Participant

Question

Vector pattern swatch is tying up RIP

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
June 28, 2023
4 replies
425 views

I have new client asking for help, They have a vector swatch that a designer created for them which their printer is complaining is freaking out their RIP. When I look at the swatch, it has over 82,000 points in a 430x 430 pixel square. Obviously, that's nuts and the problem. I have limited experience with pattern swatches like this. Is there another way I can apply the swatch or create the swatch that will keep the integrity of the design without tying up the RIP? Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

S

SueBee105Author

Participant

Sorry. I should have attached the file. Oddly, this won't let me upload an ai file for some reason. So here's a pdf. This is the improved file. The previous version of the pattern had over 118,000 points in that same swatch size.

Pattern_swatch_issues.pdf

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Wow. Are the tiniest elements even visible in print?

What could be done is convert one of these elements into a Bitmap (1- bit) at maybe 1200 ppi (you have to figure out the resolution with the printer). Then apply the color to that in Illustrator.

S

SueBee105Author

Participant

You see my issue. These are nuts.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

If you want to rasterize the pattern you can do this:

Always work on a copy of the file.

Drag the pattern out of the Swatches panel to an empty space.

In the Layers panel you will see a group with at the bottom an empty rectangle.

Cut the rectangle.

Select the remaining pattern group and choose Object > Rasterize and use a sufficient resolution and Art Optimized.

Choose Paste in Back to paste the rectangle back behind the rasterized pattern.

Drag both back to the Swatches panel.

Select the new swatch in the Swatches panel and Shift click the old swatch.

Choose Merge Swatches from the Swatches panel menu to overwrite the old one.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

82,000 anchor points is a bit much, especially for something that's in a repeating pattern. Some printers and RIPs will disregard vector objects with more than 5000 points. It makes me wonder how many anchor points are in each individual vector object and how the artwork was created. How large is this pattern going to be printed?

S

SueBee105Author

Participant

It's about 19x12". This is only one of the patterns that this company has which is an issue. The files have been printed before but I've heard from their printer that they have had problems with several of the patterns. I don't know how the designer created things so I'm left trying to solve this from a production artist end.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Just looking at the PDF you uploaded, yeah, the objects have pretty ridiculously tiny levels of "grunge" detail in the dry brush style objects. Those are details that won't be easily seen at the print size you mentioned. The vector objects should have been created with more simplified visible details or just created as high resolution, pixel-based objects instead.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Without seeing the thing nobody will be able to tell you anything.

Rasterizing it could be an option.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded