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gurs2die4
gurs2die4
Inspiring
June 10, 2021
Question

Green Tint Around PNG Image

  • June 10, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 4303 views

I have an Indesign document that includes a PNG graphic with a transparent background on top of a gray box. When I print the file, the part of the PNG that should be transparent looks fine on-screen (meaning all I can see is the gray box in the background), but when I print it the transparent area has a green tint that is clearly visible.  I am hoping someone can explain to me why this is happening and how to correct it.

 

The PNG is an export from Photoshop, and I have confirmed that the area that I think is transparent is indeed blank space.  I have attached to this post (1) an Indesign test file, (2) the PNG source image file, and (3) a photo of what the printout looks like so you can see the green tint.

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1 reply

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 11, 2021

Composite print drivers don’t always handle transparency flattening and CMYK color conversions correctly. Try exporting a flattened PDF to document RGB, Something like this:

 

 

If you still have the problem printing from Acobat try checking Print As Image from the Print>Advanced tab.

    gurs2die4
    gurs2die4Author
    Inspiring
    June 11, 2021

    Thanks for the suggestions @rob day.  I tried them both .  The second method (Print>Advanced>Print as BMP>600dpi) worked great - the green box was not visible.  When I tried the first method (PDF conversion) and then printed the resulting PDF, the green box was still there.  But if I used the Acrobat print dialog to select Advanced>Print As Image>600dpi, the box was gone.  So it seems that the issue has something to do with how HP interprets the print data sent by Adobe, a problem that is resolved if Adobe sends the entire page as a single image. 

     

    The workaround to print-as-image is fine for me, but the challenge is that I will be sending PDF versions of this InDesign file to other people, many of whom will be printing on HP printers.  I don't want their printout to have the green box, but I can't really include printing instructions with my file.  Any thoughts on how I can create a PDF that will print clean without selecting print-as-image in Acrobat?

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 14, 2021

    You might be able to force the page to rasters on a flattened Export (Acrobat 4) by creating a Flattener Preset like this, and using it in the Export Advanced tab:

     

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