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Advice on switching to PDF for large format print output - pro's & con

Forum Index > Printing & Prepress > Advice on switching to PDF for large format print output - pro's & con
2007-07-08 13:20:57
lucie23
Registered: Jul 8 2007
Posts: 9

I work for a large format print house running HP wide format printers and a Tempo direct to substrate printer. Currently any files recieved in PDF format are dumped into Indesign for printing. Ideally I would like to switch to printing directly from Acrobat but have had a couple of problems with images or vectored art viewing on screen but not ripping and printing - almost as if they drop off the proof? I am hoping that this is a simple problem to resolve as I want to be able to switch to Acrobat printing in the next week or two and want to be able to make sure that I give my clients the right direction for creating the files.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone that has converted to printing directly from Acrobat as I can see the huge benefits but want to make sure the move is the right thing!

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2007-07-20 13:16:21
#1
lucie23
Registered: Jul 8 2007
Posts: 9
I have a couple of different versions running in my studio. I am running CS3 Acrobat prof which totally rocks, but I also have a couple of staff still on version 7 prof. I have a couple of rips. One is a Caldera rip and the other is a Onyx based rip.

I have noticed that overprint fill seems to be part of the problem although I still not sure why things drop of when the files are in the rip stage. I guess I need to investegate the overprint fill issue further and find out if there is a way to resolve that problem in Acrobat.
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2007-08-07 23:32:38
#2
Reevus70
Registered: Aug 7 2007
Posts: 3
Hi Lucie,
I've had similar problems with Postscript 3 and transparency. Sometimes all it takes is opening and resaving the file in something like Preview on the Mac which must strip out some metadata and clean up the file (not really sure but it just works).
Otherwise what I often do is save to an older version of Acrobat. You can setup a distiller setting that saves to a certain format that tends to give good results (Acrobat 1.3 seems to be good in Onyx). Then in acrobat professional, optimise to that setting and the saved file will probably work. The file may be a bit bigger as it flattens the transparency.
The great thing about acrobat is that you can view the file almost everywhere and once you're happy that you have consistent results, you can see exactly what is going to print. Also you can send multiple pages and keep a job well organised.
Remember, you can also print from acrobat and you can also save .ps and .eps files out of it too if all else fails (again, maybe try to use PostScriptv2)
Good luck
Reeve
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2007-08-10 08:07:05
#3
lucie23
Registered: Jul 8 2007
Posts: 9
Thanks for the helpful tips. Everytime I think I have cracked one little issue something else seems to rear its ugly head! I will give your option a try.

- Lucy
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2010-02-27 11:24:29
#4
m pierce
Registered: Feb 27 2010
Posts: 1
Hopefully a simple question from a newbie: I need to print financials on a larger page (from 8.5x11 to 11x17), using an ancient accounting program where I have to scan and then open in Acrobat 9 std.
I want to keep the data at 8.5x11 and be able to make comments around the outside on the larger page. I figured out how to make the print part work but can't seem to get it to center on the larger page or how to actually be able to make the comments around the outside!

Many thanks, Mark Pierce
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