Illustrator CS2 transaprency oddities...

[jbnz]

Howdy all,

I'm new to the forum so I apologise if this has already been answered (I did look but couldn't find anything that answered my question exactly).

I've created a poster that has drop shadows on text which is over a solid filled rectangle. Pretty simple, nothing too snazzy.

It looks fine in Illustrator. I then flatten transparencies using the high quality settings and convert all text and strokes to outlines. Then I 'save as' a PDF 1.5 to send to my digital printer person.

In Acrobat the file also looks fine, when I laser printer it guess what... it looks fine.

When the digital printer man looks at it on his computer - it looks fine. However, when he goes to print it we get rectangles of a lighter colour around all the areas with transparency - they match up with the flattened objects AI made. Why!?! :confused:

The only way I've found to fix things is to export the file as a TIFF. This is fine for my poster as it's only a 17.7mb tiff (with LZW). However some drop banners I'm working on are about 10m long buy 2m wide - which is going to be a HUGE file, even if I'm only working at 25% size.

I'm only 34 and don't want to loose my hair just yet... but I'm getting to the point where I'll be pulling it out in handfulls soon!!!

Help!

JBNZ

[PrintDriver]

http://www.adobe.com/studio/print/index.html
Scroll down to the Printing Guides.
Also read How to create the perfect PDF.
I'd also suggest, if you haven't done so, to call your Banner vendor and ask for file prep details. Most large format people want native files and much lower dpi than you would expect. A file for a 2mx 10m banner even at full scale is not very large (it really doesnt' matter if you are scaling, the file size would still be the same as you have to 4x your resolution if you are working at 25%).

Also, those fuzzy drop shadows you are using MUST be applied as an EFFECT not a Filter in large format. Especially if scaling. Check your Raster Effect Setting and remind the printer to do the same. FYI, if you apply the fuzzy as a filter, you can't change it's raster output setting. In Illy FDSs and glows are raster effects and aren't scalable unless they are controlled by the RES. Filters are not controlled by the RES and cannot be corrected and will pixelate.

[urstwile]

Sounds to me like the vendor's RIP is not happy with the PDF protocol you're using, perhaps?

[PrintDriver]

Sounds like the flattener settings are wrong for the Rip. Usually the print service provider can tell you what flattener settings you should use, if any.

Do you see a white or light outlined box or is the entire interior of the box area a lighter color than it should be?

[jbnz]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm testing different PDF options with my printers so fingers crossed.

As for - " Do you see a white or light outlined box or is the entire interior of the box area a lighter color than it should be?" - the whole box is lighter than it should be.

Just off to read the "How to create the perfect PDF" document...

Regards

jbnz