PDF workflow : pre-press preparations in Illustrator interfere  :  Suggestions?

Our packaging graphics group adopted a PDF workflow which has eliminated the clutter common of art file submissions. However, one print provider must preform additional preparations to the artwork, inserting supplier insignia and adding special press markings in addition to the customary trim marks and such. These final pre-press preparations are performed in Illustrator. Consequently, Illustrator ignores our PDF's embedded fonts. Unless the supplier has the same fonts installed, the PDF won't output accurately when it's saved/distilled again.
Any suggestions on how to retain a PDF workflow when pre-press preparations involve adding content?

You might look at inserting these objects as a watermark in PDF format?
Your choice is slightly limited with Acrobat but Enfocus Pitstop might
help? You can create a page mark action which will detect the trim box
and then append custom information outside for the pre-press
requirements ...
Jon

Similar Messages

  • Export PDF Workflow with Applescript and CS3

    Hello,
    I am setting up some PDF workflow with Applescript.
    On a given moment, as my script runs and after getting some user-input answers to questions in some dialogs, my script tells InDesign CS3 to open the Export Adobe PDF window for the current document. I copied and pasted that small part of the script:
    tell application "Adobe InDesign CS3"
    tell document 1
    export format PDF type to "Macintosh_HD:Test01.pdf" using "somePreset" with showing options
    end tell
    end tell
    When you run this small part of my Applescript, InDesign opens the Export Adobe PDF window (as expected) waiting for me to click on "Export". That is exactly what I want, since the user is given here a last opportunity to change some values (for example page range, or spreads). When all is set, the user can click on Export to close the dialog and finish the script.
    Problem: I was hoping that the Adobe PDF Preset "somePreset" would be selected in the first pull-down menu of the Export Adobe PDF window when this window is opened by the script. Unfortunately the last used preset is always selected by default. Anyone suggestions or help?
    Kind regards,
    Bertus Bolknak.

    My operators enter the page range and filename into a dialog box. Then I set those in the script. I use the Press Quality preset to start with and then set the changes I want into a export variable. I set things like bleed, marks, page range, etc.
    Here is an example:
    set theProps to properties of PDF export preset "[Press Quality]"
    try
    delete PDF export preset "Schmidt PDF"
    end try
    set theStyle to {name:"Schmidt PDF", acrobat compatibility:acrobat 7, bleed top:"0.125i", bleed bottom:"0.125i", bleed inside:"0.125i", bleed outside:"0.125i", page marks offset:"0.125i", include ICC profiles:Include None, effective PDF destination profile:use no profile, effective PDF X profile:"No Color Conversion"} & theProps
    make PDF export preset with properties theStyle
    set properties of PDF export preferences to theStyle
    set color bitmap sampling of PDF export preferences to none
    set grayscale bitmap sampling of PDF export preferences to none
    set page range of PDF export preferences to (item i of myPageList) as string
    export document 1 format PDF type to (PrinergyFolder & myJobNumFinal & "_" & VerCode & ".pdf") as Unicode text without showing options
    I am also doing this in Quark.

  • Snow Leopard's Default Gamma & Color Correcting for Pre Press in Photoshop CS4

    After searching the forums I thought I would start my own thread on this subject.
    I have Photoshop CS4 and InDesign CS4 and I have continued to color correct, for pre press, in OS 10.4.11 Tiger with the 1.8 Default Gamma and 6500 color tempurature, using Apple's display calibration tools in the OS's System Preferances.
    I want to switch to Snow Leaopard but with it's Defualt Gamma of 2.2, I'm not able to make my minitor manually adjust to the needed range for brightness and contrast that is needed to begin the calibration process.  Is there a way to color correct photos, for pre pre press, in Photoshop with a 2.2 Gamma setting in my display preferances?

    I have had success just with Apple's System Preferences for color calibration.  I do design and pre press for a number of customers of the various printers I work with.  Most of the photos I work with are from digital cameras and are provided by the customer.  The only point in the whole process, where the photos get adjusted to have eye pleasing color, when coming off the printing press, is when I work with them.
    The printers I work with continue to send their customers to me, for design and pre press, because they like my color work on the photos.  I send the pre press files as Press Optimized PDFs to the printer's FTP server and the printer does all the direct to plate separations in-house.  I want to continue to be reliable in that area and so the brighter default Gamma built into Snow Leopard seems to complicate things if I ever want to move up from Tiger to Snow Leopard.
    I have two 17" Apple CRT displays that cannot adjust into calibration range when I'm booted in Snow Leopard. These CRT displays can only manually adjust in range for calibration under Tiger or Leopard. It sounds like if I purchase an IPS based LCD monitor, made by Apple, Dell, or other brands, I will probably be able to manually adjust the display for Gamma 1.8, under Snow Leopard.
    I was posing this question about using Gamma 2.2 because if I could color correct for pre press with the 2.2 setting, I could continue to use my old Apple 17" CRT displays and also any web content I create will preview closer in color, on PCs as they will on my Mac.  Maybe my review PDFs will view with similar color on my customers PCs if I work with a 2.2 Gamma setting and instead of 1.8.  For now I know I will keep my printers happy if I continue to work with a monitor that has a 1.8 Gamma setting and a 6500 color temperature setting.  If that must continue to be the standard for pre press, then I will need to get an IPS based LCD monitor that will allow me to adjust in the 1.8 Gamma range while booted in Snow Leopard.

  • Pre Press trapping question

    I've been here with this issue before, but now I need a refinement on method.
    In this instance I have a PMS spot color solid block with type over that using a second solid PMS spot color. I need to create a trap and 'overprint black is not working in this case, the two colors butt up against each other with no overlap in the platemaker roam. Short of making the trap manually, and with no allowance to buy a third party app at this point, is there a way to create the trap in Illustrator?
    TIA,
    Ken

    Hi Ken,
    Here's my attempt at explaining the technique we used in our pre-press house; you get more control and maintain the integrity of the type characters better than the stroking options (plus Illustrator's stroking behavior has not remained consistent with version changes). Illustrator's Trap feature in the Pathfinder menu can be useful, but only works for some situations.
    To choke a lighter background under darker type, set the type to overprint, then use a layer of white underneath the overprinting object, inset by the trap amount, to knock out the area that will not be trapped. Here it is step by step:
    - set the type Attribute to overprint fill
    - make a copy of the type and paste it directly behind* your original type
    - hide your original type for this step: convert the copy to outlines, offset path by your trap amount (needs to be a negative number so that the path in inset), delete the type copy and keep just the offset version, fill it with white, and turn off overprint
    - make your original type visible again, and turn on overprint preview. You should see a darker outline around the characters
    To spread light type into a dark background, leave the type as its spot color without overprinting anything, then use a copy of the type that is offset by the trap amount directly beneath it and set to overprint. Here it is step by step:
    - make a copy of the type and paste it directly behind your original type
    - hide your original type for this step: convert the copy to outlines, offset path by your trap amount (needs to be a positive number so that the path in outset), leave it the same color as your original type, and turn on overprint
    - make your original type visible again. You should see a darker outline around the characters
    *Tip: one of my favorite Illustrator features is the ability to paste in front or paste behind using Command-F and Command-B. So, using an object tool, Command-C to copy the type, do not deselect, Command-B to paste the copy immediately behind what is selected...

  • New install for Pre-press department

    Hi all,
    I am new to OSX server and have never really worked with it before. I need to set up the server on a PowerMac G5 1.8Ghz for a pre-press department. We have a Windows Server 2003 that does our file ripping. We tried to use the PowerMac running OSX handle the files that we used, but there seemed to be some problems with the files back and fort. I am just wondering if there is anything I should look into before I install the server software? All help would be appreciated.
    Thanks
    Jason

    Well J, I sure you know what is involved with a workflow. This is my main job as a Pre-press computer consultant. In order for anyone to give you suggestions or help in this matter you need to supply MUCH more detail as to what is going where and coming from where, so on, so fourth, etc... You've told me the Windows unit was acting as a RIP. What are you RIPing and where does it go? What is the software being used to RIP? What do you EXACTLY want to do on the OS X Server, what will be it's job? Where do the files come from and from how many users? Describe the current workflow in as much detail as you can and what the goal of your change is. Also describe all current problem in detail. What applications are being used, Indesign, Quark, Photoshop or some other application? Are the workstations Mac or PC? If PC then 98-2ndED, 2000pro, XP home or Pro and the Mac OS's would be nice also.

  • Help: Sending a Pages File to Pre-Press?

    Hi Everyone,
    Can I send a Pages file to pre-press? Within the Print menu, I saved the file as a PDF. Can this help?
    Thank you so much

    A print shop is extremely unlikely to be able to
    handle Pages' native file format. However, I have
    had very good results from sending printers the PDF
    that it produces.
    Thanks Tulse.
    For colourful (CMYK) documents, the PDF that Pages produces is okey; but for two colour documents or 4+1 color documents I am not sure. I think I may need to use Adobe Acrobat as posted before. Thanks - Baydal

  • Flyleaf and end paper aren't shown up in pdf workflow

    Hi
    I want to order a book, but I'm hesitating. The book jacket appears on the pdf workflow but flyleaf and end paper don't. Instead of this page two reproduces a white ground with the book title on it.
    Should this be so ?
    Aperture theme is modern style and big hardcover.
    Any help appreciated
    Thanks
    Martin

    when i start my computer, firefox update automatically to 3.6.8 then i can't open firefox anymore. when i click firefox icon, nothing happen.
    please help! Fyi: i'v installed add on download helper and easy youtube download. I'm using Mac OSX 10.6.4.
    Please help!
    reply to my email: [email protected]
    Thanks
    Engel

  • PDF white lines when placing in Illustrator

    I have some PDF graphics created using MapInfo software.
    When I attempt to place the PDF map as a layer in Illustrator, the map appears with numerous white lines as though each polygon area of the original map has been broken up into individual squares.
    Is there some setting in Distiller to overcome this problem?
    Should I be creating an EPS map file and then using that as a layer in Illustrator?

    How was the PDF created? Printed, Exported? Some other method?
    If nothing else helps, you could do the following: it looks like the problems are only in drop shadows and text. You could delete both from the Power Point file, export, save or print the PDF. Then import into Illustrator and recreate shadows and text there.
    I don't think you could transfer the complete graohic from PP to Illy as vector anyway. So rather get away with as much as you can and then complete it.

  • How to check a pdf uploaded for press in a website automatically ??

    how to check a pdf uploaded for press in a website automatically ??
    i am making a new website for a printer.. his client upload pdf online directly in his website, we want that in the case that the pdf is not
    as the printer need it for printing , the site automaticly after checking the pdf profile uploaded open a window and write what is wrong with this pdf
    and if possible fix what he can fix automaticly as pitstop software is doing offline.
    PLEASE YOUR HELP
    thank you in advance

    Acrobat isn't available with a server license. You might like to look into PitStop Server.

  • Bugs in PDF workflow/ Quartz Filters?

    I've  noticed several issues with PDF workflows in Lion that seem to have gone wrong. Whether deliberately or not, I don't know.
    1. If you Export a PDF from Preview with a Quartz Filter, that filter is not applied to the copy of the PDF in Preview's window, though the file on disk does get the filter applied. If you close and reload the PDF, the effects of filter will be displayed.
    2. If you create a new Quartz Filter in ColorSync Utility, it doesn't work.
    Even duplicating an existing system filter, like "Gray Tone", doesn't work when you apply it to a PDF document in ColorSync Utility.
    3. If you do have any user quartz filters, they don't show up in Preview's Export file dialog, unless you copy them from ~/Library/Filters to ~/Library/PDF Services.
    There are several webpages about this.
    4. Save As PDF-X has disappeared from the PDF button of the print menu.
    I have seen other webpages that mention this.
    All these issues are on both of my Macs, so I don't think it's a local problem, though I would be grateful for any confirmation.

    Thanks Benwiggy for that tip.
    I am still running Snow Leopard due to things dropped in Lion.
    I needed fax capability before I could move to Lion.
    I was also waiting for the bugs to get worked out because I will lose some time when changing over.
    I still have the menu item with Snow Leopard but the work flow for PDF-X is now broken as well.
    I have not always had Acrobat pro. 
    I am famialure with inserting, extracting, and typing information on PDF documents as one would need to do in an office.
    I had always used preview and the PDF-X "save as" feature to embed fonts. 
    I see there is a save as format to  "PDF/X" in Acrobat Pro v9.0.
    There is a settings button next to the save as box.
    It has four different settings or flavors of PDF/x:
    PDF/X-1a
    PDF/X-3
    PDF/X-4
    PDF/X-4p. 
    Then there is a conversion box that allows input of a "conversion profile".
    There there is a viewing or printing condition box as well. 
    As you can see I don't work with colors much.  It is all about preserving the text and images in a document as everything is usually black and white or grey scale.
    What setting for PDF/X would you suggest if "font" embedding was an issue and it was desirable to preserve the text and images as they were, without regard to color correcton.
    Thanks in advance for your reply.

  • 16.0.4 update now saves "smallest file size" pdf's the same size as "illustrator default"

    16.0.4 update now saves "smallest file size" pdf's the same size as "illustrator default" ...anyone else?
    I have to save the file, open it in acrobat, then resave using "reduced file size"
    this is since I updated to 16.0.4 yesterday I think....there was some update
    what happened?

    I used default setting each time...now that its updated, I cannot compare it to before the date
    can anyone check these settings?

  • Batch script to print PDF files to press quality

    Hello, I'm looking for a way to print PDF files to the Adobe PDF driver with "Press Quality" setting.   Ideally I could also save any file attachments first and then reattach them after printing to new files.
    I've been experimenting with the batch sequence feature but I am not getting very far.   Are there any sample scripts that do something similar to this?   I appreciate any guidance you can offer.
    Thanks
    LLL

    No, I do not have access to the original files that went into making the source PDFs.
    I've looked at PDF Optimizer but it does not shrink the file size nearly as much as printing the file through the Adobe PDF print driver with "Press Quality" setting.   I suspect this has to do with font consolidation.   PDF Optimizer seems to let you unembed fonts from the file but that's not what I'm looking for.  I need to have all fonts embedded.
    I appreciate the feedback.  Anyone else have ideas here on the original issue?  Thanks.

  • Große Umfrage zum Status Quo PDF-Workflow

    pdfzone.de führt eine große Umfrage zum Thema PDF-Workflow durch. Neben der Bestandsaufnahme werden die Teilnehmer nach ihrem aktuellen Kenntnisstand befragt. In Zusammenarbeit mit Adobe, Agfa, Enfocus und Impressed möchte pdfzone.de herausfinden, ob und wo es noch Lücken im PDF-Workflow zu schließen gilt.
    Der Fragebogen kann online im WorldWideWeb ausgefüllt und versendet oder herunter geladen werden. Als Dankeschön werden die schnellstens Einsender zu einem Experten-Abend »PDF-Workflow« der pdfzone.de während der DRUPA 2000 in Düsseldorf eingeladen.
    http://www.pdfzone.de/aktuell/index.php3?nid=174

  • Automator/PDF Workflow to create 11x17 pages?

    Is there any existing Automator action or PDF workflow to print a standard Pages or Word doc, or 8.5x11 PDF, to an 11x17 workflow? I have a newsletter I've created using Word 2008 that is in the standard letter-size format. I can print it to PDF using the built-in PDF workflow, but what I would like to do is print it as a booklet using 11x17 paper folded in half. Basically, page 4 and 1 on one side, and 2 and 3 on the other. Right now the only option I know of is to save each page as an image and then use Pixelmator to save the images side-by-side in two 11x17 canvasses, and then use Preview to merge them into one PDF file to send to a printing company, but am sure there has to be an easier way. I would pay $20-50 just to get an Automator action or PDF workflow to do this step for me. Does such exist?

    Wow! Thanks so much. I even have that workflow and never thought about it's usefulness for doing that with 8.5x11 pages. I use it all the time for 5.5x8.5 pages but for some reason never thought about this use for it. Awesome!

  • I can't scroll down to read my ebook. I have to change pdf view after pressing pg dn to view the next page. Please help!

    I can't scroll down to read my ebook. I have to change pdf view after pressing pg dn to view the next page. Please help!

    Sorted out the problem myself - secret is you have to go to Full Screen view to be able to scroll down. Easy as that - but not so apparent if you are new to this.

Maybe you are looking for