ai to pdf gradient issue

[mcbride]

hi all

am having problems printing to pdf when there is a gradient, transperancy, or outer glow etc in a file. (ai 10.03 to acrobat standard 6.0).

the offending image or object appears as if it is in a box with a stroke. sometimes it even comes through as a solid white box if it is a heavy outer glow etc.

this also happened with an eps object in a file, but it also had a percentage in it so i'm not sure if that is the offender.

any advice?

cheers

latchet

[Jonathan_...@adobeforums.com]

Latchet,

You need to check your settings under File-> Document Settings, Drop down menu -> Transparency. Slide the slider over toward rasterized untill you get the proper results you need. This is a very common problem, and lies in the fact that Illustrator tries to keep the file size down as much as possible by not rasterizing (ie: Bitmapping) any of the image if not necessary.

Jonathan

[latchet...@adobeforums.com]

thanxs jonathon

that worked perfectly. i don't know how many hours i have spent trolling help functions and the internet, trying to avoid asking a stupid question.

question - if i was sending the file to a printer (ie press) would i reset the slider to 100% vector again, or do commercial printer's have the same problem?

cheers

latchet

[Jonathan_...@adobeforums.com]

Latchet,

No problem on solving your problem.

As to your new question, it all depends on what the printer is printing out too. I would think that you can give them the native file fully vectorized and they should know to switch it over. In case they don't, you can always mention it to them how to fix it. This question is what originally brought me to this forum over a year ago, and I ended up solving the problem myself when I read through the transparency and flattening guide suppliment that came with Illustrator. It was the small book that had only several pages, unlike the thick manual. I guess the people at Adobe didn't realize the problem untill after publishing the big book.

Jonathan

[latchet...@adobeforums.com]

thanks again jonathan

unfortunately the person who did this job before me seems to have relocated the manuals to some unknown location... like their personal book shelf! so i've been flying blind on this momentous learning curve... thank the stars for this forum and google.

cheers

latchet