File format which cannot be edited when reviewed by clients?

Question

Hi,
I was wondering if someone could please tell me how to save an AI file so that no one can edit the content?  I need to show a person something I designed, but I do not want it to be editable, but I want to preserve the high resolution, etc.  I tried saving it in JPEG and reopened the file in AI, but I was able to edit it and all the edges were jagged even though I deselected "anti-alias".  Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Once the design has been approved by my client and is ready to be sent to the printer, I will contact them to see what file format(s) they need, etc.
Again, PDF. Nowadays, whole document designs are typically delivered as press-ready PDFs. This avoids the older practice of sending an "ouput bundle" (the native page document, all fonts used, all external files linked). Most decent design programs provide a feature for automating the gathering of an ouput bundle. Illustrator does not.
However, I am a bit confused with all the prepress tasks involved in Illustrator CS5.
Exporting PDF (Save a Copy As...; same thing), you need to choose the proper PDF export options. AI comes with a few pre-sets, one of which is Press Ready. In most cases, that will be fine. Think of exporting a PDF as sort of capturing the print stream on its way to the printer. Native constructs get "broken down" to simpler objects that a PostScript printer's RIP can understand. So in a sense, creating a PDF is, in itself, sort of a printability check. The PDF will be printable...but that doesn't mean you've built everything right in the document for good printing results.
I have already set the Document Effects Raster Setting to the highest setting in order to make sure that all my effects are high resolution when exported.
The highest setting? And what would that be? You can key any PPI value you want into the Document Raster Effects Setting dialog.
Diane, how do you determing the appropriate resoution setting for raster effects?
FYI, my design contains gradients, shadows and transparency
Gradient fills are not raster effects; they are computed. They are unaffected by Document RASTER Effect Setting.
Shadows are raster effects if they are blurred, and/or if they interact transparently with other objects in such a way as to require rasterization. If they are not blurred, and if they have transparency applied that can be flattened without rasterization, then again, Document Raster Effects Setting does not apply.
so I am unsure if it needs to be Flattened or does the printing company usually do that?
Depending on the PDF version you save the press-ready PDF as, the necessary flattening will occur as you save the PDF. This is where my earlier admonition about good printing results comes in. For example: Designers who don't really know (or don't really pay attention to) what they are doing will often commit this error:
Apply an effect that will require rasterization to an object.
Stack that object on top of objects that are going to look really bad if rasterized (ex: partially overlapping body text).
Save it as a press-ready PDF.
The file prints correctly (technically), but looks like amateurish crap.
Why? Because the uncovered portions of the overlapped object are sliced and diced by the flattening process into vector objects, and the adjacent overlapped portions are rasterized. The difference is visible, distracting, and ugly in the final output.
What is the most common procedure as far as prepress tasks are concerned?
Practices depend on specific situations. It is ridiculous to expect to receive a foolproof primer on all the caveats you may encounter in an online forum. You have to learn as you go, pay attention to what you are doing, and test. That's what contract proofs are all about; they catch errors before committing to an expensive press-setup.
But you can test your own files alot (and educate yourself in the process) using Acrobat Pro. Preview the color separations plates in Acrobat. Zoom in and see what kind of objects are actually there.
You can easily teach yourself what is actually going on with features like raster effects, the Document Raster Effects Setting, and flattening by creating a few simple objects, applying the effects, flattening the objects, and dissecting the results. Save the file as a press-ready PDF, but turn off the Maintain Illustrator Editability option. Then open the resulting PDF in Illustrator and dissect it. You'll begin to figure out what is actually going on and common sense will guide you away from bad practices and toward workarounds to prevent ugly surprises in the final output.
The following soapbox comments are not directed to you, Diane, so don't take offense--none is intended. You are at least thinking about such things. But this forum is public, and those with ears to hear can benefit.
That's the problem with these kinds of programs. In an attempt to isolate the "creative" user from anything remotely technical, they are filled with click & drag interfaces for instant-gratification effects which tend to hide basic facts about what's going on that the designer really needs to understand.
Before programs like Illustrator started mixing raster and vector features (especially so-called "live raster effects") the same imagery could be (and was) built. But it had to be deliberately built object-by-object by the designer, not with click & drag instant-gratification features. As a result, earlier digital designers developed a better understanding of what was actually going on behind all the smoke and mirrors.
Nowadays, too many wannabe designers think they can just be prima-dona "creatives" without involving themselves in any technical matters. That's a recipe for costly disaster in print.
That's what I mean when I repeatedly say that it is folly to pick up a program like this and just jump into doing commerical work with it before thoroughly readilng the documentation. None of this is rocket science, and I don't mean to suggest it is. But a print designer can't just knock around in a program, thinking his responsibilty ends with making something look good on a computer monitor. That's the rude awakening web-centric designers encounter when first trying to design for print; just because something looks right on screen doesn't ensure it's going to look right in print.
JET