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Fredrik23505265o6v4
Participant
October 23, 2023
Answered

Problem printing pdf, stuck at flattening

  • October 23, 2023
  • 7 replies
  • 11274 views

Hi,

I have a pdf that won't print from Adobe Acrobat Reader. The problem seems to be transparancy/flattening issues with Illustrator links in the inDesignfile from which the pdf is exported from. 

The inDesign file in question has multiple links - photos, .ai and .ps files. The .ai-files seems to be the issue. 

We have for the project created an illustrative over an area and use the same .ai-file multiple times - all zoomed in to various degree to show different details in the plan. The plan, as it is supposed to be illustrative, has multiple shadows and different fills which are transparent to various degree. 

So I have multiple of this specific link in my inDesign file. When I then later try to export this - whether it is high or basic quality it takes up to 30 min, furthermore when I try to print it from Acrobat Reader it gets stuck on flattening for a long while on EVERY instance of the plan and then in the end fails to print it. 

 

I have tried googling various solutions but cannot seem to find a solution. For this particular project I had to instead do printscreens (quicker than exporting individual files with the right detail showing) and replacing the .ai links with these. This solved the whole issue with both export and print. I guess I created "dead" images pre-flattened. 

 

My question is - is there anyway to link an .ai file without having this issue in the future?

 

Regards 

Fredrik

    Correct answer JR Boulay

    From Illustrator, export the PDF file (not .ai) as: Compatibility / Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3), so transparencies will be flattened.

    This will prevent InDesign or Acrobat from using too many calculation loops.

     

    7 replies

    JR Boulay
    Community Expert
    JR BoulayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 1, 2023

    Files created with Illustrator are vector-based, so you can zoom in to infinity without losing any detail.

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
    JR Boulay
    Community Expert
    JR BoulayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 31, 2023

    Why create separate files to zoom in on details?
    Export a single PDF, and zoom in on details by enlarging in InDesign's image frames.

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
    F
    Fredrik23505265o6v4Author
    Participant
    October 31, 2023

    The scale of the plans range from 1:2000 to 1:100. PPI needs to be super high for it to look good in the zoomed in parts which makes the file huge? Might be wrong. I'm a newbie when it comes to these kinda problem.

    JR Boulay
    Community Expert
    JR BoulayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 24, 2023

    From Illustrator, export the PDF file (not .ai) as: Compatibility / Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3), so transparencies will be flattened.

    This will prevent InDesign or Acrobat from using too many calculation loops.

     

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
      F
      Fredrik23505265o6v4Author
      Participant
      October 31, 2023

      This is probably the correct way to do it if I actually had the right workflow. The problem in this case was that it would take a lot of time for me to do individual pdf export of the different zoomed in details in the big illustrator file. I guess the problem all along is my workflow. 

        M
        Community Expert
        mk-willCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 24, 2023

        Hi, Fredrik ( @Fredrik23505265o6v4 ),

        "I have a pdf that won't print from Adobe Acrobat Reader."

        what does or doesn't happen?

        Any error messages?

        What printer is used (brand/model)?

        What language uses the printer (PS/PDF, PCL etc.)?

        What size has the PDF (no. of pages, file size)?

         

        Is it possible to print the file from InDesign?

         

        Regards

        Stephan

        rob day
        Community Expert
        rob dayCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 24, 2023

        Hi @Fredrik23505265o6v4 , Does it happen if you flatten on Export, e.g PDF/X-1a?

        BobLevine
        Community Expert
        BobLevineCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 23, 2023

        You are not really linking the AI file, you're linking to the PDF portion of it. We're going to need more info, but this doesn't sound like an InDesign issue at all. It sounds like a system problem. How much RAM do you have?

        F
        Fredrik23505265o6v4Author
        Participant
        October 24, 2023

        An answer to both of you - The project itself is classified so I cannot post the files.

        Here are some info about my device:

        Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10850H CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.71 GHz, 32,0 GB RAM (it says 31,8 is usable), 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor, Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2

         

        The printing issue has been experienced both on my, my colleague and my client's computer. 

         

        Steve Werner
        Community Expert
        Steve WernerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 23, 2023

        Can you provide more information about the file and your system: Please provide an image of the file. What is the file size. Provide information about your system: Please tell us what operating system (exactly) you're running. How much RAM on the computer.? (if it's not proprietary, you could put the PDF on a cloud server and provide a link so others could try it).

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