20 Replies Latest reply: Oct 1, 2013 9:34 AM by Mr. Andersson RSS

    Warning - gradient fill bug found

    Mr. Andersson Community Member

      I have reported this bug to Adobe. Watch out so it won't bite you.

       

      Short version: gradients can disappear completely when exporting to pdf 

       

       

      Long version:

       

      A. Gradient fill with default settings. First color starts at 0% and second color ends at 100%.

      Copy an object with this color to Illustrator or export it as a pdf file. This works fine.

       

      B. Change the start color to 5% and the end color to 90% (anything other than 0/100 will trigger the bug)

      Copy and paste an object with this gradient fill to Illustrator. Result: no fill color

      Export object to PDF. Result: no fill color

       

      C. Default gradient fill (0% to 100%) + add a third color = works fine

       

      D. Same as C. but change the start and end colors as in B. Triggers the bug again

       

       

      Bug verified in InDesign CS6 and CC on OS X 10.8.4

       

      Bug verified by Adobe Support.

        • 1. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
          MW Design Community Member

          Using B, a gradient swatch set to 5% k and 90% K, it outputs to PDF.

          Using B, a gradient swatch set to 5% k and 90% K, it copy/pastes to AI.

           

          Using Windows 8 64-bit.

          • 2. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
            Mr. Andersson Community Member

            I installed a trial version of InDesign CC in Windows 7 to try this.

             

            WIndows 7

            Exporting to PDF = no problem

             

            Pasting to Illustrator CC = problem

            • 3. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
              MW Design Community Member

              I am using CS6, perpetual license. Won't be installing CC.

               

              But as I mentioned, no issues here exporting to PDF or copying and pasting to AI CS6 (perpetual license).

               

              Mike

              • 4. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                Willi Adelberger Community Member

                Copy and Past from gradients between Illustrator and InDesign is not recommended at all. So I would suppose that your workflow is not ok. There is no guarantee that copy and paste will work at all between complete different programs. From Illustrator to InDesign copy & paste is only recommended if you need forms without a specific fill or gradient.

                • 5. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                  Mr. Andersson Community Member

                  Ok I dont think I can test CS6 in my Windows 7. I never saved the trial installation files for CS6.

                   

                  But in OS X the bug is present in both CS6 and CC.

                  • 6. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                    BobLevine CommunityMVP

                    Well, I don't know about ID to AI but AI to ID is not only okay but is a

                    great way to get an AI gradient swatch into ID.

                     

                    Works great IME and I've done it on way more than one occasion.

                    • 7. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                      John Mensinger Community Member

                      Tried reproducing it here running CS6 under Windows XP and found a possible need for clarification:

                       

                      Wasn't sure if the original description was referring to %K or % stop-position. Tried both. Findings differ.

                       

                      ['Bug behavior' = as described in post #1, item B]

                       

                           I get no bug behavior on Export to PDF no matter what I try.

                       

                           On Paste to AI, I get no bug behavior no matter what %K values I set at the gradient stops

                       

                           On Paste to AI, I get bug behavior if I change the gradient stop positions to anything other than 0% & 100%

                      • 8. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                        Mr. Andersson Community Member

                        @ Will Adelberger

                         

                        Not recommended? It has worked fine up until now. Is it recommended that I print my clients book project as planned or is it recommended that I tell him it wont happen because my program is broken?

                         

                        The paste to Illustrator shows the bug in a broader sense. But the serious part for me is that I can not export my current book project to a pdf and print it. And with the CreativeCloud idea there is no way to go back to an earlier version either. Before we used to have CDs and DVDs laying around with older versions.

                         

                        I would have to reset the computer with my OS X backups but I'm not sure if the Adobe installation would work after that. It's messy and maybe something Adobe need to think about for the long run.

                         

                        What should we do when there is a buggy update pushed out?

                        • 9. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                          Laubender Community Member

                          @Mr. Andersson – can you provide some material (Indd file) where the bug is biting you for download? (Dropbox)


                          Along with a PDF and an IDML file…
                          Just for testing.

                           

                          Uwe

                          • 10. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                            MW Design Community Member

                            John's message was instructing.

                             

                            Redoing the test using gradient stops instead of percentages does trigger the problem.

                             

                            One deviation. I can move the lower stop anywhere I want as long as the higher end remains at 100%.

                             

                            If I move the higher end stop off of 100%, regardless of where the lower end stop is positioned, I get an empty box when pasted into Illy.

                            • 11. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                              Mr. Andersson Community Member

                              Well I'll be damned....

                               

                              Right now I can not produce the pdf export bug. I'm using the same machine and last week Adobes support also verified. We also deleted all InDesign prefs and caches and restarted but the bug was still there. Now I can't see it. Very strange.

                               

                              Here is an InDesign file

                               

                              This is what I get on my Mac when pasting to Illustrator. All boxes are filled in the InDesign file. There is no difference between the columns other than the colors.

                              paste.jpg

                              • 12. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                philter2001 Community Member

                                Hi everyone. I work for a large format printing company. We receive thousands of files every year from many different designers. We started to notice that gradients would drop out of some PDFs when opening them in Illustrator but they would preview fine when opened in Acrobat. I searched high and low for an explanation for this glitch. The only response I received is "Stop opening exported PDFs in Illustrator." This is an unsatisfactory answer for someone that needs to preflight directly in the Illustrator program. I've done a ton of research and have been racking my brain for the last 2 years and have finally found sufficient workarounds for this issue. The downfall with these workarounds: all spot colors located in the gradients will convert to CMYK mixes. I'm still researching to see if there is a way to keep spot colors intact in these areas.

                                 

                                A little back story: InDesign is converting the gradients into something called NChannel. It enables more accurate handling of color blending by including additional dot gain and color mixing info. Both InDesign and Acrobat have the ability to display these elements whereas Illustrator, from what I’m finding, does not. Which is why we’re seeing gradient elements drop out when opened in Illustrator.

                                 

                                Workaround for CMYK Gradients

                                Open PDF exported from INDD in Acrobat

                                Go to Tools > Print Production > Convert Colors

                                Object Type: Smooth Shade (this tells Acrobat to hone in on Gradients only)

                                Color Type: DeviceCMYK

                                Check Embed next to Conversion Profile (should be SWOP)

                                Expand Document Colors on the right and Select DeviceCMYK in Color Spaces then click ok

                                Save the PDF

                                 

                                Workaround for 1 Spot Color in Gradients (Converts Spot Color located in Gradient to CMYK – all other Spots stay intact)

                                Open PDF exported from INDD in Acrobat

                                Go to Tools > Print Production > Convert Colors

                                Object Type: Smooth Shade (this tells Acrobat to hone in on Gradients only)

                                Color Type: Spot Color

                                Check Embed next to Conversion Profile (should be SWOP)

                                Expand Document Colors on the right and Select the Spot that is located in the Gradient in Color Spaces then click ok

                                Save the PDF

                                 

                                Workaround for 2 Spot Colors in Gradients (Converts Spot Colors located in Gradient toCMYK – all other Spots stay intact)

                                Open PDF exported from INDD in Acrobat

                                Go to Tools > Print Production > Convert Colors

                                Object Type: Smooth Shade (this tells Acrobat to hone in on Gradients only)

                                Color Type: Spot Color

                                Check Embed next to Conversion Profile (should be SWOP)

                                Expand Document Colors on the right and Select the DeviceN spot color that is located in the Gradient in Color Spaces then click ok

                                Save the PDF

                                 

                                Please test it and let me know if you run into any issues with these workarounds.  I'm always looking for new problems to solve!

                                 

                                - Jenny

                                • 13. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                  Dov Isaacs Employee Hosts

                                  Jenny,

                                   

                                  Please see our response to you in thread at <http://forums.adobe.com/message/5726840#5726840>.

                                   

                                  Illustrator is not a PDF file editor!!!

                                   

                                            - Dov

                                  • 14. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                    Mr. Andersson Community Member

                                    Thanks Jenny

                                     

                                    I think you are refering to an older version of Acrobat but I could find a working solution in Acrobat 11 thanks to your pointers. I go to Preflight and select Convert to only CMYK and run it. Then I can open the dokument with the problematic gradient in Illustrator. So a working solution or a work-around. I'm just happy I wont get stuck when I need to do something like this.

                                    • 15. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                      Eugene Tyson CommunityMVP

                                      Please read the replies in this thread!!! http://forums.adobe.com/message/5726840#5726840

                                       

                                      Illustrator is not and should not be used as a multi-purpose editor of PDFs!!!

                                       

                                      Please read the thread.

                                      • 16. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                        Mr. Andersson Community Member

                                        Hi Eugene

                                         

                                        Since you already responded to Jennys post (in the thread I created and thus subscribe to) I have already read this page earlier today.

                                         

                                        The problem discussed in this thread has nothing to do with using Illustrator as a multi-purpose editor of PDFs!!!

                                         

                                        The thread talks about how we can move a design from InDesign over to Illustrator in the easiest way possible. And how we think we could do this before but not any longer. When the design has landed safely in Illustrator it is assumed that this new file will be an Illustrator file .ai and not a PDF.

                                         

                                        Typically I have drawn something up quickly in InDesign and later on I see a need to move it to Illustrator. Jennys tip makes it possible to move the design in no time compared to manually replacing missing gradients. I thank her for this tip. I was not thanking her for educating me in how I use Illustator as a multi-purpose editor of PDFs!!!

                                         

                                        Did I miss any exclamation points? My appologies if so.

                                        • 17. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                          Eugene Tyson CommunityMVP

                                          There is no safe way to move an InDesign file to Illustrator.

                                           

                                          That's the point.

                                           

                                          If it needs to be in Illustrator then it should be created from scratch in Illustrator.

                                           

                                          Sure, you can move elements over that way - but you need to recreate specific elements in Illustrator.

                                           

                                           

                                          It's nothing but a crapshoot to open a PDF created in another application inside Illustrator.

                                           

                                          Whether you heed that advice is completely up to you - and everyone else.

                                           

                                          What you do with your files is up to you.

                                           

                                           

                                          But please - don't sass me. If you don't like the advice just say "thanks for your time and explanation" - and move on.

                                          • 18. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                            Mr. Andersson Community Member

                                            Yes we do need to recreate some things but the fewer the better. Now I have one thing less to manually recreate. I can pick up the gradient and save it to the palette and the colors have not changed. I dont even need to use the exported file in this case. Just import the color fills to the file with the things I copied over.

                                             

                                            I dont think any designer takes a full page design in InDesign, exports it as PDF and then opens it in Illustrator and keeps on going. It will be a mess with all masks and objects within objects and so forth. I am using this mainly for some type of graphics, a vector image on the page that needs more advanced work to it or something like that. I have personally never had any accidents where something wouldn't print because of me using Illustrator the wrong way. How do I know? I neved had any printing accidents period this past 10 year. So my crapshooting is fairly good.

                                             

                                            Thanks for your time and explanation.

                                            • 19. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                              Eugene Tyson CommunityMVP

                                              Mr. Andersson wrote:

                                               

                                              I dont think any designer takes a full page design in InDesign, exports it as PDF and then opens it in Illustrator and keeps on going.

                                               

                                              You'd be very surprised - that's why I am adamant - and others on this forum - in repeating the advice to not open non-Illustrator PDFS within Illustrator.

                                               

                                              For all the reasons you have given too.

                                               

                                              Can it be done? Of course it can. But for most people it's an area to avoid as they don't understand the implications and pitfalls.

                                               

                                              If they did know these things I don't think they'd be on here looking for support.

                                               

                                               

                                              And it's wrong of us to give support to somebody who isn't aware of or knows how to fix these pitfalls.

                                               

                                              The best advice to give is the right advice.

                                               

                                              And the right advice is not to open non-Illustrator PDFs in Illustrator.

                                               

                                               

                                              The best advice is to recreate the files in Illustrator.

                                               

                                              Is it as quick? Never said it was!

                                               

                                               

                                              The last thing we need is for new users, or inexperienced users not coming back to the forums because they got wrong advice that messed up their files, made them unhappy, made the clients unhappy and made printers unhappy.

                                              • 20. Re: Warning - gradient fill bug found
                                                Mr. Andersson Community Member

                                                I can understand that side of it too but it's not how I work.

                                                 

                                                I also think it's a dumb thing to

                                                 

                                                1. create a suit of programs

                                                2. talk about more things that are integrated between programs for each new version

                                                3. have a simple thing like edit files the app can open be included in the DO NOT DO features

                                                 

                                                It's just human behavior to open and edit a PDF with Illustrator if the program was made to do so. And the PDF format is on the verge to replacing the .ai format I would say. So it's bad logic.

                                                 

                                                Of course users will open pdf files with Illustrator if Adobe built it this way. If it's a bad thing they should only make it possible to open PDF files saved by Illustrator.