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A
Anonymous
July 19, 2010
Question

Creating PDF/X-1a:2001 with Acrobat Pro 9

  • July 19, 2010
  • 3 replies
  • 30760 views

My printer demands that files be submitted in PDF/X

-1a:2001 and suggests that postscript files be created first than run through Distiller. My document was not created with InDesign or another Adobe product but I can output a .ps file. Should that be PostScript level 1, 2 or 3 or does it matter? Is Distiller Part of Acrobat Pro 9? Will Acrobat embed fonts and convert images to CMYK? And of course, can PDF/X-1a:2001 be selected as the output format?

Thanks,

Tom

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    T
    Test Screen Name
    Legend
    March 14, 2021

    By the way, PDF/X does not require any resolution at all. PDF/X software does not care about resolution.

    If your printer needs a higher resolution, you must provide better images, not try and trick the printer into printing bad work. Yes, it can take vast amounts of time to do a job right, but it is your job to do it right, not the software.

      T
      Test Screen Name
      Legend
      March 14, 2021

      It can already do that all, except of course it is absolutely wrong to "fix" low resolution by increasing resolution. This would be a very bad idea. 

      Anna Nmty
      Anna Nmty
      Inspiring
      July 20, 2010

      PDF/X-1a:2001 is a preset in Adobe Acrobat. You should be able to choose the setting from your program's print menu.

      If your document was in Word, for example: File > Print > Adobe PDF > Properties > Default Settings > PDF/X-1a:2001

      The preset includes all the necessary settings to meet the standard. This includes font embedding and conversion to CYMK.

      Distiller is part of Acrobat Pro. You can set your default to PDF/X-1a:2001 for output, but depending upon what program you use to create your content, you will still need to verify PDF/X-1a:2001 is the setting currently in use.

      A
      Anonymous
      July 20, 2010

      I'm using Scribus to create the file, a book cover. If I understand you correctly, after installing Acrobat it will appear in the list of printers and I am to print to it rather than save or export to a postscript file first. The printshop recommends that a postscript file be created then converted by Distiller to PDF by which means I don't understand. Your suggestion sounds simpler, assuming I can select the PDF/X-1a:2001 preset from the print command.

      Anna Nmty
      Anna Nmty
      Inspiring
      July 20, 2010

      I typically use Acrobat Pro 9 on a Windows XP system and Acrobat installs into my printers folder "AdobePDF" that functions just like a printer hooked to my computer or the network only its output is a pdf instead of paper. A screenshot of the options is below. There are other ways of creating pdf files, but this is the simplest if you are using Acrobat Pro already.

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