FH gradient prints ugly as PDF

[Bernd Matzner]

Hello,

I have a large gradient (pantone tone from 100% to 70% tint) that prints in
a pinstripe look to PDF using Distiller. Looks like instead of the gradient
there are segments of one color that are fading in the direcion of the
gradient.
Even tried exporting to EPS first, reimported, but it doesn't look good. I
need that gradient to be flexible though in size, so using a bitmap won't
do.
FH MX 11.0.2 with Adobe Distiller 5.0.5 on Win 2000 SP4.

Known problem? Workaround?

sorry for being short - deadline coming up... ;-)

Thanks,
Bernd

[eddie cathey]

Hi there,

I may not understand -- but is the amount of difference between 100% and 70%
enough for the span or length of the fill area. For instance, if your gradient
fill area goes all the way across a 8.5" page, you may be ok if starting color
is 100% black and ending color is 10% black (that is a lot of difference)
however under the same scenario, if your starting color is 100% black and your
ending color is 80% black, you will have some banding problems more than
likely.

steddie




Bernd Matzner wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have a large gradient (pantone tone from 100% to 70% tint) that prints in
> a pinstripe look to PDF using Distiller. Looks like instead of the gradient
> there are segments of one color that are fading in the direcion of the
> gradient.
> Even tried exporting to EPS first, reimported, but it doesn't look good. I
> need that gradient to be flexible though in size, so using a bitmap won't
> do.
> FH MX 11.0.2 with Adobe Distiller 5.0.5 on Win 2000 SP4.
>
> Known problem? Workaround?
>
> sorry for being short - deadline coming up... ;-)
>
> Thanks,
> Bernd

[Bernd Matzner]

Hi there,

thanks for your response.

>, if your starting color is 100% black and your
> ending color is 80% black, you will have some banding problems more than
> likely.

Well, it's a fill of about 6'' with 100% blue to 70% blue. If it's normal to
have that kind of result it doesn't make sense to use gradients
alltogether - i was wondering whether making some changes to a ppt setting
would help.

[Odysseus]

In article <c7ehjd$c7j$1@forums.macromedia.com>,
"Bernd Matzner" <matzner@salz-berlin.de> wrote:

> Well, it's a fill of about 6'' with 100% blue to 70% blue. If it's normal to
> have that kind of result it doesn't make sense to use gradients
> alltogether - i was wondering whether making some changes to a ppt setting
> would help.

That should make the bands a little under 6 points wide on a standard
PostScript printer capable of generating 256 distinct shades of grey, so
I doubt that the length is the problem. Moreover the eye is much less
sensitive to tonal differences in the dark end of the range as compared
to the lighter shades.

What is your document resolution? Too low a value and FH will 'skimp' on
the number of steps in the gradient: it should be 2400 dpi or higher in
order to get the best possible quality. If it's only 300 dpi I wouldn't
be surprised if you were only getting a dozen or so steps instead of the
more than 75 you should be seeing.

BTW, rasterized gradients needn't be very high in resolution, as there's
no sharp detail in them to start with. By the same token they're quite
insensitive to scaling artefacts in comparison to typical photographic
images. Adding a little dithered noise can greatly reduce the appearance
of banding, as it disrupts the straight lines that cue the eye to see
distinct tints on either side of a transition. But of course they still
take up much more disk space than an equivalent vector object would.

--
Odysseus

[Bernd Matzner]

Great input - I will probably resort to using a bitmap for this sort of
thing. The client just chose a different design approach anyway, so no
hassle here. I'm probably too much of a web type'o guy - guess that sort of
subtle shade I created using that gradient wouldn't print consistently
anyway in newspapers etc.

Thanks,
Bernd

[Rich Hudgins]

The first thing to realize is that when something is made into a PDF
there is no more gradient, only a series of lines making the look of a
gradient. If you turn off "Smooth Line Art" under Acrobat Reader display
preferences the lines will go away. That's all it is, a by product of
on-screen anti-aliasing all those hundreds/thousands of lines making up
the gradient.

It should print without the lines.

Rich

Bernd Matzner wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I have a large gradient (pantone tone from 100% to 70% tint) that prints in
> a pinstripe look to PDF using Distiller. Looks like instead of the gradient
> there are segments of one color that are fading in the direcion of the
> gradient.
> Even tried exporting to EPS first, reimported, but it doesn't look good. I
> need that gradient to be flexible though in size, so using a bitmap won't
> do.
> FH MX 11.0.2 with Adobe Distiller 5.0.5 on Win 2000 SP4.
>
> Known problem? Workaround?
>
> sorry for being short - deadline coming up... ;-)
>
> Thanks,
> Bernd
>
>