Font missing anti-aliasing after black change

[joaosp]

I have a document and I didn't realize that the black tone I was using is 0 0 0 100, but the font looked fine on texts with black. After that, I changed all black texts using 0 0 0 100 to the rich black, which is 75 68 67 90. After I made that change, sounds like text missed its anti aliasing, I mean, it's not looking smooth like before with 0 0 0 100.

Could it be some bug? I only can see the text more smoothly, I mean, anti-aliased, if I zoom it a lot to get it much bigger.

Have you heard something like that previously?

[Monika Gause]

Please show.

Also: is that a CMYK or an RGB document?

[joaosp]

It's a CMYK document.

[Monika Gause]

Please post a screenshot that shows the problem.

[ceyhun_akgun]

Just change the anti-Aliasing color value does not change. Changing the ICC Profile in the document causes COPY-PASTE to change the color values ​​to a different document.

[Jacob Bugge]

joaog,

To rule out the possibly far from obvious, and maybe (far too) silly, what happens if you Ctrl/Cmd+E?

This toggles between GPU and CPU Preview, GPU causing the issue.

This is what GPU is about:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/gpu-performance-preview-improvements.html

Graphics cards have been included in the system requirements:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements.html

Apart from an inadequate card, the issue can be caused by lack of driver updating, lack of proper recognition of the card by the computer, and whatnot (including rifts in the space time, moon, weather, and the fact that Illy sometimes moves in mysterious ways)..

Here are a few more pages about GPU troubleshooting:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/gpu-performance-errors-troubleshooting-workarounds.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/illustrator-gpu-performance-driver-update.html

[joaosp]

Thanks all you for replying.

My graphics card is a NVIDIA GTS 250, and Illustrator does not recognize it as a "compatible" GPU (Photoshop does!), so when I go with Ctrl E, nothing happens. It's weird that I'm facing that issue.

As Monika Gause​ suggested, I will try to reset preferences and then I post here if it fixed or not.

[Monika Gause]

Please post a screenshot.

[joaosp]

Updating the topic: I've reset my preferences folder, it didn't work. That anti-aliasing difference is almost only visible on Illustrator. I've put 2 text samples on Photoshop and there I can't see a difference. Additionally, I tried another thing: I created a new document and copy content from the other document into the new one. The same damn issue. It's very weird...

My guess is that Illustrator CC 2018 has a lot of bugs.

[Danny Whitehead.]

I've played around with it, and I think it's just a case of the greys that make up the anti-aliased screen pixels darkening due to the darkening of the black, which is what should happen. It does make the edges look harsher, but not completely aliased.

I must ask, why are you using rich black for text? That's only a good idea with very large text. No matter how good the register on press, type on all four plates will never be as crisp as that on just the black plate.

[joaosp]

Hi Danny, thanks for playing around it. So, you're saying that when we use a rich black it's normal that the pixels around edges get darker and looking like if that element wasn't completely anti-aliased? Did I understand right? Let's see if I got it: I should use 0 0 0 100 for text specially if they are small and rich black for the other elements like big texts, shapes, vectors or something similar?

About your 2nd comment, actually when you create a new document in Illustrator, the default color named as "Black" on the swatches panel has the values 0 0 0 100, but I didn't realize that it does not look black, it looks gray. So, I just wanted to make sure that I was using a real and "genuine" black, which hex is #000000, I mean, I wanted a black that really looks black in both screen and print. I don't understand why Illustrator uses 0 0 0 100 by default instead of the black that really looks as if it should, which is the case of 75 68 67 90.

After what you said, I got lost :S — What black can I use safely to ensure that my document will have a true black on it? I've got worried because we're talking about my resume, so, it needs to look perfect, and recruiters for graphic design positions will look at every single detail.

Thanks you and Monika Gause​ for helping me out with this "issue".

[Test Screen Name]

I think you may not fully appreciate that rich black is the truest black that is ever used for printing TEXT except for special effects and very large text. We strongly advise you NOT TO DO THIS.

[Test Screen Name]

I'd go further: if you believe (and I don't) that recruiters to a graphic design position know graphic design and will be checking your resume to see if you can walk the walk: then certainly rich black for text is a red flag.

[joaosp]

Ok, thank you.

[Danny Whitehead. · Accepted solution]

To answer your first question - yes. Antialiasing smooths the edges by generating interpolated pixels between two colours (black and white in this case). Think of it as a tiny gradient. So if the black is made darker, so are the interpolated pixels.

To your second question - for text that will be printed, you should almost always use pure black (0% CMY, 100% K), set to overprint (the latter will be done automatically in most cases). There are no hard and fast rules about when to use rich black - it's something you'll learn with experience of preparing artwork for print and seeing where misregistration has had an impact. As Test Screen Name suggests, using rich black in a printed CV may result in blurry text that will alert a potential employer that you haven't had that experience.

If you want to use one CV design for both print and screen use, it might be better to have two files. Get the print version right, using a 0% CMY, 100% K global swatch for all your blacks, then create a duplicate screen version, change the Document Colour Mode to RGB (assigned with the sRGB profile), and change the global black swatch to R0 G0 B0.

[Monika Gause]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Danny+Whitehead.  schrieb

pure black (0% CMY, 100% K), set to overprint (the latter will be done automatically in most cases).

InDesign is usually set up to do it, but not Illustrator.

[Danny Whitehead.]

Yeah, I wanted to be more detailed about that...

Most modern RIPs/DFEs/workflows (especially ones for digital presses) will automatically overprint 100% K, but it is worth making sure in Illustrator. Before sending anything for print, bring up the Separations Preview palette, turn on Overprint Preview, and toggle the black separation on and off, to make sure none of your text knocks out colours below it (you'll see white where the text was).

[Monika Gause]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Danny+Whitehead.  schrieb

Most modern RIPs/DFEs/workflows (especially ones for digital presses) will automatically overprint 100% K,

I thought of writing about that.

Do they really? I would consider it a mistake if they altered my files in any way.

[Ton Frederiks]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Danny+Whitehead.  wrote

If you want to use one CV design for both print and screen use, it might be better to have two files. Get the print version right, using a 0% CMY, 100% K global swatch for all your blacks, then create a duplicate screen version, change the Document Colour Mode to RGB (assigned with the sRGB profile), and change the global black swatch to R0 G0 B0.

I would suggest to use Grayscale from the Color panel at 100% K (and make a global Swatch if you want).

You don't need to adjust that black when converting between RGB and CMYK (in both directions). It will stay 100 % K.

[Danny Whitehead.]

That seems to turn into a CMYK swatch when you make it global. Could be a bug, or just characteristically sloppy implementation.

As an aside, I've never understood why anyone would want a swatch that was anything other than global.

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, that seems to  be a bug.

Greyscale is a very nice way to keep the black from converting, but apparently a no no for global swatches.

Seems to work correctly with non global swatches.

[joaosp]

Thank you Danny, that's what I was looking for. I've changed back to 100% K and it looked smooth as it was originally. But... I still believe that Illustrator 2018 came with a lot of bugs, including the 2 ones I found out: the anti-aliasing "fail" for rich black (maybe yes, could be some lack of compatibility with my GeForce graphics card) and the guides not hiding when I use "Ctrl + ;". About this last one, Monika Gause​ suggested me on another post to reset Illustrator preferences, but it didn't work. I still have to right click and use the option "Hide guides" from the context menu. The Ctrl + ; only works to show guides when they are hidden. If you could play around it on your side and tell me if it happens to you too, I'd like to have your feedback.

Thanks everyone for your contributions. I will use pure black 100% K from now on when I have text. Could you give some recommendations about the appropriate situations to use rich black?

[Danny Whitehead.]

The most common use for rich black is large solids, for instance on a brochure with a black cover. But even then, you must be confident that your print provider's trapping settings will eliminate the risk of misregister around small type.

Pick up a few magazines and linen tester, and look for examples of both types of black. You'll soon get a grasp of the effect it can have, which will help you make decisions about when rich black is worth using.

Here are examples of both. On the first one, they've used a pure black background. They've kept the type crisp, at a very slight expense of the darkness of the black. On the second, they've used rich black, which has resulted in a deeper black, but look at the edges of the type.