Why do PDF imports have a clipping mask?

[namechange081920194]

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.

[Bobby Henderson]

You sound like a troll. You're a newbie to this forum and it appears you came here for the sole purpose to push Affinity Designer rather than contribute anything productive in this discussion thread.

As to my comments about type support you need to go back and re-read my comment about the kinds of fonts Affinity Designer can and cannot support. There is no OpenType VARIABLE Font support in Affinity Designer 1.9. OTF Variable is NOT the same as regular OpenType. Back in the 1990's it was a similar difference between plain Postscript Type 1 fonts versus Type 1 Multiple Master, or the TrueType GX format on Macs back in the 1990's. BTW, I have both the Windows and iPad versions of Affinity Designer. So I do know what I'm talking about. Here's another thing: the latest version of Inkscape (an open source drawing app) actually does have full support of OTF Variable Fonts.

I can feed PDFs into Affinity Designer that will end up plagued with just as many problems when imported just like what happens when the same PDF is imported into Illustrator, CorelDRAW or any other vector app that can import PDFs. That's because a bunch of those issues get baked into the PDF when it is generated. The issues get worse the farther you save back in terms of PDF compatibility and in making the PDF file size smaller. Most applications do all kinds of crazy things to a layout to make it uniformly compatible with other applications and devices that can view and print PDFs. Adobe Illustrator at least provides users the ability to make Illustrator-generated PDFs behave just like a regular Illustrator file. In the case of those kinds of PDF files, yes, Illustrator will definitely open those far better than Affinity Designer. That's because Affinity Designer does not uniformly cover all of the features and effects built into Illustrator. Affinity Designer is a decent application for people looking to create vector graphics on a budget. But it is way basic compared to Illustrator.

[chirp88]

I think it's you people that are the trolls. In my post I offered a solution to the original poster's problem. And then you and Monika jumped all over me. I have had NO issues opening PDF files in Designer OR in Publisher. Can InDesign open a PDF file? No. You have to use Illustrator.

I'm not sure why opentype varible options would be so important to you in Illustrator, which is supposed to be for illustrating, but whatever. You can have that as your "I told you so."

All I know is, when I open any PDF in Designer, I do not have to deal with clipping masks. I also do not have to deal with a paragraph of type broken up into individual elements. It keeps paragraphs together in text blocks.

It also doesn't matter what tool you use to do illustration work, if it works for you. I can illustrate the work I do faster in Designer than I can in Illustrator. Especially since it has pixel art features baked into it. I can also illustrate faster in Macromedia FreeHand than I can in Illustrator, even though that app is going on 15 years since it's been updated.

Anyway, if the original poster is still looking for a solution, download a trial of Designer and see if it works for you. You can thank me in a private message and avoid all the trolls on here.

[rcraighead]

I'm glad Affinity Designer works for you. If it was scriptable it would be worth considering for a production workflow. But it doesn't.

[chirp88]

I don't even know how to script, so that isn't an issue for me.

[printworksqld]

Wow another FreeHand user still going, I use FreeHand every day running on Snow Leopard. It works almost 100% it just has a few minor bugs but still leaves Illustrator for dead. Great to see you still using it too.

[Monica MacGeen]

BS. It is a required format for several large format printers for environmental graphics. And these clipping paths really mess up a print job with spot colors!! No, the rip software will not accept .eps or other file formats. It is a very specific .pdf

[Bobby Henderson]

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.

[Monica MacGeen]

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]

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)

[Bobby Henderson]

That seems a little strange your printer's RIP software is forcing you to use a specific (and older) flavor of PDF for print files. Is it possible there is any software update for it? At my workplace we're using Onyx to run a pair of HP Latex printers and RasterLink Pro to run a flatbed printer. I can feed both of them PDF files saved out of Adobe Illustrator using default settings and not have any issues.

With that being said, I do not keep and re-use the PDF files I create for print jobs or for proofs to share with clients. They get deleted. I save any Adobe Illustrator generated arwork in its native AI format.

[Monika Gause]

PDF/X-4 is not an older file format.

It's the most up to date flavour of PDF. But no PDF/X must contain private data.

[Monica MacGeen]

No, its a brand new printer using FieryXF. We have to use this specific file mode to print out spot colors white and clear. THose layers have to be named exactly and in exact order with NO clipping paths. And saving it out of illustrator is messing it all up. I have noticed I'm getting the error mostly on the MAC instead of a PC

[Bobby Henderson]

No clipping paths allowed? Ugh. That sounds a little like the nonsense I had to put up with when we were using a Roland printer driven by VersaWorks. If the printer was doing any print & cut operations it would refuse to see any "CutContour" labeled paths in the print job if the EPS or PDF artwork had any clipping masks in it. It forced me to have to rasterize certain pieces of vector art into high res pixel-based images to get them to print & cut. I'm so thankful our Onyx RIP doesn't do that.

I'm at a loss on how someone would generate a PDF free of any clipping masks without using the "preserve Illustrator editing capability" defaults, but the result is really a PDF file with AI artwork appended to it. Every other flavor of PDF I've encountered tends to use numerous clipping masks, even nested inside of each other. It's definitely not edit-friendly.

I was thinking PDF/X-4:2010 was an older standard since it is technically version 1.6. Illustrator can save version 1.7 PDF files.

[Monika Gause]

I'm at a loss on how someone would generate a PDF free of any clipping masks without using the "preserve Illustrator editing capability" defaults,

By @Bobby Henderson

There will always be clipping paths in the PDF part of the file when importing it in Illustrator. No matter how you save it.