Expert: Glen Demers - 10/16/2009

Question
Hi Glen, I have a couple of PDFs that I have pulled into InDesign CS2. They need to be 2-color files (black and Pantone 1795) only and some have red borders or a red line in the middle that are showing up on all 4 layers. Can I crop out the border or put a white box over the line and redraw the border or line? I don't understand how this may affect the printer and final output. I want to avoid bringing the PDFs into PhotoShop if possible. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Shelly,

InDesign files are usually flattened before ripping so that any elements that are hidden won't affect the final output. Redrawing the borders and lines would work.

To modify the pdf's into two colors (I'm assuming you don't have access to the originals that they were generated from) you'll need a program called Pitstop. It's expensive and maybe your printer has it and will modify the pdf's for you. A second alternative is to open the pdf's in Illustrator. This will retain all your shapes as vector but there can be reflows and font substitutions if you don't have the same fonts that were used in making the pdf's.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

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