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sarahpeller
sarahpeller Calculating status...
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Losing some transparency when saving to PDF

Nov 19, 2012 11:55 AM

Tags: #illustrator #cs5 #pdf #transparency #losing

I can't seem to figure out why I'm losing the transparency on some objects in this image when I save to PDF...

I am using Illustrator CS5 on a mac.

 

 

This is a screen show of how it's supposed to look:

Screen shot 2012-11-19 at 11.42.35 AM.png

 

 

And this is how it ends up after saving to PDF:

Screen shot 2012-11-19 at 11.44.36 AM.png

 

 

Notice the big white circles above the trees... They don't hold their transparency in the PDF version...

 

 

I was reading this article -- http://help.adobe.com/en_US/illustrator/cs/using/WS714a382cdf7d304e7e0 7d0100196cbc5f-64a2a.html

It seems to say that as long as I save it to PDF 1.4 and later (when Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities option is selected), it should keep the transparency. But that doesn't work either, so I'm at a loss.

 

 

Any ideas?

1167 Views   13 Replies   Latest reply: Luke Jennings, Nov 21, 2012 8:16 AM
 
Replies
  • Monika Gause
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    1. Monika Gause,
    Nov 19, 2012 12:01 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    Which options do you choose when saving the PDF?

    Which application do you use to check the PDF?

     

    How exactly is that AI file built?

     
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  • John Danek
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    2. John Danek,
    Nov 19, 2012 6:17 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    It may have to do with the blending mode of those elements.  In the Transparency dialog, select either Luminosity or Multiply from the drop down menu.  See if that makes a difference.

     
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  • CHMprepress
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    3. CHMprepress,
    Nov 20, 2012 3:53 AM   in reply to John Danek
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    What is the real version of your CS5, is it 15.0.0 or 15.0.2 .

    Can you post us a link to a file so we can test it?

     
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  • sarahpeller
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    4. sarahpeller,
    Nov 20, 2012 12:58 PM   in reply to Monika Gause
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    I chose "preserve illustrator editing capabilities", "embed page thumbs", "create acrobat layers from top levels".

    I used preview and adobe reader to view it. Also viewed it in Mail as an attachment.

     

    I'm not sure I know how to answer your last question... I mostly used vector files downloaded from the internet. Those snowflakes and circles in the background came from an eps file that I got online.

     

    Anything else?

     

    Thanks!

     
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  • Monika Gause
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    5. Monika Gause,
    Nov 20, 2012 1:04 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    Am 20.11.2012 um 21:59 schrieb sarahpeller:

     

    I chose "preserve illustrator editing capabilities", "embed page thumbs", "create acrobat layers from top levels".

     

    Which kind of PDF? Something with an X?

     

    I used preview and adobe reader to view it. Also viewed it in Mail as an attachment.

     

    and everywhere it looked like the screenshot?

     

    I'm not sure I know how to answer your last question... I mostly used vector files downloaded from the internet. Those snowflakes and circles in the background came from an eps file that I got online.

     

    an EPS can't contain transparency. But since it looks transparent, there must be something.

    How did you get it into the file? Embed?

    Is it perhaps overprinting?

     

    What exactly did you do?

     
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  • sarahpeller
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    6. sarahpeller,
    Nov 20, 2012 2:01 PM   in reply to John Danek
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    How bizarre. I tried what you mentioned. Changed the transparency to Luminosity. Multiply didn't work because the snowflakes got lost in the background. Once I saved the PDF with the luminosity transparency, I checked "embed page thumbs" and "create acrobat layers from top levels" and saved. Then I tried to open in Adobe Acrobat. It crashed. Then I tried in Mail. That program crashed too. I thought something must have gone wrong with the file, so I went through the same process again with the old AI file. Changed the transparency to Luminosity and saved as PDF. And the same thing happened. So strange...

     

    I just tried to attach the file, so that you could take a look at it, but it made Chrome crash too!

     
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  • sarahpeller
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    7. sarahpeller,
    Nov 20, 2012 2:19 PM   in reply to CHMprepress
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    I am using version 15.0.0

     

    Here's the AI file:

     

    https://www.box.com/s/ftvyay3j21d60hegp1pz

     
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  • Monika Gause
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    8. Monika Gause,
    Nov 20, 2012 2:22 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    Am 20.11.2012 um 23:14 schrieb sarahpeller:

     

    <iframe src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-oAWbMM7SGyOEZHTHAzeUppRTg/preview" width="640" height="480"></iframe>

     

    sorry I can't access that one. Getting an error

     
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  • sarahpeller
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    9. sarahpeller,
    Nov 20, 2012 2:23 PM   in reply to Monika Gause
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    It's an Acrobat 5 PDF 1.5

     

    Yes, everywhere it looked like the screenshot.

     

    I just copy & pasted it into the file. I'm not overprinting. I don't think this will be printed at all.

     
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  • Monika Gause
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    10. Monika Gause,
    Nov 20, 2012 2:46 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    can you upload it to wetransfer or mediafire?

     
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  • MikeWenzloff
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    11. MikeWenzloff,
    Nov 20, 2012 7:38 PM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    I cannot get it to mess up. At least I think the output is fine.

     

    Ludlow Winter Ad for Rose-2.jpg

    I tried everything from PDFX-4 down to AI's Smallest File profile. So I am at a loss as to what to recommend other than the good ol' standby of trashing preferences.

     

    Take care, Mike

     
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  • CHMprepress
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    12. CHMprepress,
    Nov 21, 2012 12:05 AM   in reply to MikeWenzloff
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    Here is your file saved as pdf, I dont see anny problems:

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/275719/FTPlinks/Ludlow%20Winter%20Ad%20for%20 Rose.ai.pdf

     
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  • Luke Jennings
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    13. Luke Jennings,
    Nov 21, 2012 8:16 AM   in reply to sarahpeller
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    There is a preference in Acrobat and Reader to show overprinting, it's a good idea to set this to "always".Overprint preview preference.jpg

     
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