Expert: Amy - 7/12/2007

Question
Help!  I have designed a brochure in Illustrator CS and have used a clipping masks.  I have set the document as a letter size, 8 1/2 x 11 page.  However, when sending to the printer, who opens the pdf file in Adobe Reader, it is showing that my page size is 11.2 x 14.5.  I can see when I view outlines in Illustrator that it is altering my page size to the area hidden in my clipped mask.  How do I maintain the 8 1/2 x 11 page size, so it doesn't print this white space and increase my page size?  Please advise!  Thanks!

Answer
Hello Amy!

Are you SAVING as a PDF file or Printing to Adobe PDF?

There are settings when printing to Adobe PDF that allow you to crop the document at the artboard edge and/or restrict the PDF document to a specified size.

But I am not sure these same options are available for saving files as PDF in CS or any other version.

If the printer has Adobe Acrobat Professional, full version, he can easily crop the document down to the correct size using the Advanced Editing > Crop tool.

If you can't PRINT to a PDF and use all the PDF formatting options, you could always open the artwork that you are clipping/masking in PhotoShop and make the right size. If the offenders are vector paths, you can chop them in Illustrator and delete unwanted segments. The latter can get messy.

Write back and let me know if you have the ability to PRINT to a PDF versus saving as a PDF. Meanwhile I will look and see if CS has any other PDF options in the Save As dialog.

-Amy (Pace)