PDFx1a:2001 no longer creating print files correctly from Illustrator / InDesign (but Photoshop ok)

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 13, 2022
3 replies
1160 views

Hi

We're a print agency specialising in physical media (CD albums, vinyl albums).

For years we've instructed clients to turn off the template layer then Save As PDFx1a:2001

We deal with hundreds of amateur designers who routinely forget to outline text, embed images, convert CMYK to RGB - so PDFx1a has always been a godsend...until now

It appears that while Photoshop still outputs correctly, PDFX1a output from Illustrator and InDesign now fails to embed (some) images. PDFx1a was always fine from AI and INDD in the past. Something seems to have changed.

I've read somewhere that using PDFX1a:2003 preset may avoid these issues and outline / embed / convert / output correctly - but I'm not sure about that.

Is there something as easy and foolproof as PDFx1a still available for us? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated : )

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T

Test Screen Name

Legend

We know Acrobat, but this does not appear to be an issue with Acrobat. You need to talk to people with experience with Illustrator - or with InDesign. They won't drop in here to see if there is something they know. Dropping images in PDF creation sounds a serious issue.

By the way, converting to PDF/X-1a does not, and never has, guaranteed that fonts are outlined - which is widely considered a terrible idea anyway -- but I digress. It does guarantee that any fonts not outlined are embedded.

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

Agree with PDF/Xn never has checked for outlined fonts. It is maintained by the ISO as ISO standard 15930 https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:15930:-7:ed-2:v1:en

Instead, all PDF/X versions require that both fonts and graphics be embedded into the PDF.

PDF/X-1 is a 23-year-old standard, from 1999, and doesn't meet today's print/press requirements — color fidelity, transparency are just 2 items that it doesn't address . Have a difficult time understanding why it would be required instead of, for example, PDF/X-4 (2010, only 12 years old) or even -3.

A good review of the different PDF/X-n standards is at the US Library of Congress (which is required to accept materials in many different formats, hence their knowledge of PDFs): https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000124.shtml

Dropping the images is a severe problem, but I don't think it's the version of PDF/X that's the reason as all versions require that they are embedded. Have you checked the source Illustrator or InDesign file and ensured that the links to all graphics are live and accurate (none are missing) at the time the PDF is made?

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