Rasterize plugin for indesign?

[dmtetard]

Hi

I'm looking for a way to rasterize parts of an indesign document when exporting it to pdf.

Why?

- We don't like to send many vectorial stuff like a new logo for example to customers that didn't pay yet (we had some abuse in the past)

- Filesize: documents with links to complex illustrations can still be quiet big when exporting at "Smallest File Size" (10MB+, which can give email trouble)

- To be sure the file looks and prints the same at every computer (not talking about color, but to avoid strange pdf artifacts)

We use a great script (made by Kasyan from this forum) which exports a pdf and than rasterizes the pdf into photoshop. But offcourse than the whole pdf is rasterized. There are many cases that i need to rasterize some part but leave other parts as text or vectors.

Like for example, draw an area that needs to be rasterized, or tell what objects that should rasterize.

Is there such a thing for indesign?

I came across a plugin called Triple Triangle Raster Write for indesign CS2. Unfortunately it's been discontinued so i can't test it.

Thanks!

[dmtetard]

Didn't test it yet, but the transparency flattener option from Eugene

seems a smart workarround. Especially because the source file (.indd)

doesn't have to be changed, whether you want rasterized output

(softproof/web) or vector output (print/press/...) from the same file

with the same links. I'll try that one, thanks!

Temporarily deleting the links, forcing indesign to use proxy images

at pdf export, is too low quality to me (low res + no or poor anti-

aliasing).

As for the rasterized layer, i use this solution quite often, also

for high res printing in cases where our rip software (for large

format printing) can't handle the pdf files. And it could be quite

easily scripted i suppose (but I can't script).

All in all there are some good workarrounds. But if some programmer

at adobe is bored: an indesign rasterize option similar to what

illustrator has with the rasterize effect, would still be 10 times

better and faster!

[Eugene Tyson]

Well the more you up the PPI in the Transparency Flattener settings the larger your file should become.

A simple solution is to open all your vector images in Illustrator and batch save them out as Web graphics.

Then you'd need to use the Links panel in InDesign to swap out the illustrator graphics for the web graphics - and swap  them back again for the print version?

I'm not sure if it could be scripted to duplicate and replace the graphics on another layer?

[m2d3x4]

Does not seem to work. I tried a slight different approach as setting all vector images to 99.9% is too cumbersome.

I made a noise bitmap the size of the whole page, and added that one at 1% opacity to the top layer.

Weird thing is, the noise is applied, but the vectors and text are just as vector and text underneath. They don't get rasterized.

[Peter Spier]

The flattener trick was reliable in CS4, but it took advantage of a bug that was fixed in CS5. See Possible bug: oulining text w/ flattener in CS5

You could still use the 99% transparency on the vectors fairly easily, I think, if you used an object style.

[rob day]

Does not seem to work. I tried a slight different approach as setting all vector images to 99.9% is too cumbersome.

I got it to work by drawing a frame over the page and setting its opacity to 0%, then Exporting to PDF/X-1a. Make sure you export a flattened PDF and with the custom flattener preset chosen in Advanced.

An AI logo is rasterized to 120ppi on export

[PeanutsnBacon]

Works perfectly.  Thanks!

[m2d3x4]

On a Mac, you can do it very easily with Automator I found out (the complete rasterization, not the partial stuff though), way easier and faster than with photoshop tricks. You can either make it as folder action, tackling all PDF export to that folder, or you can make a stand alone app. Trowing your PDF on that will do the trick.

How to set up Automator?

Add the following 2 actions to the program:

• Convert PDF pages to images. Choose the intermediate file format: dpi, JPEG/PNG/TIF etc, CMYK or RGB
• New PDF from images

Save as application and done. Start throwing your PDF's on it to bitmapize them.

[jijpnnoi]

i think the easiest way is to rasterize the vector image in Photoshop and drag it back to indesign