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Spirited_happiness5D41
Spirited_happiness5D41
Known Participant
October 2, 2019
Question

Why do PDF imports have a clipping mask?

  • October 2, 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 15781 views

I do not understand why the majority of the time I import very simple polygons and lines in PDF format and they all have clipping masks.

There is no  reason for there to be clipping masks on these PDF files, but it seems that Adobe automatically adds clipping masks for no reason. 

I have to go through the tedious process of looking for every clipping mask and one by one unclip them.

The clipping masks tends to span the entire document size.

There are the steps I have to go through to "process a file"

1) Go through layers panel and unclip all clipping masks one by one.

2) Go to the 4 corners of each document and delete all the nodes on each corner for every shape present.

 

 

      5 replies

      M
      Monica MacGeen
      Participating Frequently
      April 12, 2023

      I am having this problem too! I MUST save the Illustrator file as a PDF/X-4:2010 for our EFI Vutek 3 UV Printer. I must have a Clear_Ink, CMYK_Ink, and a White_Ink layer with spot colors to print the art correctly. I save the file out and when I reopen all of the layer data is gone. Every single piece of art has had a clipping mask added. Thousands, and the only way to remove it select each individual one and delete. 

      Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities is greyed out in the PDF/X -4:2010 Standard. The weird thing is that it is hit or miss. Sometimes it works fine. Other times, like today. I can NOT save a file without this happening and I'm ready to put my fist through the computer. How do I stop this. I tried locking the layers...

      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 12, 2023

      Your work file and the production file you send to the printer should never be the same.

       

      (this is different with files you use in a layout)

      B
      Community Expert
      Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 13, 2021

      Excessive clipping masks, clipping groups, lots of duplicate objects with no fill or no stroke, closed paths broken open, simulated gradients as hundreds of objects and all sorts of other raster and vector-based trash are common with lots of PDFs. That kind of garbage can be avoided if a person generating a PDF from Illustrator does so with the "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" option checked on in the export dialog box. If that option is not checked the resulting PDF will have some or a lot of those issues, depending on the options chosen and version of PDF chosen.

      Many other applications can generate PDFs. Very few (if any) of these applications can generate a PDF file that is friendly to import for further editing within Illustrator. It's amazing to see some of the kinds of trash these rival applications can bake into a PDF.

      Here's a couple of tips (if you don't know these already).

      First, when you receive a PDF from someone try opening that PDF within Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat DC. Go to the File menu and select Properties (or click Ctrl+D). Under the first tab, Description, it should show what application created the PDF. If it shows that Adobe Illustrator was used to generate the PDF then the import situation will look pretty good. By default the Preserve Illustrator Editing Capability option is checked. But some people do un-check that option as one step for reducing file sizes.

      Next, if you're handling lots of client provided PDFs, that issue alone might be worth it to get Astute Graphics' package of plugins. One of the plugins is Vector First Aid. It is pretty good at automatically getting rid of all sorts of issues in imported PDF artwork, including all those stray clipping masks and clipping groups. It doesn't solve all problems. But it will save a lot of time and make the artwork repair process a lot easier.

        C
        chirp88
        Known Participant
        February 12, 2021

        I found an amazing solution to this issue. Buy the Affinity suite. Affinity Publisher and Designer both open PDFs without any issues. Objects are opened as groups instead of inside clipping masks. It's awesome.

        Monika Gause
        Community Expert
        Monika GauseCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        February 12, 2021

        And then how do you get the content into Illustrator?

        Because clearly you don't want to use Affinity Designer, since it doesn't have a lot of functionality.

          C
          chirp88
          Known Participant
          February 12, 2021

          I don't. I do clearly want to use Affinity Designer, Pubisher and Photo. I've completely switched over to Affinity apps. Desginer is SO much better than Illustrator. But, regardless, you can export to EPS if you really want to.

          It boggles my mind how third party software can open PDFs better than the apps of the company that actually created the format.

          C
          CHMprepress
          Inspiring
          October 2, 2019

          Keep also in mind that Illustrator is not a PDF editor.

          That is why you get unexpected results when you do so.

            M
            Monica MacGeen
            Participating Frequently
            April 12, 2023

            Yeah. it is, and it is required to make .pdf files when printing illustrator files

              Monika Gause
              Community Expert
              Monika GauseCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              April 12, 2023
              quote

              Yeah. it is, and it is required to make .pdf files when printing illustrator files


              By @Monica MacGeen

               

              Yeah sure.

              But it's not required to delete your AI file after saving a PDF for printing.

              Ton Frederiks
              Community Expert
              Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              October 2, 2019

              The pdfs with clipping mask were certainly not made in Illustrator with Illustrator editing capabilities checked.

              They are converted from PDF to Illustrator file format, and these clipping mask may sometimes be there for a good reason.

              Make sure that no fill or stroke is selected in the tools panel and choose Select > Same Fill & Stroke 

              Then just delete the selected objects.

                C
                chirp88
                Known Participant
                August 10, 2020

                @Ton_Frederiks - That is not correct. I have created PDF files directly from Illustrator (or InDesign) and when I open them back up in Illustrator they will have clipping paths around either the whole document or possibly elements within the document.

                  Monika Gause
                  Community Expert
                  Monika GauseCommunity Expert
                  Community Expert
                  August 10, 2020

                  THe argument was not "made from Illustrator" but "made from Illustrator with editing capabilities checked". There is a huge difference between these two.

                   

                  Please see this about Illustrator files: https://youtu.be/IpDh8Y7q8yE

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