Exported gradients

I just discovered that I cannot get CDX7 to publish to a PDF and have a gradient hit the pdf as a smooth shade (axial) object. Instead, X7 breaks the gradient into individual objects for each step of the gradient.

X6 works fine on the same file (well, back-saved).

I have attached a file for checking. You'll need Acrobat to check the gradient type, but importing or opening the Published PDF will demonstrate what I am yammering about.

Please tell me that there is a setting I must have missed...

Thanks, Mike

gradient-test-x7.cdr
  • Which PDF preset are you using, and have you changed any settings ?

     

    • Hmmm, I tested this with the prepress preset and it seems clear that X6 and X7 are behaving very differently with this gradient.

      But I can create other gradients (eg black to red) which create PDFs which re-import into X7 and are still gradients.

      • The difference is the mid point. In the file from the first post, the gradient mid point is set to 54% :

         

        The problem does not happen if the mid point is changed back to 50%. BUT ... the mid point is also set to 54% in the X6 version of the file.

        I'm not totally sure X6 behaves correctly though. If you set the mid point to something extreme like 90% so that it is visually distinct, it re-imports as a gradient that looks like the original, but supposedly has a 50% mid point and cannot be edited without turning to black and white.

         

        • Sorry for the delay in responding, Harry. 

          Any preset, really. But PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 would be the ones I care most about.

          Mid-point obviously shouldn't matter. I didn't muck around with moving the mid-point in X6, sounds like it is broken as well in an extreme mid-point setting.

          Thanks for looking at it.

          Mike

      • Use Acrobat 6 or higher and then your viewer must support live transparency,  I.E. Acrobat with a Professional plugin or a RIP pre press application.  No Illustrator or other dime store viewer.

        • David Milisock said:
          Use Acrobat 6 or higher and then your viewer must support live transparency,  I.E. Acrobat with a Professional plugin or a RIP pre press application.  No Illustrator or other dime store viewer.

          Geez, David. I wasn't born yesterday. Did you look at the file? Export/Publish however, whatever type, you want and inspect it in Acrobat. The screen shot was made in Acro XI. This PDF was produced from X7 using Acrobat 9 compatibility.

          But it doesn't matter the type as PDF/X supports smooth shading and X6 handles this properly, X7 does not. Pretty simple. 248 individually colored vector objects representing the gradient when published from X7. Really not good.

           

          • Hello,
            @MikeWe have You solved this problem? I've just installed X7 and it looks like some kind of joke.

            When you have gradient more complicated then 2 colors, in export it will be cut into pieces, when you use transparency, you will get a bitmap. Even in "edit" pdf mode. It reminds me times when drop shadows was a bitmap, o wait, now it is actually bitmap in exported files (pdf, eps).

            Is it a new feature or bug? For now I have to get back to X6. Or maybe finally get used to Ai?
            • Here is a PDF that works perfectly in Pitstop Pro and all my RIPS Published to PDF as Acrobat 6 and any concept that the PDF export from CDGS is wrong is not correct. You must use professional tools to examine the PDF.

              • Here is a spot color gradient PDF

                • No. It's not my issue to solve. The only work around is to make sure a 2-color gradient has the mid-point at exactly 50%.

                  Mike
                  • As I say: "gradient more complicated than 2 colors". Check this file, I added one more color and transparency.

                    http://we.tl/cZOF4hobnv

                    Here is the same file exported from Corel as Ai and export from Ai to pdf. No slices, no bitmaps and file weight 65KB vs 1,3MB...