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Weird print request from the boss

WoOkZZ
Registered: May 27 2011
Posts: 28

I have a bit of an odd request. My boss has asked me to find out if it is possible to have one PDF attached to an email, which when the recipient opens the PDF it shows a full colour PDF.
 
BUT...... here's where it gets odd.
 
When the recipient prints the PDF, not only does it print out in black & white (which isn't that hard to achieve) but the images change from being block colour to being line drawings. So in effect become completely different images.
 
I'm not sure it's possible, but you guys are the experts so any thoughts would be great.
 
Cheers

Thanks

WoOkZZ

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.4.3, Windows
Dov Isaacs
Expert
Registered: Nov 21 2005
Posts: 50
Exactly what do you mean by “block colour” with regards to “images” that you wish to change to being line drawings? And by “images” do you literally mean “raster images” such as would normally be represented by .TIF, .JPG, and .PNG files?

And it isn't necessary easy to get a PDF file that is in color to print in monochrome to a color printer unless one has access to the printer device specific “printer properties” programmatically.

There are all sorts of fun and games that one can play with Javascript, but it is very dicey to assume that the recipients of your e-mail and thus your PDF file will be viewing the file with viewer that supports Javascript (for example, if the recipient is on a Macintosh and opens PDF files with the MacOS “preview” application, all bets are off (in more ways than one).

- Dov

Dov Isaacs is a Principal Scientist at Adobe Systems Incorporated specializing in PDF publishing workflow, PDF print standards, prepress, and printing. He is also chair of the ISO TC130 WG2/TF2 group responsible for PDF/X standards.

WoOkZZ
Registered: May 27 2011
Posts: 28
Dov,

Thanks for the quick response, what he has just now asked for is if it is possible to print in Pure Black & White?
I have looked at the possibility of perhaps using the main image in question as a watermark & hiding a line drawing behind it so when the user prints the document the watermark doesn't print but the line drawing does. The images are jpg's. The document is a newsletter created in word =0(
the layout has a large blue bar in the header, & grey scale bar on the right hand side, & another blue bar in the footer, + the crest jpg in the top right side.I can easily give all of the headers & footers side bars etc: an outline which when printing pure B&W will remain & print out while the blocks of colour don't. I don't see any settings in Adobe to print pure B&W though?Cheers


Thanks

WoOkZZ

try67
Expert
Registered: Oct 30 2008
Posts: 2398
You did not mention how this document was created, but if it was done in a serious application like InDesign then you can create a "print" layer in B&W and add to it the images the way you want them to print, and then embed a script in the PDF that shows this layer (and hides the other ones) just before the file is printed.
As Dov rightly mentioned, though, if JS is enabled or the file is opened in a non-conforming application, this won't work.

- AcrobatUsers Community Expert - Contact me personally at try6767 [at] gmail [dot] com
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WoOkZZ
Registered: May 27 2011
Posts: 28
Not my fault they won't buy me something of a more serious nature, I do what I can with what I have LOL.
So is there any way of doing what I have been asked to do I guess is the next thing. Personally I don't know why we don't create the crest jpg as a watermark which doesn't print out but displays on screen. & the other things that have colour in the document print those out as greyscale.A easy option methinks?


Thanks

WoOkZZ

try67
Expert
Registered: Oct 30 2008
Posts: 2398
Yeah, you can do it with full-page print-only watermarks.
You still didn't say how the files were created, though...

- AcrobatUsers Community Expert - Contact me personally at try6767 [at] gmail [dot] com
Check out my custom-made scripts website: http://try67.blogspot.com

WoOkZZ
Registered: May 27 2011
Posts: 28
Word was the source program for the news letter template, & Photoshop was used to create the Crest image

Thanks

WoOkZZ