PDFs and Transparencies
The old saying goes, you learn something new every day. That couldn't be more true in our business of advertising. Sometimes this can be a humbling experience.
Lately I've been getting a few PDF files returned to me from pubs letting me know there were transparencies in the file and would I submit a new file. "They can't be responsible for any printing errors that might occur." This is frustrating to me because 90% of the time I don't have specific pubs specs (go figure) until AFTER I've sent the file. The funny thing is, they've been telling me to make a PDF/X-1a file which I HAVE been doing, knowing that this is the format that flattens the file. So of course I get my panties in a wad when I'm busy and tell them to just use the one I sent, "It'll be OK".
Not so fast amigo. I did some research and found the errors of my ways. (Ready to get technical?) Turns out the PDF/X-1a's I had been creating recently where based on the PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5.0) format which does NOT support transparencies. You can still use transparency in the design, but you must flatten the transparency before creating a PDF/X-1a. Huh?
See, what got me in trouble is, I was thinking (insert joke here), that since we are on Acrobat 9.0 and that since the Transparency Flattener menu was grayed out with the PDF 1.4 driver, I was all good. I was saving some time by skipping a step. It tells you in the General Description box that this format can still accommodate PDF 1.3Â files and can be opened in Acrobat 4.o. These were generally the requirements of the pubs. Newer is better right? Not in this scenario.
Turns out that many of these pubs don't have devices that can handle the newer PDF/X-4a:2007, PDF 1.6 files that actually support transparency layers, let alone the PDF 1.4 format that I was saving. I also learned that if you make your files in Distiller (not InDesign) it will automatically flatten your files, but who wants to go thru that nonsense when everything you need is right there in InDesign. Also, since the only transparencies in my document were from a layered Photoshop file, all the layered PDF files with transparencies that went out the door printed fine.
Still confused? I don't blame you. Read all about it here, and be happy with the knowledge that you know all there is to know about the different versions of PDFs – that is until tomorrow when they change the whole game on you.