PDF related questions 1

[Foamcow]

Just a little pointer...

There seem to be alot of PDF related questions in this forum.

Remember Quark isn't the only application that works with PDFs and not everyone that works with them uses Quark.

There is a dedicated Adobe Acrobat forum (forum223) where you may well find more help and advice with PDF specific questions.

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[vostenak]

In my circumstances, importing/exporting pdfs in quark is a HUGE problem. I'm in osx 10.3.8, qk 6.5, and when I try to import a pdf, I get a message that the security permissions are not set to do so, even though everything in quark is read & write and all changes, etc are allowed in the pdf itself. So I convert to an eps--sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, qk crashes. Not pretty. Now I'm getting EOF commands from my Harlequin 5.3 RIP. I've tried replacing qk preferences. Opening the eps in pshop and savbing as an eps works, but the RIP won't separate it, yet qk will. and again, this isn't 100%.

Pdfs are a problem when relating to qk, for me anyway. Any ideas? I've even rebuilt my document in qk 6.5, a pdf patch was reinstalled, and the same printing/importing problem happens.

Any theories will be studiously explored.

vostenak

 

[jimoblak]

What kind of PDF are you using? Is it PDF/X-1a?

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[vostenak]

They are not PDF/X-1a. They come from outside vendors. I run Pitstop on them searching/fixing RGB, spot colors, reducing resolution to 170 for our press, and reducing the version to 1.3 if necessary. One suggestion I received was to use the PDF optimizer (Acro 6) but that hasn't stopped the problem either. My understanding that the files that are giving me this particular problem have been built on a Mac but distilled in Windows and even though their tech says it doesn't make a difference, I'm beginining to believe it does for the EOF errors. However, that still doesn't get rid of the security problems or the crashing eps-from-pdf problems.

What would PDF/X-1a accomplish?

vostenak

 

[jimoblak]

reducing the version to 1.3 if necessary

It is always necessary with Quark since their PDF import is so old and flaky.

PDF/X-1a is a standard PDF format that can be exported from Acrobat Professional and possibly your version of Pitstop. PDF/X-1a is PDF version 1.3 but with certain other specifications to ensure proper printing.

Check the manual for directions how to create.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[vostenak]

If I am having Pitstop change RGB and spot color into 4/color, reducing the resolution, and optimizing the file, why does the PDF/X1a designation have to be done? I've gone to that PDF/X-1a portion of the preflight and all it does is look for those things, which I've changed as a part of Pitstop or the preflight in Acro. I've checked the file and it is free of those kinds of RIP problems and there are no security problems, yet quark seems to think there is.

So, it seems that PDF/X-1a is siimply a quick way of searching for those items. What else does it do that could possibly affect import into quark?

I don't mean to sound redundant, but the actions I've taken according to their definitions do the same things as the PDF/X-1a designation. Yes? No? Can you be more specific as to what is happening then? Does it change the coding so that quark can read it?

vostenak

 

[jimoblak]

So, it seems that PDF/X-1a is siimply a quick way of searching for those items.

You got it.

PDF/X-1a is all in one simple specification that does not require you to fiddle with particular settings. This is why the standard was created.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[vostenak]

okey-dokey, I get it now. Just to add to the mix, I can import pdfs that are built in or from a quark eps in-house. The PDF/X-1a gave me an error about the page boxes. How could that affect importing? Remember that the pdf was from a doc created on amac and distilled in Windows.

and picklefish is a very interesting moniker. . .