You have your way of working, and if it suits you with no problems, fine. Some of the commercial printers I work with would send the job back if I did it that way — or at least mention it to me.
Even if that weren’t the case, I’d still rather do the CMYK conversion myself so I can see the results and make needed adjustments. And even in those instances where I know a digital printer prefers an RGB file for their larger-gamut printing process, I’d still convert any PNG I might have been given to an RGB .psd.
Been having these conversations for the last twenty years. Dov Isaacs the principle scientist with Adobe would severely disagree with you.
I know printers who reject jobs for stupid reasons. And if a printer rejected my job for a rgb png file I would take the job off them and go somewhere else.
Clearly have not got the knowledge or skills to do the work.
That is fair enough and I would expect someone in a colour critical role to know their colour stuff and be able to do the job. No issue at all with that.
Well I know what I am talking about and so do you. And its great we have different workflows that yield same results. It is what makes a forun worthwhile, having people with different experiences and different knowledge to draw from. The OP can take that, see what works for them and solve their problem.
In the OP’s case, I’m guessing the print job is a low-quantity, digitally printed mailer. In all probability, what we’ve been talking about regarding where the color conversion takes place (local computer or output RIP) isn’t especially important as long as something reasonable emerges.
However, as Steve pointed out, the issue the OP was having just might have been caused by the PNG. I don’t know if that’s the case, but it wouldn’t surprise me and was one of my guesses too — either that or a masking glitch.
In this case, my initial advice didn’t go into all the details about possible PNG transparencies, color gamuts, CMYK+ digital as opposed to offset, masking issues and that sort of thing. Instead, it was more of a suggestion that sticking to well-established technical and production standards can help avoid unanticipated problems.
Having some sort of weird knockout issue showing up in the PDF might just as easily have not shown up in the PDF and shown up instead during RIP output, where it would add both time and some expense to fix it.
Like I said, I don’t know if it was the PNG or some other issue. But there are ways to be safe and ways to be even safer, and unless the rewards outweigh the risks and one knows what one is doing, it’s typically better to play it safe.
Just gonna toss out there that PDF X4 doesn’t always clear up a transparency+spot dropout.
I’m just hoping this isn’t going to a place that accepts jpg files to print and that that isn’t the solution selected. Maybe the OP will have a chance to come back and let us know what the issue was.
To everyone who has replied … I really appreciate all the input …
Steve_O you are partially correct in that the problem is originating with what the photographer is doing to these photos. However, when I went to save as a PSD and then a PDF the same problem arises. They sent another photo over from the same photographer and the exact same thing is happening … see attached.
Smurf2 I’m not that familiar with transparencies - everything I’ve tried here has not worked. I need to put a stop to this as this company uses this photographer for all their video / everything and I don’t want to be up against this every time something comes from him. This has been a complete time suck…
Is there any way you could zip up the files and post it for download somewhere. This problem could be the result of a dozen different things, so it’s difficult to say without examining them.
Create a folder of the files on Dropbox and look for the “share” option or “share folder” option. It will give you the option to create a link. Pretty sure that’s how it works, anyway. It’s been a while since I’ve done that.
We have the app and I just right click on the file and it gives me the option to copy link.
I’d seriously consider posting it via PM to the person who asked tho (Just B) You don’t want your collateral available on a public forum for anyone to download.
I use InDesign but have had similarly strange pdf exports. I frequently work with prints that are a mix of images, graphics, and effects like transparency, drop shadow, glow, etc.
For me when in Acrobat and I see strange white lines, subtle grey lines, white boxes, color overlap issues, etc. I resolve it in pro, under print production, and flattener preview. The settings in flattener are pretty straight forward but sometimes need to be pushed and pulled to find the right combo of items to produce the outcome you want.
Hope you find something that works for you. Good luck!
