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Question

Illustrator images showing gray fill in InDesign

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
February 1, 2024
4 replies
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I am creating simple line diagrams in Illustrator and importing them into InDesign. The fill in Illustrator is set to either none or white -- I've tried both. Both Illustrator and InDesign are set to CMYK.

When I import the ai file into InDesign, the fill is shown as gray.

This is not a screen-only artifact. It is reproduced in a print.

I can work around the problem by exporting to tiff but I would prefer not to do that since this book is going to be professionally published and I don't want to risk pixelising the image.

I don't see anyone else having this problem and it seems it should be common. So I imagine I am doing something wrong but I have no idea what.

Import and export

This topic has been closed for replies.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Is any of that white set to overprint?

Barb Binder

Community Expert

To clarify, this is the expected workflow:

Create the line art in Illustrator.
Save it as a .ai file.
Place it in InDesign—use File > Place, Ctrl/Cmd+D or the Import File button—it doesn't matter. It's the same command.
The file appears as expected in InDesign.

That yours doesn't makes me think something is going on within the Illustrator file, or how it was saved. If you would like to share it, we can take a look. So far, everyone contributing to this thread uses both applications, so any of us can help you.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

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Richard33421119qmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

I've said in another reply that setting the transparancy to anything other than "normal" seems to fix both images. However I don't understand why that should be a problem. So in the interests of getting a definitive answer, here are both of my images.

Okay, first problem:

"The attachment's neural-local-minimum.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed.
The attachment's perceptron-detail.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed."

So here are Dropbox links (I wonder if those are allowed)

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e6zoaxvrhkkelhnd719wg/neural-local-minimum.ai?rlkey=5mebt53uf0k0u0enr3rrxkvzw&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bcheo1att4jwu0nusywzv/Perceptron-detail.ai?rlkey=2gbbpzhm8e8yisprmzezzqhul&dl=0

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Richard33421119qmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

So one of those is not an AI files. (rolls eyes)

Steve Werner

Community Expert

Can you show example(s) of the way the line drawings look in Illustrator - with fills of none or white. I'm having trouble visualizing them without an illustration. Then show the same example(s) when placed in Illustrator. You're using File > Place in InDesign?

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Richard33421119qmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

Here it is in Illustrator.

However it seems we might have a solution. I have been creating a rectangular frame and importing the illustration. If I use File->Place... then it doesn't have the artefacts.

Is there somewhere I can learn what the difference is between the two, because it doesn't seem obvious. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Barb Binder

Community Expert

I'm trying to figure out what you mean by "the difference between the two".

Do you mean File > Place and letting InDesign create a frame for you, vs File > Place into an existing frame?
Or File > Place vs Copy/Paste?

File > Place is always the recommended workflow.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

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Vivek12

Community Manager

@Richard33421119qman Thank you for reaching out to us. Please try the suggestions shared in this community thread. Kindly share the outcome.

Regards,

Vivek

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Richard33421119qmanAuthor

Participating Frequently

This is not a display-artefact since it appears ona direct print-out. I'm not exporting to PDF or anything else. This is a direct import of an AI file into a rectangular frame. The artefact does not align to a mask frame since it's a triangular area not a stroke.

The only question that does match is whether the shape is closed. No it isn't. Neither of them are. Is there another way to draw something like this other than by using the Pen and Curvature tools?

Having said that, Illustrator agrees that the filled area is where the gray area is in InDesign. If I change the color of the fill, then I can see it in Illustrator. But I'm setting to to white or to None, and Illustrator shows it correctly as white. InDesign does not.

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