Warning: 'Destination Profile is not recommended for Magazine Ads'

[frank_9999]

Preflighted a PDF, using copy of a standard Prepress profile, we ask clients to submit PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant PDF's (they use our .joboptions file).

Received this warning when preflighting:

Destination Profile is not recommended for Magazine Ads

Trigger Values:

"MD5 checksum of ICC profile (computed according to iso 15076): 79DK8..." etc etc.... (long checksum string of characters

We run 'analyze and fix' and presume it converted the values to an appropriate ICC profile ... just curious to know what is going on here, 1st time we have received this warning using our workflow.

[Test Screen Name]

Well... what is the ICC profile it is complaining about?

[frank_9999]

Thanks
Profile: U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) V2
Please see attached preflight results:

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

Exactly what Prepress Profile were you using for Preflight?

Based upon what you provided in terms of the results, it would look like you were using one of the profiles in the Prepress section of Preflight. These profiles are actually for use in preflighting against the Ghent Workgroup standards and have very particular rules in terms of compliance. They will indeed provide warnings when using profiles not recommended by the Ghent Workgroup Standards.

If in fact you are using one of the Ghent Workgroup profiles and don't want these warnings, use a more appropriate profile that is not in the PrePress section or create your own profile, possibly a modification of existing ones.

          - Dov

PS:     Use of PDF/X-1a is really not recommended these days in terms of problems due to flattening of transparency, device dependencies (color and resolution), and possible loss of ability to search and fixup text. PDF/X-4 is more appropriate for 21st century PDF print publishing workflows.

[frank_9999]

Thank you for your reply Dov.
Yes we need to evaluate the advantages of PDF/X-4, and update our workflow accordingly.

In answer to your question, as you say our .joboptions is an amended version of one of the defaults within Acrobat: Prepress

We use the FOGRA39 profile, and our .joboptions is set as 'Convert to Destination' which is FOGRA39, can we assume that this passes the standard, but the 'US Web Coated (SWOP) V2', does not.
It is the first time in many years that we see this warning.

I am confused though why we should get this warning - if the client has not fiddled with our .joboptions settings, despite having the 'US Web Coated (SWOP) V2 as their working profile, when they PDF their file - would not our joboptions convert all colours to the FOGRA39 colour space.

Thanks

[Dov Isaacs]

Those Ghent Workgroup “prepress” profiles have a bunch of very specialized custom checks and fixups that are probably well beyond what you may need. If you open one of these profiles in Preflight for edit (or better, make a copy and open that), you will see all these custom checks, including one checking against a list of specific profiles recommended for this particular type of work. (I don't have the list!) You could conceivably make a version of this profile in which any one or more of these specialized checks and/or fixups are omitted.

Quite frankly, a better alternative might be to start with the PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 validation profile and build a custom profile from there depending upon your actual requirements.

          - Dov

[frank_9999]

Thanks Dov - I took a look, it lists 18 Profile's by MD5 Checksum, although I can't see the actual profile name anywhere, shame be good to know the profiles by name that do pass, looking at the preflight report above, common sense tells you a 'SWOP' profile (the US Web Coated (SWOP) V2) should pass for 'Magazine Ads' - or maybe I am being too simplistic, so still none the wiser as to why it should throw this warning and unsure why when the PDF was made it did not convert it to the FOGRA in our .joboptions file, unless the client has done some 'fiddling'.

Disabling this MD5 Checksum test will not adversely affect our output ? this seems the simplest for now.

After looking through all the 'self build' options - my OCD side says I could spend a great deal of time building a Preflight Profile from scratch

I see the difference between PDF/X-4 (and PDF/X-1a, live text (for text editing), live transparency (smaller file size and no white lines), layers (mostly all apps), JPEG 2000 (non lossy). Our RIP should handle PDF/X-4's OK, so no reason to not implement it, are there any differences between 2008 and 2010 version that might trip our RIP up ?

Test Screen Name, it was the 'Magazine Ads' profile we based ours on, changing a few things for our Large Format workflow. Sorry I misused the word 'default' - I should have written 'pre-supplied'.

[Dov Isaacs]

The 2008 version of PDF/X-4 was completely replaced with the 2010 version that had a few corrections.

Any modern RIP and/or PDF workflow system should handle PDF/X-4 at least as well if not better than any PDF/X-1a file of the same content.

          - Dov

[frank_9999]

Thank you Dov.

It would be good to take apart a few of the 'pre-supplied' Prepress profiles to understand more and help us build our own profile, any pointers to reading references to help us to do this.

Am I right in thinking that by sending clients a .joboptions file (based on one of the presupplied PDF/X standards for them to PDF with, then creates a PDF to what ever standard we wish to work to (ie PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4, for example).

On a side related matter, does not PDF/X-1a not convert all colours to CMYK ?. Today we receive a PDF/X-1a from a client - they have created a .ai file, placed a PDF containing spot colors into it, then created the PDF and submitted to us.
Inside Acrobat we can see the spot colors, after running 'analyse and fix' using our 'Pre-Press' preset the spot colors are not converted, despite it having the 'Convert alternative color space for spot colors to CMYK (FOGRA 39)' set
However running the 'PDF fixups' 'Convert to CMYK only (Coated FOGRA 39)' on its own, does the job, and all spot colors now get converted.

Regards

[Dov Isaacs]

To your first question, yes. If you send your clients a .joboptions file based on PDF/X-4, let's say, then when they create PDF from InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop using that .joboptions file, the resultant PDF file will comply with that PDF/X standard. (Note that PDF/X-4 is not supported for PDF creation via distillation of PostScript (a method not recommended for modern PDF workflows anyway!)

PDF/X-1a supports both DeviceCMYK and spot colors, although the spot color definitions include CMYK alternate values that are used if a RIP or printer doesn't support the particular spot colors. Typically, the application creating the PDF does offer the option to convert spot colors to process when creating PDF.

PDF/X-4 supports not only DeviceCMYK, but also color managed (via ICC profiles) RGB as well as spot colors. Modern spot color definitions provide device independent ICC profile managed LaB alternative values for use if the RIP doesn't support the particular spot colors. The Adobe-supplied PDF/X-4 .joboptions do not convert colors to CMYK although they can be modified to do so — we absolutely do not recommend such conversion to DeviceCMYK at PDF creation time since it limits your options in terms of subsequent workflow including printing.

We do not recommend using preflight profiles to convert spot colors to the resultant DeviceCMYK color space unless your RIP or printer doesn't support such conversions itself. All modern PDF direct RIPs do support such conversions directly!

In terms of use of the Ghent Workgroup standards:

(1)     There are no .joboptions that directly support them since many aspects of those standards are qualitative tests based on how the content is created (including line widths, fonts used, etc.)

(2)     Although Adobe is a long-time member of the Ghent Workgroup (and I am the Adobe representative to same), Adobe does not recommend use of these standards until such time as the Ghent Workgroup has standards that fully support color-managed PDF/X-4 (and in the future PDF/X-6) workflows in which not only raster images, but text and vector graphics may also be fully color-managed. Adobe provides the Ghent Workgroup preflight profiles only as a convenience to users who want or need to use them, but we don't recommend their use. However they might be a good starting off point for custom preflight profiles.

          - Dov

[Test Screen Name]

Yes, but WHICH of the original profiles within Acrobat was used as the model, and why? There is no such thing as a default profile, each one has a purpose.

[Test Screen Name]

1. You should not that the Ghent Workgroup profiles weren't made up by Adobe. Ghent Workgroup made some very specific, very strict rules, and these profiles just make them work. The Ghent standards are very widely used in some countries, but they do require 100% buy in and end user education. Note that the rules are changed annually and everyone in the process must agree exactly which year's standards are used.

2. PDF/X-1a forbids RGB data, but spot is entirely allowed. So it is not CMYK-only just not-RGB.

[Test Screen Name]

Meant to include this link to the Ghent Workgroup http://www.gwg.org/

[frank_9999]

Thanks, yes I have been looking around the site, some bedtime reading !

Is there a guide for digital artwork creators that accompanies the Ghent Profiles, so they know what can and cannot go into a specific Ghent Profile ?.

[Dov Isaacs]

Unfortunately not! The specifications are geek-oriented and as you probably now realize if you read them, not in a language that mere mortals and graphic artists would understand.

          - Dov

[frank_9999]

Thank you for your complete reply Dov, I will look further into this.