Achieving Reliable Print Output from Adobe ... - Adobe Partners

Chapter 1: An overview of transparency in Adobe applications
For many designers, creating transparent objects is not a new option. Transparency has been
available in Adobe publishing software for several years. However, in the early days of desktop
publishing, illustration and page layout programs let users create only opaque objects. Special
effects, such as transparent overlays and soft drop shadows, required either a dedicated imageediting
program, such as Adobe Photoshop®, which at the time required page layout artists to
flatten Photoshop layers and transparency and export files to nonnative formats (EPS and TIFF)
or manual prepress work that incurred added expense. Today, Illustrator CS, InDesign CS,
Photoshop CS, and Acrobat 6 Professional natively offer transparency features and controls for
print publishing.
Transparency defined
There are a number of ways transparency can be applied to an object in one of the Adobe publishing
applications. Regardless of how it’s applied, the definition is simple: transparency is an
effect applied to an object causing it to appear transparent. In other words, a transparent object
lets objects that lie underneath it show through. A common example of transparency is in the
use of drop shadows. A drop shadow should be transparent and allow any object underneath it to
show through the shadow.
Transparency options present new prepress challenges
The need to handle transparency and transparency-based effects (such as drop shadows) for
images, text, and line art is standard practice in high-end prepress environments. You are probably
familiar with handling transparency in Photoshop files; however, the transparency features
offered in Adobe Illustrator CS, Adobe InDesign CS, and Adobe Acrobat 6 Professional may be
new to you.
Adobe has implemented a transparency model that lets graphic designers apply transparency
and transparency-based effects to all objects in a document, including text, vectors, gradients,
and imported graphics. Like any new technology, however, these transparency capabilities
also produce different and sometimes unfamiliar results across applications, file formats, and
output systems. You may already be receiving jobs with transparent design elements that you
must output to match your customers’ expectations, but you may be finding it difficult to get the
desired results. This document will help you understand this new technology and enable you to
efficiently produce the output your customers expect.
Optimized workflows that use transparency effects
The Adobe transparency model lets users optimize certain existing workflow practices. For
instance, in the past you may have used Photoshop software to add drop shadows and vignettes
to images. With transparency-aware tools, such as Adobe Illustrator CS or Adobe InDesign CS,
you can directly apply transparency effects to any objects in the file. In addition, these effects
remain live so that when type is edited, for example, the applied drop shadow changes with it;
it’s not necessary to return to Photoshop to make simple changes like these nor to manage the
results as a separate raster file.
Transparency workflows
See Best practices for information about how transparency
may affect your production workflow.
To best take advantage of the transparency features implemented in Adobe publishing software,
you may find it advantageous to alter your current workflow practices. Feedback from Adobe
customers, like yourself, indicates that most output problems can be avoided by reviewing the
information this guide provides and making a few small changes to your workflow. The degree
to which you may need to study this guide and deepen your understanding of transparency
depends on a number of factors, including the following:
• The design tools and techniques your customers use
• The complexity of the jobs you receive
• The prepress tools you use
• The workflow techniques you employ
• The types of devices for which you prepare output
The rest of this chapter presents an overview about how you can create transparency in Adobe
publishing applications.
Achieving reliable print output from Adobe
applications when using transparency
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