Expert: James Fritz - 8/27/2009

Question
Hello, Mr. Fritz  . . . I design book covers. I have been looking for a solution to this issue for several days. In an InDesign CS3 (5.04) file, I have a graduated background from dark blue to light blue. When I place a graphic (of a law enforcement badge) over it, it look fine. The drop shadow feature works just fine also, following the contour of the badge. I have made clipping paths in Photoshop CS3 (10.0.1) and saved the graphic as an .eps. When I print this file out on the Canon color copier, there is a light gray-colored background in the box that InDesign puts in the file when a graphic is placed.

I read that I needed to have a completely blank background in Photoshop, so I went back into each badge file, and left them with the happy grey-and-white background that is transparent. When I saved the graphics, I left them as .psd files. In printing, that box is still there.

Does this have something to do with the shadows? Have I missed something very obvious that everyone else knows? Please advise. And yes, I was a Quark user.

Thanks in advance for any expediting of info, as clients are looking at proofs tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CST!

Best,
Rebecca

Answer
Rebecca,

You seem to be doing everything correct.

1. I would almost always recommend a .psd over an .eps anyday. (less trouble).
2. Inside PS, if your badge outline is completly transparent you should be fine. You can always refine the edge and feather it slightly.
3. Does the cover print with the problem if you do not use the drop shadow? If so, then the drop shadow is not the problem.
4. Try exporting a PDFX-4a file and open it in acrobat. Next, turn on overprint preview in acrobat and print it out.
5. If you are still having issue, you might want to build the entire cover inside Photoshop (minus the text) and avoid the issue all together.
6. I don't think it is an issue with the drop shadow, I think it just might be an issue .psd file
7. One last thing to check, is if you are printing out of InDesign, make sure you go into the print dialog box and choose graphics > image data > send all. This may solve your problem.

Sorry for the long winded answer, but it could be a few different things going on with the file.