Preserve Overprint is embedding when printing and creating PDFs

[giovannim8927068]

Hi all,

Just updated the other week to the new 2019 app and have come across an overprint bug with this new version. I was hoping the update I did today would fix it, but unfortunately it has not.

The bug is when you print the document to a laser printer, or print to postscript (to create a PDF via Distiller) or create a PDF all the overprints merge or embed as a result. A little alarming as I work with overprints and supplying large artwork for very expensive packaging processes and need the confidence Illustrator is working as expected.

I have placed the AI file in InDesign, printed to the laser printer and create my PDFs with out this overprinting issue happening. So I suspect it has to do with the printing (or postscript) function in Illustrator.

I normally have my dielines set in a spot colour with the strokes set to overprints – pretty normal for dielines on packaging artwork and works fine when you are viewing the overprints in the Illustrator file.

When I “Print” my overprint setting in the print window under the Advanced setting is set to “Preserve”. This works perfectly for me as I can print to a colour laser printer and see the dieline over the artwork. I can print to postscript (my preferred way) to create a PDF and the overprints are preserved in the PDF document. The overprints can be checked via the Output Preview in Acrobat or viewed without the overprints merging with the artwork. That is how it’s been working for years.

In the new 2019 Illustrator when you print to either a laser printer or create a PDF the overprints seam to “Simulate” rather than be preserved. They actual go as far as embed into what ever is underneath the overprint and discards the spot colour in doing so.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Adobe Illustrator Team – What’s the chances of this being fixed back to how it should be working?

[@mj]

So Ps to PDF whilst tried and tested, has the following challenges.

No transparency, color profiles and a limit to the number of points.

The PDF/X4 specification from ISO caters for a way more flexible and robust result.

Dov;s comments in the thread below may be of value

"Save As PDF" vs. "Print" as PDF

[giovannim8927068]

Hi master mo and Danny Whitehead, thanks for your reply but I must not have explained it correctly.

This has nothing to do with the PDF or the way I’m creating a PDFs as the overprint issue (bug) happens when I simply print the AI file to the colour laser printer. This has more to do with how the overprint resulted in the PDF. I can get around the issue by physically removing the overprint before I print from the AI file but that defeats the purpose of while we have overprints in the first place. The same issue happens when I generate a PDF from Illustrator regardless of which way I generate the PDF.

In the previous 2018 version the overprints did what they were meant to do i.e. when you set to “Preserve” the overprint data is preserved in the file which allows you to view the overprints with “Overprint Preview” or view it with out. When you set “Simulate” the overprints will overlay what’s underneath and allows you to see how the final result would be – but you can no longer change how it previews with Simulate. Set to “Discard” and the overprint data is removed and the spot colour creates a negative of what’s laying underneath.

All 3 setting in the new 2019 Illustrator does the same thing – Simulate – but it does not retain the spot colour when it does this i.e. totally changes how it works. The overprint function has worked in the same way for the last 25 or so years that I have been using Illustrator to build artwork and I was really just asking is this a bug and has anyone else come across this?

[Ton Frederiks]

I cannot replicate your problem, preserve does what it should in CC 2019.

I can print to a PostScript file in Illustrator, use the Distiller and turn Overprint on and off in Acrobat.

What PPD do yoy use?

And if you install CC 2018, does it work as you expect?

[Test Screen Name]

What about if you make a PDF the recommended way instead of the way that is so strongly discouraged... may be a printing bug but normal PDF making might be unaffected.

[giovannim8927068]

Thanks you all – master mo, Danny, Ton and Test screen Name

I did a bit of testing on a couple of different iMac both here at work and at home with 2018 and 2019 software installed. After going through some you your links and references last night, I treated all 3 iMacs with my PPDs and one of my artwork files with lots of overprints. This was to see if my issue was an isolated issue on my iMac or a global issue.

Ton, thank you for testing it and letting me know it all works from you perspective. I have come to a conclusion this is an isolated issue on my iMac only as the overprints worked fine on the 3 different iMac running 2019 I tested.

This morning I have uninstalled Illustrator and deleted all the preference files as I may have had a corruption somewhere. Re-installed it and it’s now running correctly.

Thanks you support and help.

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear you got it solved.

[Danny Whitehead.]

giovannim8927068  wrote

This has more to do with how the overprint resulted in the PDF.

It's how the overprint resulted in the Postscript, not the PDF. The issue is happening when Illustrator has to translate your artwork into that legacy language. When you save straight to PDF, as recommended, you avoid that translation, and the issue.

[Danny Whitehead.]

giovannim8927068  wrote

I can print to postscript (my preferred way) to create a PDF

Now's the time to abandon that preference. The longer you leave it, the more time you'll lose when the inevitable happens and you have no choice.