Output Intent in Adobe Acrobat XI Pro

[Kees]

Hi,
I work with Adobe Acrobat XI Pro and I'm trying to find were to look for the "output Intent" of a pdf. file, so if it has a coated or uncoated profile to be more specific.
Someone showed me a screenshot were I saw "Simulation Profile: Output Intent: Europe ISO Coated etc." but when I open this (tools - output preview - simulation profile) I seem to miss this option in the scroll menu.
There are a zillion other options going deeper and deeper but I just can't find were to look for a simple piece of info on the color space like ISO Coated v2 300% etc. of a pdf file.
Who knows more?
Thanks,
Kees

 

[Danny Whitehead]

Not all PDFs have an Output Intent. It's part of the PDF/X specification.

 

[Magnus]

It depends on how the PDF-file is created. If it doesn't say "Output intent:" before the profile name, the PDF do not have an Output intent (And is not a proper PDF/X-file).

 

[Stephen Marsh]

The output intent is a “PDF standards" thing, it is like a “document preview and or output profile” (that may or may not be used for output by other downstream software).

Objects in the PDF may or may not have different or any profiles associated with them, depending on the flavour of PDF/X.

It is best to forget that one can change the simulation profile/output intent dropdown menu - just pretend it is a field/label and not a drop down menu and never change it! It would have been great if Adobe had put a “lock” control next to this when they first created it. Many folk don’t understand that this is really a softproof and preview of ICC conversion and then wonder why their K only text and rules are displaying as four colour.

EDIT: PDF/X uses a CMYK profile as the output intent. A different standard such as PDF/A might use sRGB as the output intent. The output intent only works for CMYK and RGB colours, spot colours are outside of current PDF/X standards.


Stephen Marsh

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi,
I work with Adobe Acrobat XI Pro and I'm trying to find were to look for the "output Intent" of a pdf. file, so if it has a coated or uncoated profile to be more specific.

Of course, the elephant in the room of PDF/X is that AFAIK most products only ship with Coated PDF/X presets, so users would have to create their own preflight using an uncoated output intent and then use this profile for work targeted at uncoated output.

So what happens in the real world?

Even if people actually use a PDF/X standard, they may not know which output intent they are using and will use a ISO Coated or SWOP profile for an uncoated job (same for a coated job, the incorrect output intent may be used).

PDF/X is intended for “blind communication”, the options are there to communicate, however it is beyond the ability of many users to use the tools correctly and thus miscommunication is the norm.


Stephen

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Of course, the elephant in the room of PDF/X is that AFAIK most products only ship with Coated PDF/X presets, so users would have to create their own preflight using an uncoated output intent and then use this profile for work targeted at uncoated output.

So what happens in the real world?

Even if people actually use a PDF/X standard, they may not know which output intent they are using and will use a ISO Coated or SWOP profile for an uncoated job (same for a coated job, the incorrect output intent may be used).

PDF/X is intended for “blind communication”, the options are there to communicate, however it is beyond the ability of many users to use the tools correctly and thus miscommunication is the norm.


Stephen

Hello Stephen,

Well I never. I had no idea.

Ok. I use PDF/X-3 to sent jobs to my vintage HP Indigo 3050 (... yes folks, it is still going...) Now we print 50% of our jobs on Coated and the other half on Uncoated.

Do I go and duplicate a Acrobat Pro preflight profile and meddle with it or is there a better way?

[Artwork generated from scratch in Illustrator CC 2015 (yes... it's packaging) and then saved as PDF/X-3 using Illy's default settings]

 

[Stephen Marsh]

This is for in-house work, right?

Does the Indigo front end actually use the output intent data to select the correct paper or to adjust colour (some use Enfocus PitStop Server or Enfocus Switch to automate the redirection of files to specific hot folders)?

Apart from having a PDF with the correct information in it (a worthy goal), what practical benefit would you gain – or would this just be “busy work”?


Stephen Marsh

Hello Stephen,

Well I never. I had no idea.

Ok. I use PDF/X-3 to sent jobs to my vintage HP Indigo 3050 (... yes folks, it is still going...) Now we print 50% of our jobs on Coated and the other half on Uncoated.

Do I go and duplicate a Acrobat Pro preflight profile and meddle with it or is there a better way?

[Artwork generated from scratch in Illustrator CC 2015 (yes... it's packaging) and then saved as PDF/X-3 using Illy's default settings]

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Altering PDF/X settings for uncoated conditions ideally happens and is selected when outputting the PDF from the authoring application (InDesign, Illustrator etc).

Keep in mind that it may not be as simple as changing the output intent profile entries.


Stephen Marsh

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Does the Indigo front end actually use the output intent data to select the correct paper or to adjust colour (some use Enfocus PitStop Server or Enfocus Switch to automate the redirection of files to specific hot folders)?

Apart from having a PDF with the correct information in it (a worthy goal), what practical benefit would you gain – or would this just be “busy work”?


Stephen Marsh

Thanks for the reply Stephen,

There is no front end for us. Its all done by "on board RIP" and the Operator.

It's all think board so there is no tray selection.

I can see now that there is no benefit here for us.... (phew)