EXPORTING AS A PDF FILE TO FLATTEN TRANSPARENCIES

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

I am trying to upload a picture book file to KDP Amazon. It is a an Ilustrator file saved as a PDF

I need to flatten transparencies and have been advised to Export to a pdf which will flatten transparencies. On Illustrator there is File - Export - Export to screens OR Export as OR Export for Web. Only the Export for screens has a pdf option as below but it makes 25 separate pdf files. Can someone please help me?

[Ton Frederiks]

Save as PDF?

Save it under a different name , turn off Illustrator editing capabilities (that's why you bneed to save it under a different name, you cannot easily edit the file when you turn that off).

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

Hi Ton

Thanks for your help

Would this be the right pdf?

[Ton Frederiks]

If you need to flatten, no, this keeps transparency.

Have a look at the Advanced tab, no flattener for this preset.

Use PDF/X-3 to get the Flattener options. 

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

I did what you suggested and the file has been trying to save ever since,
it probably crashed. 🤯

[Ton Frederiks]

Maybe use Export for Screens to do it in smaller chunks and combine them later in Acrobat.

[Ton Frederiks]

Are you sure you need a flattened version?

Wher can I find the PDF specs that Amazon wants?

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

I did the Export to screen and got small chunks last night but didn't know
to group them together in acrobat. I'll need to download acrobat
Would you be happy to look at my 2 files if I send you a dropbox link?

[Ton Frederiks]

Sure, I can have a look.

In Acrobat it is very easy to combine files: File > Combine Files and rearrange them in the right order.

But are you sure you need flattened pdf files?

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

He is my dropbox link. Link removed on request. Thankyou for looking!

This is one of the KDP messages

[image: image.png]

[Ton Frederiks]

Thank Angela, I'll have a look later.

But your artwork looks nice.

[Ton Frederiks]

Unfortunately your KPD message is not visible, can you repost it?

I am looking at your work right now, it is very complex, even too complex for the flattener sometimes.

I'll come back on it later.

[Kurt Gold]

Ton may have a better idea, but based on your Monstar sample file, I'd recommend to put the type objects and the simple vector objects (e.g. most of the orange stroked objects) onto separate layers. Probably the row of houses as well.

Then I would rasterize all the other complex monster scenery using appropriate ppi settings.

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

Thanks Kurt, I'll give that a go. How do I delete my dropbox link from this thread?

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes Kurt, I came to a similar conclusion. I tried the same, but some of the orange objects are blends that hide below objects with dropshadows., they need to be rasterized, but yes type objects (even outlined) should be above rasterized content.

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

First of all, my compliments for your artwork, but I believe that your work is too complex to flatten. Especially the furry brushes are making it computational heavy.

I tried to flatten the cover, but the result was not very good.

Unflattened is not a good preview experience either, flashing build-up of page elements.

Rasterizing the artwork seems the best solution (some of the pages (like the disco and the last page) just hang Acrobat or Illustrator when trying to flatten them).

Keep the text as much as possible on a layer above the artwork that needs to be rasterized.

I could not try that out because I do not have the fonts. 

When you rasterize the artwork, I would just save the result with a High Quality Print preset without Illustrator editing capabilities. Keep the files as RGB.

[ANGELAHMATRTIN]

Thanks for your advice and compliment Ton. I deleted the fur from some of the characters as Illustrator was crashing when I was trying to flatten them. I then went through every page with a fine tooth comb and undid transparencies hoping that would get round flattening them which prevented it crashing so I brought the fur back. I'll try your suggestions thanks very much. Can my dropbox link be deleted from this thread?

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes I can edit your post and delete the link, Angela

[Ton Frederiks]

I shared my experiments with your dropbox folder. Rasterized the cover and partially rasterized the content.