Print InDesign document to PostScript file

[jane-e]

Can anyone think of any reason to ever print to PostScript® from InDesign and then convert to PDF using Adobe® Acrobat Distiller? Ever?

I am asking for serious answers, please.

I am asking because InDesign (2017 Release) Classroom in a Book mentions this as a viable option on page 263 in the lesson on Printing and Exporting.

[jane-e]

Okay, and again thanks for the feedback on PostScript® and the Distiller.

I don't want to split off into talking about the CIBs in this thread or on this forum. For the most part, I do think they are a great resource for beginners.

[Randy Hagan]

I still use it, rarely, for a workaround when I have problematic output for a PDF.

Sometimes a graphic refuses to print. Or some odd, unexplainable artifact appears in the PDF. The worst situations for me seem to be print PDFs I create from InDesign documents with interactive elements. Maybe two or three times a year I run across some little problem that gets completely fixed when I first create a .ps file and then turn it into a PDF through Distiller.

[bstone_justpublish]

Short answer: Yes, even in the year 2020.
There are options available through the print dialog (such as printing seperations) not availble through exporting to PDF. In my client's case, separations are not necessary for production but for proofing to the client. for those of us doing print design.production all the time, we know how to use the Output Preview in a combined PDF to see the separations. But to the client service reps, that is just one task that can be easily resolved by printing to a pre-seaparated PDF: One page for each color, and the rep can just simply page down, see each plate, and go on with life.
This has not been made easier on Mac with the Adobe Printer option being removed (compared to 'the old days' and Windows, where it is simply installed as a printer.)
Certainly, the export to PDF is a cleaner solution, a simpler solution, but being able to print ps to Distiller remains helpful and needed.

[BobLevine]

No. Just no.

There is zero reason for this in the year 2020 and any printer that tells you they need a distilled or pre-separated PDF is living in the 1980s.

[Dov Isaacs]

On behalf of Adobe, absolutely agree!