Nonprinting object question.

[graphicd30959798]

I am wondering if you are able to have an object be allowed to export (say to a jpeg), but not print from InDesign itself. We use InDesign to create customer proof sheets. We need to show the background layer when we export the file to a jpeg, which we then email to the customer. We then print a copy for our records. Since the background prints gray, we'd prefer not to waste toner. Removing the backgound is not an option as it shows their artwork against the actual background of the final product.

If I use the nonprinting option, the background won't print as expected, but it also will not export.

Is there a way to set the background to export, but not print natively? I have to manually delete the background each time before print, after exporting. This is time consuming, considering we do thousands of these proofs.

Any advice? Thank you in advance.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Short answer, no. The only way to change your background in this manner is to have a background layer with a tinted rectangle, and switch that layer on for export and off for printing. That's pretty simple, and if anyone prints a page with the background, you can always have them pick all the toner off with tweezers. (They'll never do it again.) 🙂

But InDesign takes "print" pretty seriously, so if anything is set not to print, at any structure or layer level, it won't. That includes exports to JPEG and PDF. Even the one subtle thing about color management that bites unwary users can't be exploited here: if you change [Paper] to any nonwhite color, it will only display in that color (allowing you to evaluate designs to be printed on tinted paper, usually) but absolutely will not print, leaving those areas white. And again, Print means Export.

You're going to have to switch modes for your two output exemplars. There are several ways to do that, from manually switching a background layer on and off to using a script to simplify that process... but because ID is so insistent about what "print" means, there's no inherent way to have different "printing" results.

[graphicd30959798]

Thank you James. I thought as much. I racked my brain over the years about this and had the same conclusion. It's just so tedious to turn off/delete the layer each time. But yeah, they are that cheap here. Heaven forbid we waste toner.

[leo.r]

I racked my brain over the years about this and had the same conclusion. It's just so tedious to turn off/delete the layer each time.

By @graphicd30959798

It can be achieved with a script that hides your object (or layer) before printing and then unhides it once printing is done (as James already mentioned).

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Yes, this — the idea kind of got lost in the discussion. A simple script to print that would disable the gray background layer, send the job to print, then restore the layer, and ideally intercept the standard print operations, would be a fairly painless solutions. (Not a script guy, sorry.)