Overprint: no more

Here's what used to work:
overprinting objects -> save to postscript -> open
postscript in preview -> save as pdf-x -> done: 100% yellow
printed over 100% magenta resulted in a nice bright red. It's OS X
10.4.7, Freehand MX 11.0.2 Build 92, PDF Printer 4.0, PPD File
Version 1.0
It isn't like this anymore and I don't understand why. Ps and
pdfs ignore overprint. The only way to get it to work is to export
to eps and render in Photoshop. I thought I might have done
something bad to my system and installed a new system on another
disk but the result resembles those from the old system.
Any advice is appreciated.

Ralf,
Are you using the overprint command to actually overprint
inks on a press,
or do you just want a nice, bright red to display when PDF
files are viewed
on a computer?
If you are producing PDF files for professional printing, I
strongly
recommend that you get Acrobat Pro/Distiller, and use
Distiller to produce
your PDF files. It will give you much more control of the
kind of PDF you
get, and separation preview will tell you if you have set
your overprinting
as desired.
That said, I set up a FHMX file with overprint, printed to
Postscript file
using Adobe PDF 305.102 PPD. I used Preview to convert the
Postscript file
to PDF. Overprinting does not display in Preview. However the
overprinting
in the same PDF file does display in Acrobat Pro. Do not
assume overprint
commands have been lost, just because overprint does not
display in Preview.
I'm not sure what you mean by PPD File Version 1.0. How have
you set up a
printer to use your PPD?
If you are complaining that the Preview application does not
display
overprint, then that is a question for Apple, not a fault of
FreeHand.
Judy Arndt
Ralf at Berlin wrote:
> Here's what used to work: overprinting objects ->
save to postscript -> open
> postscript in preview -> save as pdf-x -> done:
100% yellow printed over 100%
> magenta resulted in a nice bright red. It's OS X 10.4.7,
Freehand MX 11.0.2
> Build 92, PDF Printer 4.0, PPD File Version 1.0
>
> It isn't like this anymore and I don't understand why.
Ps and pdfs ignore
> overprint. The only way to get it to work is to export
to eps and render in
> Photoshop. I thought I might have done something bad to
my system and
> installed a new system on another disk but the result
resembles those from the
> old system.

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CS5 TEXT TRAPPING options? Knockout? 0.44? Overprint?

Is there no option in InDesign CS5 for the text trapping?
How can I be sure that the text I want to be knockout is in fact set to knockout? and likewise for text to be overprinted?
Am I to assume that everything is automatic and I have to trust InDesign to decide it for me?
I will be taking a project to the printers soon, and I NEED to be sure for myself that all the overprint and knockout text is set correctly, but I can't find the settings anywhere.
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le_mac_man wrote:
Thanks for your reply.
So, are you saying that every other colour except black will knockout automatically?
In the "attributes" panel the options are:
Overprint Fill
Overprint Stroke
Nonprinting
Overprint Gap
Why is there not an option, "knockout Fill" etc... or is it just given that if the overprint fill box is not ticked then that means it will knockout?
There is no option for Knockout because that's the default condition, and the only possibility if overprint isn't selected. You can't "sort of" or half overprint any more than you can "sort of" print red using black ink.

How to disable overprint feature in Adobe Reader 9 or 10 when printing?

Hi,
I have a PDF document with overlapping objects (black text on top of pink text). When I print from Adobe Reader 9 or 10 using any PCL color print driver (Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit), the pink text shows through, regardless of "Use Overprint Preview" setting in Adobe Reader Preferences. Is there a way to turn this off for printing using any setting in Adobe Reader 9 or 10? I don't want the pink text to show through, which is what is displayed on screen when I set "User Overprint Preview" to Never. Print As Image didn't help either.
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Save For Web transparency problem: Overprint & CMYK documents

OK, I had a weird problem crop up today (as far as I can tell) completely out of the blue.
When I am working in overprint preview mode in a CMYK document, and I attempt to save an artboard as a PNG w/ transparency (via Save for Web), illustrator forces a white background throughout the image. It didn't do this until this morning. Yesterday, it was working perfectly normally. I put the computer to sleep at the end of the day, woke it up this morning, and for some reason this behavior has changed.
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I have tried uninstalling, reinstalling, restarting the computer, resetting all settings, as well as changing document settings, and editing artboard settings. And yes, the transparency checkbox is checked in the Save For Web dialog.
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brnscreative,
Have you tried 4) and 6) on the list?
4) is more thorough than 3), and 6) is the full reinstallation.
The following is a general list of things you may try when the issue is not in a specific file, and when it is not caused by issues with opening a file from external media. You may have tried/done some of them already; 1) and 2) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences); 5) is a list in itself, and 6) is the last resort.
If possible/applicable, you should save current artwork first, of course.
1) Close down Illy and open again;
2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to at least 5 times);
3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);
4) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible), for CS3 - CC you may find the folder here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/preference-file-location-illustrator.html
5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);
Even more seriously, you may:
6) Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences), run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

Simulating Overprint from Illustrator to PDF

Hello Forums,
I am asking here because my searches haven't found anything to answer my question. I work in a prepress department and we usually send out PDFs to customers via the Adobe PDF printer with simulate overprint on (This is in Mac OSX Leopard). Reason being is we back everything up with white (but white is on top layer) and have overprinting traps. Most customers don't have a clue about overprint preview in Adobe Reader and even if they were able to view the PDFs with overprint, if they wanted to print, they would print large white blocks because the printer wouldn't simulate the overprint. We have one Mac Pro here with Snow Leopard and as I have read, they have gone away with the PDF printer and I am not able to simulate overprint on anything. I have tried sharing my printer (I am running Leopard), hiding layers, etc. to no avail. Does anybody have any ideas or resources to point me? All help is much appreciated.
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Using Distiller is better because you have more control over the settings for the final PDFs and the generated PDFs are way smaller in size, which is largely convenient when you produce dozens of them every day.
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Indesign make logo black for overprint etc.

Hi Guys
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thanks
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You can use Ink Manager to alias spot colors to Black, or some other spot (or any other individual CMY primaries), but it's global, so it's going to affect more than the logo if you used the same spots elsewhere. I'd personally set up a spot swatch for varnish and use that so it's on a separate plate, then use the Attributes panel to set the overprint parameters on the logo.

Pixelated images and overprint preview

I have a few images already inserted in a document which are all in CMYK at 300 dpi. When I zoomed in on them, they appeared just like they did in photoshop, nice and clear.
Last night, I started having trouble with the images appearing pixelated when I add them in. I couldn't find any differences in my workflow in bringing them in, which is the strange part. They are all 300dpi. When I placed some images last night, they appeared pixelated when I zoomed in. Also if I chose Place and just clicked one time, they would appear huge, more than the size they were intended to be, which makes me worry the document may not be setup right, but I cannot find anywhere to adjust the dpi of the document. I have it set for Print, 6x9 size but I dont see where you would modify the dpi for the print setting.
I made a flattened psd image which shows up in InDesign's info window as 300 dpi/cmyk but when I add it, it tried to make the image huge. So I used a different method and scaled the image into the area I wanted it and it still looked very pixelated when I zoomed in.
I looked around and turned on the setting overprint preview and the image cleared up. I am about to be placing a lot of images in this document to finish the book so I am trying to get a better idea of what is going on first and make changes to my document if needed. My question is - If the image doesn't display well when overprint preview is off, do I need to worry if it looks good when its turned on?
Pic 1, overprint preview on. Pic 2, overprint preview off.

Yes I understand this. I was just worried because strangely, other images I had placed before I did this one were not behaving in the same way. I had scaled them down, which is the only difference I could find. I was just very concerned thats all. I know it may have been a simple question but I am finishing a huge project and just about to drop a lot of work on prepping the photos for my book, so I wanted to double check the process very carefully to make sure I wasn't about to repeat a mistake somewhere 100x...

Inner shadow box with paper fill overprinting?

(Mac Pro 4,1 / 2.66 GHz Quad/12G InDesign: CS6 / Ver. 8.0.2)
I have 2 boxes filled with paper and Inner shadow effect with black (created in InDesign), Background is a 4 color linear gradient (left is 4c green, middle is paper, right 4c green) from Illustrator.
The Inner shadow box that is close to the top of gradient (more green than white) is ok.
The Inner shadow box that sits on the paper fill of the gradient, appears to be overprinting, thus no paper fill.
I have check fills of the Inner shadow box in InDesign, to make sure it is not overprinting.
I have tried some tricks but nothing works.
Ideas anyone?

I found the solution:
You should never use white as a color in a gradient. I have always been told to use 5-10% of the gradient color.
This gradient create in Illustrator using:
left is 4c green, middle is paper, right 4c green
Solution:
Duplicated the green and made a spot
modified gradient to:
left 4c green, middle 8% of Spot green, right 4c green
Been a few years and I forgot prepress 101, white is not a color and should never be used in a gradient.
Hope this helps someone in the future.
Thank you Leonie15

Standard overprint vs. illustrator overprint mode

I am somewhat new in working via the PDF workflow, Adobe Acrobat 7.0.7, MAC OS Tiger
Can someone tell me what the differences are between the standard overprint mode (OPM 0) versus illustrator overprint mode (OPM 1) from the Adobe Pitstop Inspector plug-in; prepress tab to overprint tab. Thanks

Hi Debra
Illustrator overprint mode (OPM) is an addition to the standard overprinting (OP).
If OP is 1, the object on top overprint the object underneath. So far so good.
Unfortunately this does NOT work if both Objects are of type DeviceCMYK.
Example: You have a black text that is defined in 0/0/0/100 and is set to overprint, it still knocks out the CMY channel of the object from underneath. Only if the object underneath is of type Device-N (e.g. SpotColor), than the color underneath is not knocked out. You can very easy see that in the output preview.
If you want that the black text on top does not knock out the CMY color of the object underneath, you have to specify OPM=1.
Info: Only those color channels from the object underneath are not knocked out, the are defined as 0% in the object above. if your black was define 1/1/1/100, then overprinting would not make any difference, since the is no channel with 0%. Again - define such objects and check in the Acrobat Output Preview.
In other words: if you have 2 DeviceCMYK objects and you want the one on top to overprint the one underneath, you have to activate OPM. You could also name it CMYK-overprint. since this is a behaviour that you would expect OPM should always be 1.
There is actually much more that you can read and see for yourself if you download the Altona Testsuite package, that is freely avaliable at www.eci.org (search in the donwload section).
BTW: PitStop is from Enfocus, not from Adobe.
rgds
Peter Kleinheider

How to globally set K100% to overprint?

I have some InDesign (CS2 & CS3) files which consist of text setup as K100% and various tint values such as K70%, K50, K30%, etc. Some of the text are placed on top of color panels. I would like to perform a global change of K100% to overprint whereas the rest of the tint values to knockout.
I tried using find/change function, first make a global change from [Black] (without defining any tint value) to [Black] (also without defining any tint value) overprint check OFF. This has successfully set all the [Black] to knock out including K100%.
I then thought of using find/change function again to make another change from [Black], tint 100% to [Black], tint 100%, overprint ON. But this time, it prompts 0 replacement.
Can someone help me to resolve this issue? Thanks in advance!

Here is another unconventional solution:
The goal is for all tints to knock out, and all solids to overprint? Then there is a way you can set everything to overprint, but still KO your tints!
You have to create multi-ink swatches for your tints. For example 20% Pantone 295, you need it to KO? Create a multi-ink swatch that is 20% 295, and 0% of ALL other inks (you must set them to 0, don't leave them blank).
You can use this swatch, set the object to overprint, but it won't really overprint.
The trick is making sure all the tints are colored using the proper swatch, throughout the document. Then make everything overprint. Don't add new inks afterwards, otherwise your multi inks would overprint them.
This solution is very unorthodox, but I present it mainly because you expressed your concern about overlooking the overprint attribute. With this method you overprint everything, everywhere. You are using swatches to achieve your knock outs, which may somehow be easier.
Whatever method you use, make sure you use Overprint Preview as previously mentioned, to check behind yourself. It is very, very easy to accidentally have something overprinting which is not supposed to overprint. By enabling and disabling Overprint Preview you are more likely to see this, it will jump out at you.
It's funny, thinking back to Pagemaker I believe you could make a swatch overprint globally. InDesign does not have that feature. As pointed out the only color with the global overprint preference is Black.

Spot colors and Transparency causing Overprint knock-out

Whenever I create a PDF from InDesign (CS3) I get missing artefacts/items on print production.
It is caused by a transparent PSD file being laid over a spot color.
I print a /ps file and then Distill to Press Quality.
Overprint preview in ACrobat Pro shows what I need by overprint off I lose info - this causes immense problems at all the pre-pre studios I use.
Any pointers to a cure/reason?
(more info if needed upon request)

For one, please do not go through PostScript , rather export to PDF directly. When doing so, you may want to do the transparency flattening either during PDF export (i.e. in Indesign) or later on in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Going through PostScript/distilling adds extra potential for issues.
Next, any print service provider who is not in a position to deal reliably with overprints, does not deserve a contract from a high profile client. Rather, find print service providers who are up to the task. A decent print service provider should produce a result that is visually very very close to what you see in Adobe Acrobat Pro having turned on Overprint Simulation and Output Preview. If the output from a print service provider suffers from missing portions or other artifacts (as those that can be seen when Overprint simulation and Overprint Preview are turned off in Acrobat Pro) then that print service provider is simply failing.
Finally - as pointed out by Jon, the best approach is to keep the transparency in your PDFs alive and find print service providers that can deal with it (because for example they have a workflow based on the Adobe PDF Print Engine).
Olaf Druemmer
PS: ... or would you accept a week old bread rolls from your baker?

Overprint Preview question

I am trying to print a film positive for a spot UV job that is supposed to have some text reversed out of it. Output Preview does not show the text. My RIP does not see it either. I can only see the knocked-out text when I turn off overprint preview in Acrobat preferences. I guess my question is what did the artist do wrong when he made the PDF? Also, is there a preflight profile I should use on all the files I receive, to prevent this confusion from happening again?
I am using Acrobat 9.5.1 on Windows 7
RIP is Roland VersaWorks

Do you know what software the artwork was created in?
If I didn't see reversed text, I would first check that the reverse field object was not set to overprint -- which would eliminate reversed-out type. Some other issues can interfere with reversed type -- using an unavailable font for example, or the text not being set to white, and several more exotic settings and techniques. Some DP software has trouble knocking out type if it's not the frontmost object on the page.
BTW, the title says "Overprint Preview question" but I think you're just asking about "output" preview, though it did make me think of the overprint setting issue.
As to preflight profile, you have to make sure everything is set right for your particular output device/print conditions. You might want to run a profile that checks for missing fonts, low-resolution images, non-CMYK inks -- anything that would give problems in film/plate output or on the press.
Also, when I have text problems, I try printing to other devices -- laser printer, inkjet, whatever -- to see if the problem is device-specific.
Hope that helps a little

Illustrator Overprint Preview shows grids?

Whenever I enable Overprint Preview Illustrator seems to add grids on/over my document.
When I disable it, it dissapears.
I find this strange because to me the opposite sounds more logical.
Will these grids be printed if I choose to print?

Indeed, Victor,
Overprint Preview is an approximation of what you may call an ink preview, to (more or less) show how all the parts of artwork will interact and appear in print; this means that to a certain extent you see through the topmost artwork (parts).
This see through then includes the grid which becomes visible underneath the artwork and not merely round it as in (normal) Preview.
So no problem, maybe a bit of a curiosity.

Illustrator Freezes when applying Overprint

Dear friends:
I have a MacBook Pro (2,4 Ghz, 2 Gb DDR2 SDRAM) since last august and, until yesterday, I hadnt had any major problems. Last weekend I decided to upgrade to Leopard, formatted my computer, installed and updated every program and I was very happy this morning when I started to work on several files in the usual need of overprint to be set.
Unfortunately, much to my surprise, the use of this feature has caused an absolute freeze on Illustrator: I still hear my iTunes on the background but I cannot switch applications and, even if I wait fifteen minutes, Illustrator does not come back. I have upgraded to Illustrator 13.0.2 an hour ago: same problem. The worst part is that I have to restart the bad way my machine every time, because the system ignores my [cmd]+[opt]+[esc]. So I am very angry: just today I have mistreated my machine more than in the nine previous months. I have delete the prefs several times and always freezes when applying the overprint. I do not want to start with the ridiculous guessing (such as the customized shortcuts or the language of the OS, that I have set in Spanish). Does anyone have a clue? Is this a known issue?
Best regards,
Eduardo Guarniz I.
ps. I have also updated the Leopard to Mac OSX 10.5.2.

Dear friends:
I have suffered another crash. I have deleted my preferences again, restarted having only Illustrator running and, again, freeze on overprint. As it happened a couple of seconds before 9:00 pm I could noticed that the time was announced (I have set my Date & Time pref that way) but the clock froze on the menu bar a 20:59. Another restart.
Best regards,
Eduardo Guarniz I.
PS. Is there a chance of damaging my computer because of this? Because it is getting ridiculous and I have work to do?

How can I get Arrowheads to Overprint?

Hello I was wondering if anybody could help me?
I have created a map in illustrator CS4 and I have set all the black lines and text to overprint, but all the arrowheads on the map still knockout, does anyone know how I can change this?
I created the arrows by drawing a stroke then selected Effect / Stylize / Add Arrowhead.
Below is an example of whats happening:
Any help would be much appreciated.

Jacobs way is probably the safest and most direct way.
However you should be able to select the stroke that the arrowheads are associated with and then set that to overprint.
The different seems to be that if you select the stroke on the canvas it does not select the effect as well if you select it in the appearance panel it select the stroke and any effect it contains.
I haven't tried it in this instance but that should work as log as the effect is contained with in the stroke. Even at this I would be more comfortable with the above technique

Overprint: no more

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