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edetandt
Participant
March 29, 2011
Answered

Problem printing transparent .png's

  • March 29, 2011
  • 6 replies
  • 119258 views

I am still somewhat a beginner in Indesign, and I have been working to create a printable product catalog in Indesign CS5.

For various logos, product pictures, etc I have been cutting out the background in Photoshop to make them transparent and saving as .png, then I import into the Indesign file. The problem is that when I print (either from PDF or directly from Indesign), those .png images do not have entirely transparent backgrounds. Instead, there is a shaded box the size of the image/object. This box does not show up on screen in PDF or in Indesign, but only when I print.

Any ideas how to fix this?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Dov Isaacs

    Before I posted, I actually tested this.

    A .PNG created in the current versions of Photoshop with an ICC profile (I tested with other than sRGB or AdobeRGB) and/or transparency fully and properly places into the current versions of InDesign maintaining the proper ICC profile and/or transparency.

              - Dov

    6 replies

    R
    randalv27907538
    Participant
    November 17, 2023

    In the printer settings, go to printqualtity, change imgae from vector to grid.

     

    That did the trick for me. 🙂

    L
    lauram225916
    Participating Frequently
    November 1, 2022

    I am having this same problem. I am placing .png file into illustrator and they end up with a light background around the images. the file looks fine on screen, but when printed it is leaving a light background. Why is this happening?

    Willi Adelberger
    Community Expert
    Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 1, 2022

    Place PSD, not PNG.

    The. rest look here: https://creativepro.com/eliminating-ydb-yucky-discolored-box-syndrome/

     

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 8, 2021

    The problem is that when I print (either from PDF or directly from Indesign)

     

    This question has come up before.

     

    With composite printing it is likely a problem with how the print driver handles the transparency or color management. Try exporting a PDF with the Output tab’s Destination set to Document RGB, and then when you print in Acrobat check Print As Image from Advanced pane.

    C
    crystalp81231797
    Participant
    January 8, 2021

    This may be too simple of an answer, and I'm newer to design as well, I had this problem all the time and I couldn't figure it out.  For things as simple as advertisements and posters, I just export my file as a JPEG then pop it into a new document and that got rid of all the funky foggy boxes around my PNG's. 

    Dov Isaacs
    Dov Isaacs
    Legend
    July 25, 2016

    It is absolutely amazing how these threads keep rising up from the dead.

    A few facts that I would like to point out and/or reinforce here.

    (1)     Although it is true that a .PNG file may only be RGB colors or grayscale and are limited to 8 bits/colorant, the format does indeed support ICC color management and live transparency although not all applications producing and/or consuming .PNG files can handle one or the other.

    (2)     Adobe Photoshop can save .PNG files with their respective ICC profiles and with live transparency. Adobe InDesign can properly open and place .PNG files with ICC profiles and live transparency.

    (3)     Once a file is placed into InDesign, quite frankly, it doesn't make a bit of difference what the original format was when output (printing or better, exporting PDF).

    (4)     Although not typically used for photography, other than not supporting Photoshop layers, CMYK and spot colors, and more than 16 bits/colorant, the fact is that a raster image in either RGB or grayscale saved as a .PNG file will render no differently than a .TIF file saved with lossless ZIP or LZW compression (or no compression). Obviously, you won't get the compression that you might get with JPEG or JPEG 2000 compression.

    (5)     Due to its simplicity and compression characteristics, .PNG is often used for screen shots.

    Bottom line is that .PNG often gets a very undeserved bad rap based on lack of knowledge and/or snobbery as opposed to fact.

              - Dov

    - Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 25, 2016

    Adobe InDesign can properly open and place .PNG files with ICC profiles and live transparency.

    Dov, this may be putting too fine a point on the PNG hand wringing—but my experience is ID will ignore a PNG's embedded profile at least with CC2014 and earlier. So if I save a PNG with sRGB embedded and place it in a doc with a Preserve Embedded CM Policy that has AdobeRGB assigned, the PNG gets reassigned AdobeRGB. You can reassign sRGB via Image Color Settings..., but it's something you have to watchout for.

    Dov Isaacs
    Dov IsaacsCorrect answer
    Legend
    July 25, 2016

    Before I posted, I actually tested this.

    A .PNG created in the current versions of Photoshop with an ICC profile (I tested with other than sRGB or AdobeRGB) and/or transparency fully and properly places into the current versions of InDesign maintaining the proper ICC profile and/or transparency.

              - Dov

    - Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 29, 2011

    You're using the wrong file format for print. PNGs are designed for on-screen viewing.

    Open them in Photoshop and resave as PSD or TIFF files.

      E
      edetandtAuthor
      Participant
      March 29, 2011

      Steve, thanks for your response. I tried saving in both TIFF and PSD, and it didn't fix the problem. PSD still printed the shaded box, and TIFF took away the transparency all together.

      Abambo
      Community Expert
      AbamboCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 24, 2016

      iamwickedtall1 schrieb:

      To clarify, I tested with a transparent PNG on CMY:0% K: 100%, on 8.5" x 11". I'll further test with other image types, but this has done well for me.

      PNG does not support CMYK, it is always RGB. Don't use PNG for print.

      You wrote that theses PNGs are logos. Why do you use a raster image. Don't you have a vector? If it is possible, use AI or PDF/X-4 for any artwork like logos are, not from Photoshop, but from Illustrator.


      Willi is right! Except that PNG files may be suitable for print, but only on a limited base. We use PNG files sometimes on rendered data i.e. a 3d construction of a machine.

      Logos or logo like graphics are mostly vector art. The only reason I know of to save them as PNG files is using them in Word. When they are vector art, keep them as that. But I had assumed that you got the logos out of your control from somewhere like scanned print.

      PNG has been developped years ago to replace the GIF file format for use on web applications. It should mostly be treated as a web file format.

      ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
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