Won’t I also need to make sure to keep all my text above that 0 opacity effect? So I don’t end up with the text converted to outlines? I always do this with Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3). ... View more

Thank you, Rob. The consternating thing about this issue is that it doesn’t—as you say—affect the visual quality of the rendering to have low ppi on low gradient value changes. It just causes warnings through some prepress systems. Your above trick seems like a fairly easy “hack” and I will use in the future when the problem arises in my PDF/X-1a exports. Thank you so much on this! Glad you brought your thoughtful analysis to my problem. ... View more

Interesting. This is what I have experienced whereby with some conbinations of effects and their settings I get adequate flattened resolutions, and other combinations not. I have come to rely on these effects as a designer since it is fun to experiment “right in” layout and get results fast, not like the days of building all the effects in Photoshop for PageMaker and Quark backgrounds. It’s just that from layout to layout—in the multiple projects I work on—I’m never quite sure if the InDesign effects will kick out in Agfa workflow or not with the exports required by some vendors.   So, what is your final thoughts on how to minimize these inconsistencies? (Thanks so much for your expert analysis.) ... View more

I just want you to know how I ultimately test resolution. I use the Afga system first (since it provides me the preflight problems just as using Acrobat), and then I open those flagged pages in Acrobat and select the individual containers in question, and use Edit Photoshop to check the ppi there. (Sometimes I just upsample in Photoshop to fix, or if that isn’t a good fix, go back to InDesign.) Attached is a packaged version of the original magazine spread I sent an earlier test output from. I’m still registering 125ppi in some of the flattener containers. (BTW, is there a specific term Adobe uses for these checkerboarded containers resulting from the flattening? I’ve always wanted to know that.)   Here is the packaged InDesign file and assets:  https://www.washingtonstatemagazine.org/transfer/WSM-May21-pp32-33-testB.zip ... View more

Sorry it has taken so long to get back… Actually, the problem is not with interaction of images with gradients/effects, but objects with objects. I’ve attached a PDF/X-1a using HiRes Gradients flattener and if you check the various flattening containers, some drop as low as 125ppi. The blue background object with an inner glow effect (check the left side) is 125ppi. The white box is 75% opacity over this background with a glow. The photo containers are all around 350—just fine! (Again, the Agfa prepress system I send this through produces warnings. I ended up just writing out the background and white box as a full-page hi-rez png which replaced the objects in the page when I sent to the vendor.) ... View more

OK, thanks for the clarification. Using PDF/X-1a preset with your flattener preset produces mostly 300ppi gradients, but I still get some under 200ppi (last test one was 149ppi). I tried a custom flattener preset I made pushing gradient/mesh to 1200ppi, but no difference.   I use a lot of subtle gradient effects in InDesign for one particular magazine I design and produce, and that coupled with the particular Agfa prepress system the print vendor uses, is wehere I get my rejections. Again, I have workarounds that I described in previous replies so I will continue employing those fixes.   Again, thanks. ... View more

Well, I appreciate all your time on this. Unfortunately, I need resolutions that don’t trigger Agfa to reject. I’ve tried  your X4HiResFlattener.joboptions (that default to your HiResGradients.flst in the Advanced tab), I’ve used my vendor’s Acrobat 4/PDF 1.3 joboptions (and then modified using your HiResGradients.flst in the Advanced tab). I’ve created my own .flst file setting the Gradient/Mesh resolution to 1200 ppi … “every which way” still produces some flattening at only at 125–175 ppi which Agfa doesn not like. I will just have to continue fixing the PDFs after the fact, or pre-flatten my object effects by exporting them as images out of InDesign. I really don’t see anything else to do. This may not be a “bug’ according to Uwe, but they should delete the Edit > TFPresets… out of the menus since it doesn’t do anything, It did work once upon a time. And using the Advanced tab in InDesign File > Adobe PDF Presets (selecting a custom .flst) doesn’t catch everything. ... View more

Yes, I know visually that is the case, but it still flags in Afga systems, and that’s what I’m trying to get around. BTW, your X4HiResFlattener.joboptions still only produced 150ppi in a section of the attached PDF output—which will still flag in Agfa. And isn’t the HiResGradients.flst file moot since the InDesign TFPresets wouldn’t hold onto it? (Defaults back to [Low Resolution] after selecting it.) Luckily, I don’t have too many vendors I send to where with their .joboptions files I have this problem with. ... View more

Rob, thank you. I guess you’re probably right that this isn’t really a new problem,* but the people with the Agfa prepress system I’m sending the PDFs through have gotten pickier. And since the Edit > Transparency Flattener Preset… dropdown doesn’t really do anything anymore, I’m ending up with gradient objects and drop shadows that are lower resolution. What I’m now doing in InDesign is to File > Export the gradient objects as images at high resolution and replacing, or up-scaling the low-rez flattened effects of an InDesign PDF in Acrobat via Photoshop editing. I know some others also complain that they can no longer create a custom T F Preset that converts all fonts to outlines, etc., so the depreciation of this capability is sorely missed by some.   *There are a number of old non-Adobe discussions online lamenting on this. ... View more

Bob (good to see you still posting!): I am using an PDF output export preset which already calls for high resolution, therefore, all effects ON IMAGES do process at high resolution… My problem is that InDesign effects on OBJECTS—that rasterize during Acrobat 4/PDF 1.3 (required by printer)—flattening ends up low resolution. Images are fine, objects with effects that rasterize are 125ppi. I have been using these effects for years in InDesign and not sure why this has become a problem. I have to open the PDF in Acrobat, find the low-rez rasterized objects, and then up-sample them in Photoshop so they will go through Agfa Portal without prepress errors.  ... View more