Remove spot color from multiple files

[jrfoster]

Is there any way to create an action or droplet to process multiple pdf's to remove a specified spot color channel from the file?  For each job we create we have a pdf that includes my CMYK layers, possible spot color layers and possibly other spot color layers (ie. UV varnish) that I don't want to show up on a "preview" file we make for reference.  I was hoping to be able to batch process these files and remove those specified layers automatically. Currently I am going in and manually deleting these from the pdf, but we have hundreds of these files and it is very time consuming.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jrfoster · Accepted solution]

I was able to finally get a result I was looking for.  I was having difficulty getting a droplet to work correctly.  When I went to create the droplet, it didn't want to show me my custom fixups.  I was finally able to get it to work by using "remove spot color set to overprint".  Since all of the layers I wanted to remove are set to overprint and we don't use this setting any other time, this worked in my instance.  I still wish that creating these droplets was a little more user friendly.  This just seems more difficult that it should be!  Thanks for the help.

[Abambo]

How do you proceed to delete a plate? Preflight?

[jrfoster]

Either with preflight or just editing the pdf.  The layer I want to delete is always on the top in our files, so I can just edit the pdf, click on the top element and delete it.  Doing it manually only takes about 20-30 seconds per file, but when you are talking about close to 1000 files, it is time consuming and tedious.

[maratovich]

Can you give us a file?
Maybe you can do it.
Attach to the forum or send a private message.

[jrfoster]

No, I can't give files, sorry. These are yearbook covers and we are kind of sworn to secrecy.  Some schools like to surprise the kids and I could get fired if I give out files 🙂  I did get it to work for me and my very specific needs by using a different fixup that I was able to make into a droplet, but I really wish it was easier to get these things to work.  I'm pretty computer savvy and this fried my brain 😞  Does anyone know of any good reference books/sites for how to work with these fixups/droplets.  It seems a little more advanced than most of the books go into and I would really like to learn how to work with these better.  I think they could be an awesome tool if utilized properly.

[Abambo]

give a dummy file!

[Abambo]

If I understand correctly, you have a book of about 1000 pages and you send each page out for review to the person responsible for that page.

I create for such uses the review file without the UV layers.

Since you use layers in your PDF, you can also include instruction for hiding those layers.

If you absolutely want to use a programmed solution, you may ask your question in the scripting and/or the API fora.

[jrfoster · Accepted solution]

They are covers.  When we release a cover to production, a pdf is generated that is used elsewhere in the process.  That file is a "preview" of what the finished cover will look like, but also sometimes includes a UV layer or similar application layers.  These layers are set to overprint, but are tagged with specific bright spot colors to differentiate them.  These files and jobs have already been worked and going back to create another file is not a feasible option.  They are also worked by many different artists and I would rather find a solution on this end than to change the process for all of those artists.  I want to save a duplicate set of the pdfs that are already generated and then process them to delete these layers so what we have left is a legitimate preview of the finished cover.  We then take these files and have them available to view in Bridge as a reference so if an artist is working on a cover with similar artwork, we can visually identify what those jobs were and go back and use some of those files to save art time.  We also use them as a reference for our customer service and sales reps once the current year is over to give schools ideas for their covers.  I am looking for a more programmed solution, so I will check out the other forum.  Thank you.

[Abambo]

You're welcome. Reading this, a programming solution makes sense.

[Abambo]

You can't attach a file to the forum.

[Luke Jennings]

You might just need to turn off the visibility of the unwanted layers, if so, you can go to Tools> Print Production> Preflight> Fixups (blue wrench icon) and select Set layer initial visibility for layer English. Duplicate this fixup and re-name it. Edit it to include the names of the unwanted layers and change "Always Visible" to "Never Visible". You can create a new Action to run this preflight.

If you're sure you want to delete the unwanted layers, start with the preflight Remove layer with a specified name.

If your PDFs use spot colors that are not properly on their own separate layers, you can use a preflight to select the spot color and move it to a new layer with the name you specify.

[jrfoster · Accepted solution]

I was able to finally get a result I was looking for.  I was having difficulty getting a droplet to work correctly.  When I went to create the droplet, it didn't want to show me my custom fixups.  I was finally able to get it to work by using "remove spot color set to overprint".  Since all of the layers I wanted to remove are set to overprint and we don't use this setting any other time, this worked in my instance.  I still wish that creating these droplets was a little more user friendly.  This just seems more difficult that it should be!  Thanks for the help.