Hi guys, me again !
My boss has designed a layout in Corel x5 and he has added a drop shadow glow to a vector logo - i am unsure how he did this, sorry, i hope you are all a lot better than me in Corel so you will understand how ?!
My problem is that when i create a pdf file and view it in acrobat, we lose the nice soft glow - we get what looks like a fat shadow - If i create a ps file (for outputting to our large format printer), my RIP tells me that a potential conflict may exist between spot colour replacement and a flattened transparency.
I guess Corel is flattening the transparency ? - Do i just need to print the file and at some point choose to keep the transparency instead of it being flattened ? If so, where do i find this to do it ?
I can do a pdf file for you all to see what outcome I am getting if this helps, if you could tell me how best to upload it on this forum?
Sammi
Hi Sammi,
how are you producing the PDF? Are you using Publish to PDF in CorelDraw, or printing via Adobe PDF (or similar)? If the former, what type of PDF model did you choose? If you "Publish to PDF" and choose PDF/X-3 you should get a proper drop shadow. Document Distribution also works.
Best regards,Brian.
Hi Brian
I have never used Publish to PDF from Corel, I will give that a try - I normally print to create a pdf using our Jaws PDf creator
The only reliable way to get transparencies to print, is to flatten. Sometimes they make it through the PDF but many times the printed output will be anything but what's expected.So I suggest you either create a TIFF, but then everything will be pixels, or flatten inside Draw.Flattening is usually a better (and more professional) solution, where only objects that are affected by the transparency or other effects are converted to one single bitmap. All vector objects and text on top of it, are left untouched.If the background (the flattened part) doesn't contain any sharp edges or fine details, you can drop the resolution to 150 dpi, or even less sometimes, and no one will notice the difference. As I said; leave vector objects as is, if possible. Then Publish to PDF.Remember to save a copy of your file before you start flattening.
Hi Ronny
How do I flatten inside Draw ? I can't seem to find anything to do with flattening - it's most probably staring me in the face !
Thanks Sammi
Flattening is not an automated process. First of all save the document with different name /thats what I'm doing everytime when I create a PDF for print/.
The second step is to break apart all the shadows/glow effects. Select them and tell the program Arrange/Brake apart comand.
Then select the background, all the transparencies and the shadow/glow objects. If you have vectors above them select just the shadow or glow part behind them and convert all to bitmap in color space you need /cmyk, rgb/ in resolution you want with unchecked Transparent background and checked Antialising. About Apply ICC profile - it's VERY important what color settings you have in color management. I check it everytime.
Then you can publish that to pdf with setting you need for print.
Nasko, thank you so much for that, i will give it a go, very helpful :)
One more advice for flattening. It's always problem for me to keep vectors when for example I hae a vector shape and a effect or bitmap covering part of the vector. In that case I do something a little bit boring and time consuming but it gave me a clear vector shapes. Will try to illustrate that with a little tutorial here: