they're used to/comfortable with.
We are going to go over this process and see what other options we have.
Bigger files .. (gigs sometimes?) are a pain to deal with. Every action requiring minutes of thumb twiddling.
But I get it. Did I read somewhere.. PS is old tech.. Hasn't been updated for a while. ???
Most of the problems come from OUTSIDE files. Not ours. I just wanted to see if anyone had an explanation.
 
I think you might want to look at your Indesign PDF output settings, that's pretty much industry standard now.
Postscript has not been developed for a long, long time.
Each to their own as you say, but it will take you longer and you won't be able to use functionality like layers, live transparency and color management. But if it ain't broke!
I did wonder with direct PDF export if it might solve your problem, you can tell Indesign not to bleed into the spine, and with PDF export you are going to get a bleed box, which might resolve your issue.
That of course won't happen with Postscript output. this is a guess, so you would need to test.
 
I have a feeling you're doing books/booklets. My old pre-press guy used to give me files like that a lot because he always missed some setting.

See if either of these are helpful:
 
I'm sure we get that with booklets sometimes and it does look a bit odd but when it's imposed as a booklet on fiery the overlap disappears and we never have a problem in final print.
 
I didn't really know what to call this. The issue when you have an image in a PDF that bleeds. But then one edge of the image is clipped off at the crop mark (vertically), and shows up on the next page.
Is this an InDesign issue? I see it all the time with submitted files. We have the same problem here too.
Our normal InDesign process is to save a PS file which is then distilled to produce the PDF. Which results in the mentioned issue.
Does anyone have any input as to how this can be avoided? Is it Indesign screwing up, the PS process, or the distillation??
I know you all have had this issue pop up.. But what to do about it, is the question.
I see this in files all of the time but it's never an issue when I print. I'll definitely give you credit that the way InDesign exports pages to include this information is confusing.
 
I see this when customer supplied files are readers spreads instead of printers spreads., Pages are reordered, not cropped, and bleed added or deleted incorrectly.
 
What problem does this cause in the final printed product? Is it a really a problem?
TBH I've never tried printing it that way. Because.. I first prepare a PDF proof for the client. And it would look really odd to send that out. So I correct the visual appearance to send out. At which point, if approved I just step up the cleaned and approved file for printing. Very seldom print anything 1up.
 
Really appreciate all the input. Thank you all.
As I had mentioned most of the time this issue is with supplied files from clients.
(Our internal issues, we can deal with those.)

I was hoping someone could give a clearer explanation, that perhaps I could advise clients on. Right now I have no idea what to tell anyone about it.
Frankly Adobe has become increasingly disappointing these last few years.
Trying too hard to be all things to all people.
 
I didn't really know what to call this. The issue when you have an image in a PDF that bleeds. But then one edge of the image is clipped off at the crop mark (vertically), and shows up on the next page.
Is this an InDesign issue? I see it all the time with submitted files. We have the same problem here too.
Our normal InDesign process is to save a PS file which is then distilled to produce the PDF. Which results in the mentioned issue.
Does anyone have any input as to how this can be avoided? Is it Indesign screwing up, the PS process, or the distillation??
I know you all have had this issue pop up.. But what to do about it, is the question.
Setting the inside bleed to "0" when setting up the document will eliminate the bleed crossover between facing pages. It doesn't affect us as our imposition program clips the bleed correctly.
 

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