Image Disappeared in Final Print

[jacobean]

Hi

I wonder could someone help me here.

Last week, I created an artwork in Adobe Illustrator, then saved it as a .pdf and uploaded to my printers website.

A preview of the print was showed before I completed the order - the preview looked perfect.

The only thing was - when the finished postcards arrived. The main image was missing argh!!!

Generally speaking, could someone hazard a guess how did this happen?

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

The PDF was not a PDFx compliant file. Either you had a spot colour or an OPI image is my guess. If you would post the PDF it would be easier to give you a better answer.

 

[jacobean]

Lukas, Thanks for that.


What is the best way .pdf format to avoidt his happening again OR what changes do I make on the Illustrator file?

 

[minutemanjon]

The last time we saw that effect in Illustrator, the customer created a solid full page color blue, on top of that was a full page white ellipse with feathered edges producing a bleed effect around the entire page. These two pieces were intended to create a "background". Text and additional images were on top of that. All on the same layer.
This will print with only the top images and no "background".
In this case, we separated the two bottom background images and created a single flattened raster image. Re-insert the background and all was well.
Fix in under two minutes and we moved on.

 

[david]

What kind of Proof did your printers website provide?

What kind of Proof did your printers website provide?

Your description is the exact problem that online ordering systems should solve!
Web2Print sites with automated ordering should have a direct connection to the production workflow system and proof files should be generated from this production workflow. This is the only way to insure that what you order and pay for is what you can expect to get. While no system is perfect and it is very hard to find all possible problems in an automated fashion, your case is a clear example of the most basic precepts of workflow integrated proofing. We have developed a high res online zoomable proof solution "I-Zoom" that can be integrated with most workflows. This enables the actual ripped data to be used for the proofing and would have resulted in your problem showing up prior to your order. We have this fully integrated with our TribalSketch Web2Print product, however it should be possible to tie in I-Zoom with most any open W2P solution.

David Lewis

Zoomable Proofs from all Flavors of TIFF files!

 

[jacobean]

The last time we saw that effect in Illustrator, the customer created a solid full page color blue, on top of that was a full page white ellipse with feathered edges producing a bleed effect around the entire page. These two pieces were intended to create a "background". Text and additional images were on top of that. All on the same layer.
This will print with only the top images and no "background".
In this case, we separated the two bottom background images and created a single flattened raster image. Re-insert the background and all was well.
Fix in under two minutes and we moved on.

Thanks but there are no layers or background images. This is
a plain white postcard - a very simple design and the image just dissappeared?

How do I check if the pdf is .pdf x compliant?

 

[zoran]

Why don't you post the PDF, you will get straight response and find out what happened exactly.
Maybe your printer dropped the ball, you never know.

 

[david]

Post the PDF file

Post the PDF file

I second the recommendation to post the PDF. I'd love to have a look at it.

 

[maas]

i have had a similar experience where an Illustrator artifact didn't image onto the plate, what i distilled at the time was that if a PDF gets rotated in the RIP to the pagination, i.e. head to head, occasionally transparent objects can get left behind and therefore cover an image or part of the rotated image which will therefore seem to have dropped off.

this is a know bug in CTP workflow, make sure however the RIP processes files using the PDF engine as opposed to CPSI

regards
Maas