Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 9/30/2008

Question
Hello,
I have run into the problem and hope you can help. I've been designing graphics for large format printers for 3 years now and never had this problem. All files are created in Illustrator with occasional use of embedded transparent .psd files. Usually the art has some filters applied, such as drop shadow or glow. I flatten the files with high resolution preset and save as pdf without downsampling before it goes to print. My new customer has a problem with boxes, which appear to be clipping masks. colors have a slightly different shade inside of those boxes. Pattern tiles show white border around. Not only on the screen, but in print too. My suspicion is that Wasatch RIP has a wrong setting somewhere and it does not read pdf's correctly. Could anything be done in Illustrator to avoid this? I use PC Adobe CS2, customer - MAC and CS3. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Maria,

Im not sure if it is the RIP that has an incorrect setting.

This was a common issue with transparency and Postscript before CS3 and Illustrator was a known perp. However, this was remedied a long time ago with updates and such. I would have them check for updates in Illustrator and make sure that they have run them all.

Another issue you should watch for in case it hasn't come up yet is the same error will bold fonts with what looks like a .25 pt stroke.

Again, without knowing their system and how it is handling the files, its hard to find the error.

The other thought I had on this is to make sure that they are using your PDF settings and not something they threw together or worst case, using a distiller.

If you get more information, let me know and I can do some more research.

Thanks

Kevin