Ghost Content after Export

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
October 25, 2017
3 replies
3804 views

For a catalog I use parts of eps files in the Indesign File. That worked fine until a while ago. I found some ghost elements when I tried to search the pdf for a specific term. If I select all content it shows all of those ghost elements. After researching I found out, that those parts are from the eps files.

See here the eps file:

instead of having a eps for each of those elements, we have one that we use several times. Putting it on this specific page looks like this:

I never had that problem before, July was the first time I noticed it, InDesign CC 2017. And since I could not find any solution yet, I try the forum. It used to cut out the eps parts that are not shown within the InDesign file. Now it puts those parts somehow on a invisible layer. The only solution I had was to print the pdf in Adobe Acrobat as a new pdf. But I think there has to be a better solution. Does anyone have an idea what I need to change while exporting the file?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Jeffrey_Smith

Older versions of Indesign handle the option of "Crop Image Data to Frames" (when exporting) the same way: it crops raster images if selected, but not vector graphics.

If you print postscript and distill to create a PDF, this will crop extraneous vector data outside the frame area.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

You should not use EPS file at all in InDesign. EPS is a lossy outdated file type from the last millenium and should not be used in combination with InDesign since 2001. Use PDF/X-4 instead or AI files. A lot of problems occur with the use of EPS files as you experience too.

Stop using EPS!

S

sPretzel

Inspiring

Hi Willi,

Please clarify the link between your answer and my question!

If I place the AI file in ID, the PDF version of the file is used. If I save the AI file without making it compatible to PDF, it is not "useable" when placed in ID.

S

sPretzel

Inspiring

There are several downsides in the use of EPS. I experience massive loss of performance in InDesign, the program becomes slower, if EPS are linked or embedded.

Another disadvantage is that the ink manager may not work correctly as it does with PDF, PSD or AI files.

Often I encounter files with errative behaviour. When I replaced those EPS with PDFs this behaviour was correct.

Adobe announced 1999 that there will be an end to T1 and EPS support. Now it happens with T1 and many are crying. What will happen, if EPS is at its end?

None of this addresses my question. Whether EPS is bad or PDF is good is not the topic, as far as I'm concerned. I don't have EPS in my ID file, yet, I'm experiencing ghosting issues with export to PDF in ID. I don't have this problem when I print to PDF in ID. Does someone have a clue why it is so?

N

nicolas7

Known Participant

This is an easy problem to recreate. Happens with placed PDF files as well.

Make a PDF with lots of objects in it.
Place into Indy and crop part of it off.
In Acrobat, select all with edit object tool. Then the 'ghosts' show.

I've tried exporting/saving/optimising this resulting PDF from Acrobat with various settings and nothing is deleting the hidden objects!

Obviously one can open the PDF in Illustrator and just delete them, but that's a awful solution - especially for your catalogue - and too fraught with risk.

Another drawback to these ghost objects is that they must be increasing the file size of your PDF.

A

Anonymous

The other option is to split all eps files, so that each graphic is its own file. But we have tons of those graphics and before inDesign 2017 we never had a problem with that.

J

Jeffrey_Smith

Correct answer

Community Expert

Older versions of Indesign handle the option of "Crop Image Data to Frames" (when exporting) the same way: it crops raster images if selected, but not vector graphics.

If you print postscript and distill to create a PDF, this will crop extraneous vector data outside the frame area.