making pdfs from illustrator

Submitted by KrunkPony on Mon, 2008-03-17 22:27.

Member's Forum

So there are a few different ways to make yourself a print ready pdf from illustrator. I usually use "x-1a"s because that is what I hear is the best for print and my printers like it too.

1. Save as a pdf

I know this way probably isn't the best.

2. Save as an EPS then drop in Adobe Distiller

Seems pretty reliable and a good way to save those presets.

3. Print as PDF 7.0

I find this the easiest cause I can decide in there if I want crop marks, bleed, etc. It also creates a log like when I use Distiller. Is is using Distiller? Am I missing something?

Can anybody elaborate on this more and/or share some professional insights into this subject?

-Tiffany

Saving as Illustrator PDF is

Submitted by natobasso on Mon, 2008-03-17 22:31.

Saving as Illustrator PDF is just fine. You are allowed the x-1a format as well which rocks.

So why are you doing layouts in Illustrator? That's my next question. :) If you used InDesign you could export to pdf directly and not worry about whether or not Illustrator is doing it right. You get a ton more print options through ID as well.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

yes yes i agree...but...

Submitted by KrunkPony on Tue, 2008-03-18 01:19.

So yes, I do think InDesign is a better program for doing layouts than Illustrator. In fact on my own time I use it exclusively for layout.

But:

A. I only use illustrator for one page layouts never for multi-page.

B. I freelance at a studio where my creative director feels more comfortable in illustrator as she hasn't spent as many hours in InDesign. So for the moment its the easiest thing for us to use to get the job done on ads, collateral, one-sheets, vector layouts before they get into flash.

When in InDesign I never really exported too much to PDF—I printed to PDF as the files could be just as high res but smaller somehow by about 20%. With less chance of error. And if an error dos occur I have a nice-professional log to refer to.

Go ahead. Open one of your complicated old ID projects and compare the Print to the Export.

But I'd still like to know more. Is it using the distiller? Why is it smaller/better? Does anyone know more?

-T

In my 5 years of InDesign

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 06:08.

In my 5 years of InDesign experience, 3.5 of them in a high pressure production environment (too much work, not enough time!) I've never seen a .ps file ripped to Distiller come out smaller and more error free (and faster!) than just exporting to pdf/x-1a from ID. The beauty about this format is you can't output a file if it has errors in it. You can get as much reporting as you want from ID export as well.

Sure, you can print to a file and then Distill, but you won't want to do that when you have 20 files to get to a printer in a half an hour; believe me. :)

Also, Illustrator is a vector drawing program, not a layout program, in my opinion, and ID is best to use even for one page jobs. No, especially for one page jobs. Your boss should recognize how much easier it is to place files in ID and share them among documents (Illustrator's place function, doesn't even have a command key as it does in ID!) If you change a placed file, ID updates automatically whereas Illustrator's place function isn't as crisp.

InDesign's crop marks and registration are automatic as well. No more guides in Illustrator or making boxes to do measurements. That's in the past. :)

More here on pdf/x-1a format:
http://school.syntrillium.com/products/indesign/tmg.html

PDF/X-1a locks down linked files, proper color profiling, image resolutions, and fonts so that PDF files print predictably and consistently.

And here in the same article:

According to Scott Bolgiano, TMG prepress manager, although one of the biggest headaches in prepress — especially with ads — used to be missing fonts, that's no longer an issue with InDesign and PDF/X-1a. "We used to spend hours tracking down one font after another," he says. "Now we can see right up front if a font is missing, and it saves tremendous time in the workflow. By using the PDF/X-1a format, we know ads will print reliably, and that's half the battle."

In short: I've never had a printer complain about my PDF/X-1a files. Not one. Of course, you get best results when you prepare your files for output and don't do a lot of fancy stuff in ID directly like drop shadows and placed psd files. Flattened tif all the way.
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Powerpoint is not a design application

yes i understand the inDesign thing.

Submitted by KrunkPony on Tue, 2008-03-18 18:47.

Trust me at home or if I was creative director we would be using Indesign for everything. Its not my studio and therefore I do not have the choice here. I've already brought it up I'm not going to battle on it here. Either way we are still getting the work done here. Especially since our current image campaign is complicated pattern-heavy (The ONE thing that InDesign does not do better).

Thanks for the extra info on x-1a format. I have been using it consistently for a few years and its always good to refresh my mind as to why.

But my last comment on the EXPORT vs. PRINT to PDF (in InDesign).

If you try it really quickly you will see a big difference in size. And only the print to PDF way creates a log. Try it it really quick on any complicated ID doc u have laying around (10-20% smaller with the "print to command")

I'm not trying to convert

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 20:15.

I'm not trying to convert you, I'm just surprised your director is so stuck in the past. :)

As for the size difference I'll repeat, most of my files, 10.75" x 7.1875", always were smallest as pdf/x1-a files. Export is smaller than print. That's my position. I have made hundreds of each type of file.

Yes, I'm stubborn. :)

It would be interesting for you to compare your print settings to your x/1-a settings. I think you'll find the print setting has more compression to achieve the smaller file size.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

x-1a

Submitted by KrunkPony on Tue, 2008-03-18 20:57.

Nut you can do x-1a both ways. I'm not sure you are fully understanding me. I'm doing tests right now and printing to a PDF x1a always comes out smaller than exporting an x1a PDF.

Can you do a file both ways, and show me the settings and tell me the file sizes. Because no one in my studio is getting that result on any file.

And trust me, I am already an InDesign convert. I use it for everything, including as a billing program because I hope to never have to learn filemaker too much.

-T

If I had the time I'd come

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 22:29.

I do understand what you mean. Printing being printing a ps file and ripping it in distiller. Exporting being exporting pdf directly from ID.

I would try an experiment, but I don't have the time. If I had the time I'd come and work for you guys. :)

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Powerpoint is not a design application

Actually still maybe no.. A:

Submitted by KrunkPony on Tue, 2008-03-18 22:47.

Actually still maybe no..

A: Printing as a PDF directly (not creating a post script file and using the distiller in conjunction) Choosing PDF 7.0 as your printer.

B: And using the function under file > export...

Understood. However, your

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 23:06.

Understood. However, your pdf/x-1a's directly exported are set to embed all fonts and images. Printing a pdf won't give you the error if it exists will it?

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Powerpoint is not a design application

Not quite understanding that

Submitted by KrunkPony on Tue, 2008-03-18 23:11.

Not quite understanding that last bit.

Printing a pdf won't give you the error if it exists will it?

But printing a PDF has lots of options and on default creates a log just like you distilled it. Just without having to go through all the work of distilling it.

You did understand me.

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 23:18.

You did understand me. :)

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Powerpoint is not a design application

I always go for the no brainer way. . .

Submitted by ireid on Wed, 2008-03-19 02:07.

and saving a PDF is less complicated than PRINTING to a PDF. BTW how dos one do that? Would u need to install the PDFX printer drivers that come with Acrobat? In which case our artists in our department can't print to PDF anyway. . .

And this window is getting really too thin to continue this conversation. . .lol

"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda

I see printing to pdf an

Submitted by natobasso on Wed, 2008-03-19 02:55.

I see printing to pdf an extra step frought with the unknown, but if you set presets it could be almost as convenient as exporting.

I continued below so we won't have to get all skinny and one word per line kinda craziness. :)

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Powerpoint is not a design application

I just save as PDFX-1a

Submitted by ireid on Tue, 2008-03-18 00:31.

Thanks NATO for that advice months ago!

and I get ALL my crop marks and bleeds from there.

Never used distiller. Never had to.

"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda

New thread, related to our

Submitted by natobasso on Tue, 2008-03-18 23:20.

New thread, related to our current discussion...

You can output 7.0 pdf files for print, but many printers will downsave your files back to 4 to flatten transparencies and other effects. If your printer is okay with getting 7.0 files then that's coolio.

Here's a thread that exactly addresses your questions, I think, and I posted it on the link below, but I'm putting it here too to make it easier to find:
http://indesignsecrets.com/creating-pdf-export-or-use-distiller.php

and here:
http://www.indesignsecrets.com/customizing-pdf-presets.php

I was involved in another thread on cb on pdf/x1-a format.
http://creativebits.org/question_about_graphic_quality_in_pdf_files

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Powerpoint is not a design application