Tif Images with Transparency disappear when making and X1a PDF

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Hi

I am running a iMac.

OS 10.11.6 El Capitan.

Adobe Photoshop CC 2018

Adobe InDesign CC 2018

Adobe Acrobat 15.010.20056 (according to App Info)

I have retouched and saved my tif images as follows

File - Save As - As Copy - TIFF

LZW Compression

Mac

Save Transparecy

I do this with all my images.

And all of a sudden on two different jobs with two totally different

images and different documents, when I create the Repro X1a PDF

the images go missing.

I have done the following to try fix:

Opened psd and re-saved the tiffs and replaced the image.

Restarted my Mac.

Placed the PSDs instead of the tiffs.

Made and idml file of my InDesign file and re-opened and

replaced the images again and saved over the old document..

Done an X1a/3 PDF which just gives me white blocks around the images (as though they are not etched)

None of these have worked.

I would be very grateful for any assistance or advice please.

Attached screenshot

Thanks

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Please answer the following:

Why are you using X1-a?

Are there spot colors involved?

Why is IDML involved?

What version of InDesign?

What operating system?

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Hi

Have always used X1/a printers in South Africa not always up with the new tech.
and I have never had problems before. Would you recommend I use something else?

No spot colours

As a solve i thought the document may have corrupted so exported an IDML to my

desktop and re-opened it. Am willing to try anything now.

Adobe InDesign CC 2018 13.0.0.125

OS 10.11.6 El Capitan.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

First things first. Update InDesign to 13.0.1. It fixes a lot of issues with the initial release including output to PDF.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Hi

My Creative cloud is not prompting me or allowing me to update unfortunaly

Report · Nov 30, 2017

No spot colours

To illustrate Danny's post the background set as a spot color could do this:

With OP turned on in Output Preview—there's also an Overprint option in Prefrences>Page Diplay>Use Overprint Preview

If he is correct I would get rid of the spot color and remake the PDF.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

I just want to clarify your problem. Based on your screen shot, the photos do in fact show up in the PDF file as I can see the file open in Acrobat. Your issue really is that the images don't print when printed from Acrobat. Is that correct? In the print dialog I think the printer sees that they're in the file because the wine bottles are knocking out of the background. I'd open the Separations Preview panel and see if anything stands out there. I ran a similar test on my end and the fact that they're Tiff's doesn't seem to be the issue. What if you switch to a different printer? Any change?

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Hi

Yes the pics do in fact appear in the PDF when I open in Acrobat.

And yes when i print from the created Acrobat PDF the images do not print.

Unfortunatly we only have one printer.

I am also afraid if its doing it on this printer it will do it on a Highend digital printer

I have checked in the Seperation preview and all seems good

Report · Nov 30, 2017

OK, the PDF/x1-a (PDF 1.3) specification from the the ISO is not allowed to have transparency or color management.

Check in with your printer and see if they can handle a PDF/x4 (PDF1.6). This allows for transparency and color management.

You say it's a digital job, so there should not be a problem.

The fine white lines you see in the PDF are flattening artifacts. They will freak you out on screen, but they do not print.

You can see how the flattening is going to take place using the Flattener Preview from Window > Object and Layout > Flattener Preview.

The Separations Preview window has nothing to do with flattening.

You can read more about it here. Flatten transparent artwork in Adobe InDesign

HTH

Report · Nov 30, 2017

OK, the PDF/x1-a (PDF 1.3) specification from the the ISO is not allowed to have transparency or color management.

Just to clarify X-1a doesn't allow live transparency—you can still use transparent effects they just have to be flattened on export.

X-1a doesn't let you include the CMYK profile that would be useful for future color managed conversions, but you can color manage during the conversion. The accuracy of that color managed conversion during export would depend on you setting the correct CMYK profile as the export destination. X-1a is intended for conditions where there is only one print destination and the press profile is known. X-4 is more flexible when the document needs to be output from multiple printing devices, or the printing conditions are unknown.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

You're definitely, absolutely, positively sure that cream colour isn't a spot colour swatch? Because that looks precisely like what happens when you flatten a masked image that's placed over a spot colour background, and try printing to a printer that doesn't honour the overprinting trickery involved in flattening such objects.

It will print fine so long as your printer's RIP has APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine) enabled, in which case, you definitely should be sending PDF/X-4 anyway.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Which is why I asked. Turning on overprint preview in Acrobat should correct the display if that's the case.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Yep. It looks from the screenshot as if Acrobat's preview is fine, it's the small preview in Print dialogue that's showing an issue.

I bet it's a spot.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

I bet it's a spot.

Yes the Print Preview shows it as a knockout even when Acrobat's OP is turned on:

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Hi

Oh my hat...

Rod Day

Danny Whitehead

Thank you so much

Checked my file again and there was an identical spot panel under my CMYK one.So deleted that and it has now worked thank goodness.

BUT Why is this happening, i never had this problem before?

I surpose that t it would be best then to save the tif with a clipping path when usign spot colours?

Thanks so so much everyone for your help

Report · Dec 01, 2017

I surpose that t it would be best then to save the tif with a clipping path when usign spot colours?

There wouldn't be any reason or benefit in using spot colors for a process color job.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Some of our clients like us to use their corporates spot colours for concistancey in some jobs.

Also we may be doing packaging that requires a combination of spot and CMYK colour.

I will have to be careful but at least I know what to look for now

Report · Dec 01, 2017

There’s a setting in Acrobat that forces overprint preview for PDF/X files. You can enable it on your own computer but it won’t help for anyone else.

And I’ll emphasize how important it is that you find printers that can accept PDF/X-4 files. X/1-a is a completely archaic format that does not allow for RGB images, transparency, or any kind of color management.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

And I’ll emphasize how important it is that you find printers that can accept PDF/X-4 files. X/1-a is a completely archaic format that does not allow for RGB images, transparency, or any kind of color management.

X-1a simply forces the color management to happen earlier at export, so in that respect it is less flexible, but I can still place a profiled RGB file and accurately color manage its conversion into any printer space on export.

In many workflows X4 is simply not an option. Today I'm working on an ad for a major magazine—here are their advertisement requirements, which in my world are quite common. Even if this magazine would accept a PDF/X-4 with RGB images there wouldn't be a different result because they are telling me their output is SWOP. It doesn't matter where the conversion to CMYK happens because we know the destination—I can make it on export or they can do it at output:

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Good point, but how often does a printer that requires X/1-a give you all the info you need?

The next time a magazine that does provides it to me will be the first.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

The majority of newspapers here in the UK publish their ad specs on Specle, and specify X-1a, converted to the ISOnewspaper26v4 profile, which they make available for download on the Specle site.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Very nice. I’ve not been fortunate enough to deal with a publication like that.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

I think one thing that gets lost in publication color management conversation is that the profile of a high speed offset press is always changing, so the absolute accuracy of any press profile is limited.

If you look at the appearance of common coated profiles like SWOP, GRACol, FOGRA, the appearance differences are subtle and it is doubtful that those subtitles will be held throughout the press run. If I send a GRACol separation to a press running to the SWOP standard, it's unlikely I would be disappointed with the results because of an unexpected color appearance.

On the other hand if I send a SWOP or GRACol Coated separation to a newspaper there certainly would be a more noticeable and problematic appearance change (not to mention a total ink problem), because newsprint or uncoated profiles do have very different appearances relative to a coated profile. I'll know if the publication is printing on coated paper and if they don't publish their profile I'll default to my preferred GRACol.

Report · Dec 01, 2017

I asked you about spots in the first response. In the future it would benefit you and everyone else if you checked more carefully.

As for not being prompted for updates, what updates are you referring to?

Report · Dec 01, 2017

Apologies....

But at the time when I checked my file (live in InDesign) there were no spot colours, will haveto be much more vigalint

now with checking colour

My InDesign

You asked me what version I was on and i answered

Adobe InDesign CC 2018 13.0.0.125

Thanks very much for your help