ARRRRRGGGHGGGGGGGGGGG Flatten Transparency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love illustrator, but today I'm ready to kill it. ugh! it's gotten dumber with each new version. I swear the pathfinder doesn't work nearly as well as it did in 9.0, and why get rid of the minus front option?
That being said, I have an aerial photograph. I have transparent shapes over the aerial. I don't want to be able to see through the shapes anymore. Turning the aerial off shows me what the transparent shapes would look like with a white background, very nice, muted colors. It is these colors that I ultimately want to see over my aerial photograph. I DO NOT want to be able to see through these colors.
I've tried flatten transparency and it does nothing. I turn off my aerial photo, so that white is my background. Liking the way my colors look on white, I then go to Object/Flatten transparency. But when I turn the aerial on, my colors are still see through! Please help before I do something my computer will regret.
thanks,
stan

> Cat abuse.
Unabused Cats
> I'm not sure I get Teri's second technique though. Do you mean that you make a duplicate layer, "Add New Fill" (White) on the lower of the 2 layers?
Only if by "duplicate layer" you mean an extra fill. Extra fills and strokes
are very often referred to as "fill layers" or "stroke layers", but they are not layers in the sense of anything managed by the Layers palette. It is part of the appearance of the original object, so that it moves with it. Here is a step-by-step:
Before (notice that the 40% opacity is applied at the path object level):
Changes made through the Transparency, Color, Stroke, etc. palettes apply to a single fill or stroke if it is highlighted in the Appearance palette. Changes made when no fill or stroke layer is highlighted apply to the entire object.
If you want the transparency interactions between a set of objects to be preserved, but for the set to collectively have a white "undercoat", then you can group the objects, and then assign the extra white fill to the group as a whole, instead of to the individual objects.
The file named "Group Paint.ai" in the folder below illustrates some special effects you can achieve by placing extra fills or strokes on a group.
ftp://tpettit.best.vwh.net/AI10_Style_demos.zip

Similar Messages

Illustrator CC 2014: Save As PDF, Flatten Transparency Issues

Hi All,
We created a PDF presentation that's about 40 pages in Illustrator and had some display issues with previews in Box. Upon inspecting the bug, we realized that Box's preview function does not display transparency properly (or at least seems to have issue displaying transparency if it hasn't been flattened.) We tried flattening the transparency of our Illustrator file, but when we do this the PDF has faint box outlines around objects.
Can anyone recommend a solution to this issue?
Thanks!
P.S. I'm new to figuring out which PDF Presets to use to optimize my presentation for desktop/iphone/ipad presentation. Right now we are using Press Quality with Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities unchecked and Optimized for Fast Web View.
P.P.S. We tried Acrobat 5-8 Compatibility for Box, non worked. Acrobat 4 with flattened transparency displayed properly, but had the problematic outlines.

Anyone have any input?
Thanks!

How to automate the flatten transparency in illustrator?

How to automate the "Flatten Transparency option" in illustrator via javascript. Please share with me.
Thanks

I'm looking for the same thing.
app.executeMenuCommand('Flatten Transparency'); works in CC but all it does is it brings up the window and you still have to click OK to make the script continue.
Before anyone asks why do you want to do it etc. In print thereare instances where you have to open and edit (not text) large numbers of pdfs to change colours, outline fonts etc otherwise there's trouble on print devices.
My script for instance looks for 100K blacks and replaces them with rich black, looks for empty text frames, overprint, bleed settings, clipping paths etc.
The only way to edit successfully a pdf without fonts is to place it and flatten transparency outlining fonts and then work on it.
So back to the point. After the window pops up, is there a way to simulate a keystroke like "Enter" or maybe app.executeMenuCommand('Flatten Transparency'); takes arguments like:
app.executeMenuCommand('Flatten Transparency',preset_name);...?
Anyone? Adobe SDK team? :-)

After Preflighting a PDF, using Convert to CMYK, Flatten Transparency and Prepress Profile Convert to CMYK only the resultant PDF has a grubby halo along the edge of some white type sitting on an image. The type is part of the image.

I am using a 27" iMac 3.2 GHz Intel Core 5, 8 GB Memory, running Yosemite 10.10.1.
The version of Acrobat that I am using is: Acrobat XI Version 11.0.10
After Preflighting a PDF, using Convert to CMYK, Flatten Transparency (high resolution) and Prepress Profile "Convert to CMYK only" the resultant PDF has a grubby halo along the edge of some white type sitting on an image. The type is part of the image which is 300 dpi.
It is like the image isn't really 300 dpi but has been artificially boosted to that to avoid being tagged by Preflighting, but when Preflighting the file it knows the original resolution.
I have screen grabs which illustrate the problem perfectly but do not know how to post them, if indeed they can be.
Any help or comments gratefully received.

Without the files and possibly screen prints, it is virtually impossible to assist you.
- Dov

Drop Shadow Turns Bluey/Grey When Flatten Transparency is Applied

Hello,
I'm a bit new to Illustrator (using CS2) and using it to create a CD artwork layout. I understand that i need to flatten the transparency and the artwork before generating a PDF to send to the printer.
When I choose "Flatten transparency" to flatten an a TIF image w/ a drop shadow (DS applied in Illustrator using Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow)... the shadow turns a bluey grey and looks awful. How can I make it stay black like I want it?
The settings for the drop shadow are:
Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 55%
X Offset: 0.03
Y Offset: 0.03
Blur: 0.05
Color: 60/40/40/100 (rich black for the printing co I am using)
If anyone can clue me in as to why the color is going mushy, I'd sure apprecaite it.
Thanks!

Well, this is preliminary, but here goes.
First, the bad news: What you're observing is real and repeatable. Transparency is a voodoo area, and it will take a real expert to explain the whys of what's happening. But it
is happening.
Take an egdemost polaroid and, via the appearance palette, change the drop shadow so that it has a huge offset, giving you a shadow block distinct from the main image. Pull the object sufficiently off the background so that half of the shadow is in the clear. Now, dial up the flatten transparency dialog and toggle the preview. You'll see that while the portion of the shadow in the no-background area remains unchanged, the portion within your background goes light and bluish. The flattening is clearly "reacting" to your background.
I thought the same thing as jcates and tried a black-plate-only (0/0/0/100) drop shadow. While the result is a tad different, we still have the basic problem.
Ugh.
Next, a question: Who told you transparent objects needed to be flattened before generating a press output PDF?
One of the advantages of saving out a PDF (rather than
printing to PDF via Acrobat's Distiller engine) is to preserve transparency, which is supported in the newest PDF versions. I don't want to suggest your printing company might be a tad behind the times, but one option you might consider is leaving the drop shadows as they are. Let the printer deal with transparency issues... which should not be an issue at all if they are up to handling the latest PDF spec. Of course, you will insist on a contract proof before going to press.
Next thought: For the small amount of shadow showing, there isn't really that much advantage to using a rich black. You might consider going black-plate-only to avoid tinting issues. Again, the contract proof is your friend.
Final (for now) thought: Do the drop shadows in Photoshop. Make sure there is no background and save as PSD. Place the PSD in Illustrator -- AI will respect the transparency in the PSD image. Yes, this is a PITA when it comes time to adjust the drop shadow. Being an old-timer with this stuff, that is how
I would execute this design. (We geezers don't trust Illustrator with raster effects.)
I have to go dinner shopping now to avoid getting into trouble with my wife, but I will look at this some more when I get the chance. In the meantime, let's hope someone else looking at this comes up with an "Aha!" solution.
{Bumped in the meantime.}

ColorSync 72 DPI problem - Create Generic PDFX-3 (Flatten Transparency)

Hi,
I tried to fix 72 DPI problem in native filter "Create Generic PDFX-3 Document" (ColorSync Utility Application).
I made a copy of default filter and changed the +Flatten Transparency+ resolution to higher value 300 DPI.
After ColorSync Utility restart my +Flatten Transparency+ settings were erased (my filter still exist but with no +Flatten Transparency+ value).
I tried both in 10.6.2 and 10.6.3 also in Polish and English localization.
As I know it is a common procedure to prepare PDF/X print-shop ready documents avoiding Adobe Distiller.

You will need to install the abracadabra ColorSync filters to get higher resolution pdfs.
This is a long standing problem with OSX which has default filters set to render all transparency at 72 dpi.
I would not use Pages for commercial printing. The dollars you save on software are quickly gambled away on the press. There is just too little professional support built in and Apple's neglect of Pro tools in OSX is the clincher for me. Stick with Adobe and Quark and avoid OSX's print engine.
Peter

Flatten transparency Fill colour feathering?

Basically the way I normally filled colours was either make live paint, OR flatten stransparency on my strokes, and to use the paint bucket. I have mostly used teh flatten transparency way to paint, but this tiem when I try to change the colour of my fills, it creates a feather/halo of some sort around my line art and fill colour. When I colour i only use fills, so I dont get added edges to my stroke. I have taken a screen shot of what it is doing.
Is it normal to have white edges around dark on dark colours?

Is this a CYMK-document and your strokes are 100% K?
Then it's just a screen display issue, will be OK in print (at least when trapping is handled correctly). If you need to eliminate the pixel border around the black strokes for use on screen you'll have to use rich black (but you'll be in RGB-mode in that case anyway).

Illustrator CC Flatten Transparency with doScript(action, actionSet)

Hi Yall!
I have the creative cloud illustrator with which I'd like to process a bunch of files.   Of course, for my processing needs, the file has to be outlined & expanded, etc, to ensure all the plugin items, text frames and strokes become just outlined shapes to mess with. I was excited about the potential of the doScript in illustrator to play any action, so I made a simple action which selects all and flattens transparency. This does seem to work, except for the part where it gives me this aler box of an error: "The operation cannot complete because of an unknown error: [Parm]" .
The flattening process seems to have worked ok though, and the objects did become flattened. The error message can be turned off using the UserInteractionLevel.DONTDISPLAYALERTS , but wacky things happen with the display, such as the edges of paths become invisible and the preview redrawing gets all wiggy.
Does anybody have a better way to flatten the transparency, or is there something I'm missing?
The action is this:
/version 3
/name [ 7
          466c617474656e
/isOpen 1
/actionCount 1
/action-1 {
          /name [ 20
                    466c617474656e205472616e73706172656e6379
          /keyIndex 0
          /colorIndex 0
          /isOpen 1
          /eventCount 2
          /event-1 {
                    /useRulersIn1stQuadrant 0
                    /internalName (adobe_selectAll)
                    /localizedName [ 10
                              53656c65637420416c6c
                    /isOpen 0
                    /isOn 1
                    /hasDialog 0
                    /parameterCount 0
          /event-2 {
                    /useRulersIn1stQuadrant 0
                    /internalName (ai_plugin_flatten_transparency)
                    /localizedName [ 20
                              466c617474656e205472616e73706172656e6379
                    /isOpen 0
                    /isOn 1
                    /hasDialog 1
                    /showDialog 0
                    /parameterCount 5
                    /parameter-1 {
                              /key 1920169082
                              /showInPalette 4294967295
                              /type (integer)
                              /value 75
                    /parameter-2 {
                              /key 1919253100
                              /showInPalette 4294967295
                              /type (unit real)
                              /value 300.0
                              /unit 592342629
                    /parameter-3 {
                              /key 1869902968
                              /showInPalette 4294967295
                              /type (boolean)
                              /value 1
                    /parameter-4 {
                              /key 1869902699
                              /showInPalette 4294967295
                              /type (boolean)
                              /value 1
                    /parameter-5 {
                              /key 1667463282
                              /showInPalette 4294967295
                              /type (boolean)
                              /value 1
and the script is this:
function test(){
     app.loadAction('File.aia of the actions described above');
     app.doScript('Flatten Transparency', 'Flatten', false);
test();
Thanks!

Anyone have any input?
Thanks!

Applying Flatten Transparency for proper scaling

Below is an example of a logo I recently completed. I designed it at a large size and want to ensure that for future use it scales down properly. The 2nd image below shows how some of the paths break. At this point, is it standard practice to apply Flatten Transparency? Thx in advance.

Michelle and Mike wrote:
sorry I'm just now getting back to you guys. I don't know if this will be of any help or not, but I kept searching based on responses and I then launched my version 4 which is still on my computer until I make sure I have all my settings where they need be in 5.5 so I can compare. I went to *edit* and dropped down to *color settings*. In 5.5, it was set to "Emulate Adobe® Illustrator 6.0" at the top where it says settings. I changed it to read the same thing as my CS4 program had which was "North America General Purpose 2". All the other settings were the same across the board and I would have to guess are default settings for the working spaces and color management policies. This fixed the issue with the items darkening on my screen. I work completely in CMYK for printing purposes so I'm very careful to make sure all imported photos to Illustrator are CMYK. I also am now leaving off the color profile in Photoshop. If you need to know exact settings I was using on that Photoshop color profile on photos being imported, let me know and I will list them or screen shot them. But leaving off the Photoshop color profile and changing the color settings in Illustrator to what I mentioned above got rid of the issue I was having. Hopefully this helps and makes sense what I did.
Michelle, do you think you can reproduce consistently the problem and describe step by step how others can reproduce it? If yes, this will help to understand the problem.

How to eliminate darkened areas after applying flatten transparency?

I just upgraded by CS to 5.5 here in the last couple of weeks (I had purchased it prior to 6 being launched). Any way, I've noticed on some ads I create, when I save as an EPS and then go to "flatten transparency" that sometimes it is taking elements and darkening the photo/graphic underneath. For example, I have an ad that has three starbursts with drop shadows overlaying some photos. When I select the "flatten transparency" function, it is darkening a portion of the photo underneath. I'm going to try to attach a sample to this question as to what I'm referring to.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer!
Michelle

Michelle and Mike wrote:
sorry I'm just now getting back to you guys. I don't know if this will be of any help or not, but I kept searching based on responses and I then launched my version 4 which is still on my computer until I make sure I have all my settings where they need be in 5.5 so I can compare. I went to *edit* and dropped down to *color settings*. In 5.5, it was set to "Emulate Adobe® Illustrator 6.0" at the top where it says settings. I changed it to read the same thing as my CS4 program had which was "North America General Purpose 2". All the other settings were the same across the board and I would have to guess are default settings for the working spaces and color management policies. This fixed the issue with the items darkening on my screen. I work completely in CMYK for printing purposes so I'm very careful to make sure all imported photos to Illustrator are CMYK. I also am now leaving off the color profile in Photoshop. If you need to know exact settings I was using on that Photoshop color profile on photos being imported, let me know and I will list them or screen shot them. But leaving off the Photoshop color profile and changing the color settings in Illustrator to what I mentioned above got rid of the issue I was having. Hopefully this helps and makes sense what I did.
Michelle, do you think you can reproduce consistently the problem and describe step by step how others can reproduce it? If yes, this will help to understand the problem.

Is it possible to flatten transparency in a pdf using Adobe Reader or do I have to buy Acrobat?

I'm trying to create a book cover PDF using publisher and then saving as a pdf. But, that isn't flattening the transparencies. I only have Adobe Reader and am hoping that program will allow me to flatten the transparency in the native document. If I can't do this, odd lines show up on my printed books. Any ideas?

Modifying an existing PDF file is several magnitues more complicated than creating one from scratch. The PDF standard is VERY complicated and contains a myriad of features with their specific syntax elements. In order to modify an existing PDF you have to be able to understand every syntax element that occures in the PDF, or you may end up corrupting the file.
When you create a new PDF you can pick out the syntax elements that your tool supports and forget about the 95 other procent.
There are many PDF Toolkits than can create PDF files, a few that can open PDF files and present them, and almost none that can edit them. The Adobe PDF Editor being one of the few that can do that, but nobody is going to give away such a Toolkit for free.
Rolf Kalbermatter
CIT Engineering Netherlands
a division of Test & Measurement Solutions

Problems with image after flattening transparency in illustrator cs2

Hi,Could someone please help me.Im using illustrator cs2 with windows xp.
The problem i have is that after flattening any image using transparency
masks or opacity i can see thin broken white lines in the image.
They appear where the opacity masks are,or where they cross in the image.
I haven't been using illustrator for long and am not sure if it's something
i'm doing incorrectly or not.
Also if i select all the paths after flattening i can see double the paths
that were there before which run along the unsightly white lines in the image.
Please could someone shed some light on this,it's driving me crazy.
Thanks, Cal

Hi,I spent weeks trying to sort it out. Apparently it's unavoidable. I read somewhere that the white lines wouldn't appear when printed but i saved one of the images as a jpg an the lines were clearly visible.
Its because when the transparency in the image goes through the flattening process to enable printing it breaks the image into atomic regions and the white lines are the gaps in between.
People seem to think it's completely normal and acceptable but i don't . I think it's a load of old rubbish.
The way round it is to use stuff that doesn't use transparency like the gradient mesh and all that.
I can't be bothered with all that so i just save the unflattened image as a large png or jpg file for printing.
I'm no expert but if the facility to use transparency is there surely it should save perfectly after flattening. The whole things a real pain.
Take care , Cal

Flatten Transparency&Other in CS2

1- I'm trying to place a transparent image from photoshop to my illustrator artwork and get the white box around the image.
   What is the best way to prevent the white box from appearing in illustrator?
   What should I do.. either in photoshop or illustrator.. to prevent this from happening? (please explain details & proper procedures).
   I will be using this file for print in cmyk.
When I place a photoshop transparent image with NO white box into illus. and try to flatten it, it does not flatten.
When I place a flatten image from photoshop with the white box and try to use the magic wand to remove the white area nothing happens,
I can't use the wand?
Can someone please tell HOW to accomplish the above?
2- Also when trying to synchronize my color settings between Photoshop & illus. it says to use the color settings in Bridge under edit.
    When I try to do this I do not have that option (color setting) in Bridge? Any help ideas with this as well? I do not have the Suite edition,
    Just PhotoshopCS2 and IllustratorCS2.
3- I created Gradient artwork in illus. and I get the following warning window:
    Illustrator PDF warning: > This Document contains PDF objects that have been reinterpreted >An unknown shading type was encountered??
Sorry for so many questions, but I tried numerous books,help menus,etc. and have found no answers! My brain is seeping out my ears from
all the head banging trying to solve these 3 issues!! Can someone PLEASE HELP!!!
I work on a mac.any other info needed to solve the above.
john....and many THANKS in advance!!!!!!!!

1- I'm trying to place a transparent image from photoshop to my illustrator artwork and get the white box around the image.
   What is the best way to prevent the white box from appearing in illustrator?
   What should I do.. either in photoshop or illustrator.. to prevent this from happening? (please explain details & proper procedures).
   I will be using this file for print in cmyk.
When I place a photoshop transparent image with NO white box into illus. and try to flatten it, it does not flatten.
When I place a flatten image from photoshop with the white box and try to use the magic wand to remove the white area nothing happens,
I can't use the wand?
Can someone please tell HOW to accomplish the above?
2- Also when trying to synchronize my color settings between Photoshop & illus. it says to use the color settings in Bridge under edit.
    When I try to do this I do not have that option (color setting) in Bridge? Any help ideas with this as well? I do not have the Suite edition,
    Just PhotoshopCS2 and IllustratorCS2.
3- I created Gradient artwork in illus. and I get the following warning window:
    Illustrator PDF warning: > This Document contains PDF objects that have been reinterpreted >An unknown shading type was encountered??
Sorry for so many questions, but I tried numerous books,help menus,etc. and have found no answers! My brain is seeping out my ears from
all the head banging trying to solve these 3 issues!! Can someone PLEASE HELP!!!
I work on a mac.any other info needed to solve the above.
john....and many THANKS in advance!!!!!!!!

Flatten transparency

Hi everyone,
I have a diagram created in Illustrator CS5. It has transparency applied so that new colors are created where shapes intersect. I need to place this diagram into Indesign but I'd like the transparency to be flattened, ie. so that I'm still getting the new colors but no transparency. This is because in Indesign I'm putting it into a picture box with a colored background and I don't want the transparent shapes to interact with this color.
Is there any way to do this?
Appreciate any advice.

That's perfect.
Thanks so much.

Flatten transparency without lossy JPEG compression

Acrobat is using lossy JPEG compression (quality: medium) on some images after transparent objects were flattened. Even if the images had a ZIP compression before, Acrobat will use a lossy JPEG compression. The result is a loss of quality. There are also differences in quality within a single image, cause some images are divided in parts with a ZIP compression and with a lossy JPEG compression.
Is there a workaround to use Acrobat's transparency flattening without JPEG compression? The problem appears in Acrobat 7, 8 and 9.

Hi Cropas!
As stated above my PDF export settings you can read that this option is set to OFF. <Create Tagged PDF: Off>.
Indd can not cope with this option for embedded PDF document indd?

ARRRRRGGGHGGGGGGGGGGG Flatten Transparency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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