PDF-Basics is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/ __________________________________________________________________
Hello Rich,
It really sounds as if you could be right. The problem may originate in the way I make the clipping paths in Photoshop. I often choose an image with a high contrast background, select all and then deselect the areas I want to discard with the magic wand tool. Once I'm satisfied with my selection, I invert it and then choose Export transparent image from the Help Menu to produce a Photoshop EPS with transparent background. I gather that the magic wand can create a lot of points on the resulting clipping path. I guess what I need to do is greatly simplify the clipping path if I want to use cutouts with transparent background in EPS format. So, after selecting the area a want, if I choose Select > Smooth and then enter a value of 8 before I invert to export a transparent EPS, will that achieve the effect you're suggesting I need? Or perhaps I should make my selections and masks by beginning with the magnetic selection tool in conjunction with Quick Mask mode to tidy up selection.
My printer actually deals in PDF all the time and insists that mine are the only PDFs that won't print. If I hadn't been using the same process of making cutouts for several years in the newspaper where I worked until recently, I would have immediately suspected the problem was mine, not the printers. But my paper converted all our pages -- monochrome and four colour --- to PDF before sending them to our printers, and I used EPS cutouts --- sometimes with drops shadows --- nearly every day. Before now, I never had a problem.
However, I do think that simplifying those EPSes must be the key. If I can't do that, I'm going to have to send the whole Quark file.
Thanks for the tip. I'll certainly try it.
Catherine Osborn
On Saturday, Apr 3, 2004, at 14:57 Europe/Dublin, Rich Sprague wrote:
PDF-Basics is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/
__________________________________________________________________
I've followed this thread, and have been concerned that your problem is not
directly PDF-related at all, rather it may be issues with your file/s
creation workflow.
If it were me, and this is the way I do what you are trying to do:
1. Mask your image with Photoshop (there are many ways to do this). Convert
your selection to a path. Make your path a clipping path with a flatness of
8 (this has always worked for me, although some people choose 4 or 2). Save
the image as an EPS file.
2. Import your EPS into a Quark container. You already have masked the image, so have nothing further to do here. Save your file.
3. Either print a PostScript file and distill, or export your PDF from Quark. Do not make a Quark EPS file.
There are many ways of successfully achieving a PDF which will properly
separate, but there are also a snakepit full (of snakes) of ways in which to
create files which will barf during the RIP.
I've used this workflow for 15 years, and it always has been bulletproof for
me.
Rich
-----Original Message----- From: On Behalf Of Catherine Osborn Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 4:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PDF-Basics] press optimised PDFs fail at imagesetter
Hello all,
I was having trouble actually making PDFs with EPSes containing transparent
backgrounds. I discovered that if I set the tolerance and noise in the Quark
runaround box to 5, I could produce "press ready"
PDFs with no PS errors. They displayed fine on screen and were easy to send
to the printers on the broadband line. However, my printers were unable to
make film for the imagesetter. The kept getting blanks. Has anyone else had
this problem?
My graphics files were all TIFFs and EPSes in CMYK at 300dpi with a screen
frequency of 175.
Although I could send the entire original Quark file on the broadband, it
saves the printers work if I can send PDFs. So far, however, this has proved
imposible, but oddly only with one of the printers with whom I do business.
Any suggestions?
Catherine Osborn
To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfbasics.html
To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfbasics.html
To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfbasics.html
