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Mr. Met
Mr. Met
Inspiring
July 7, 2022
Answered

Vector File contains checked background that is live art

  • July 7, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 1029 views

Have to add a string of lights to a photograph so I purchase a vector file. But when I go to used it the checked background is part of live art (#1). I turn off the background and get a mess (#2). So I insert my photo between the background and the lights and it previews fine (#3) but when I print I get a mess with poor gradation in the lights (#4). How does one use a vector string of lights without the checked background which defeats the purpose of the lights. I thought there might be a lighs brush in the brush library but if it exists, I can't find it. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Anna Lander

    The lights have a Screen mode which works when something is placed under them. So you see the mess when nothing is under the lights and a good look when your photo is in its place. But no all printing modules work correctly with the blending modes, so you have this mess on the last image. If you printed it on the usual desktop printer, it was expectable.
    So the easiest, fastest, and best way to solve the problem is to follow Monika's recommendation.

    Another way is to select all lights, and change their gradient end stoppers to the same color as a start one (or the nearest on the gradient line) and 0% opacity. In this case, you can change the blending mode to Normal. But I'm not sure that you need so deep editing 🙂

    2 replies

    Anna Lander
    Anna LanderCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    July 8, 2022

    The lights have a Screen mode which works when something is placed under them. So you see the mess when nothing is under the lights and a good look when your photo is in its place. But no all printing modules work correctly with the blending modes, so you have this mess on the last image. If you printed it on the usual desktop printer, it was expectable.
    So the easiest, fastest, and best way to solve the problem is to follow Monika's recommendation.

    Another way is to select all lights, and change their gradient end stoppers to the same color as a start one (or the nearest on the gradient line) and 0% opacity. In this case, you can change the blending mode to Normal. But I'm not sure that you need so deep editing 🙂

    Mr. Met
    Mr. MetAuthor
    Inspiring
    July 8, 2022

    Thanks. I'm just surprised that a purchased vector image would need all these runarounds to work. Wasn't expecting that.

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    July 8, 2022

    I agree Mr Met, and purchased that exact same or very similar image in the past. Many of these artworks are uploaded by people who want to upload as many as posisble for profit. A big issue in my opinion is they design for RGB usage only, and the screen mode does not work in CMYK. They should give 2 versions of the files (CMYK & RGB), and they should always put those checkered backgrounds on a layer so you can easily delete. I have been using Illustrator daily since 87 , and have sometimes ed there is much cleanup, select similar appearance and spent time to clean up the file.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 7, 2022

    To improve the printing, can you try and:

    - Save this as an PDF (or "PDF comaptibe"), open in Acrobat and print from there

    - or export as a JPG (preferable high resolution) and print that

     

    This is how these files work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiqm5hdQA5A

    Mr. Met
    Mr. MetAuthor
    Inspiring
    July 8, 2022

    I did save as a PDF. I'll check the links momentarily.

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