FHMX gradients in EPS file

[SimonBowland]

PLEASE HELP!!

I work as a comic book letterer, where the industry standard is Adobe
Illustrator. However, I've remained loyal to Freehand as I've used it since
version 3.1 and am currently on MX (11.0). I have to export my lettered files
as EPS files so they can be placed over the artwork TIFF in Quark XPress. All
works fine (the EPS has a white square behind it in Quark even when the fill is
set to "none" but if I export the Quark file as an EPS and open this in
Photoshop, the EPS is transparent as it should be so I guess it's a Freehand
EPS quirk) EXCEPT that any gradient fills, for example in a sound effect where
the colour is a red-to-yellow gradient, are showing up in the EPS so that the
gradient steps are noticeable, and sometimes there are black lines in the
gradient as well. The files print fine from Freehand, but from the EPS file the
gradients have this problem - same on screen when opened in Photoshop.

You can see an example here:
[url]http://www.simonbowland.wanadoo.co.uk/example.jpg[/url]

Does ANYONE have any solutions? My document resolution is set to 1200dpi and
this has made no difference.

System:
Windows XP SP1
Freehand MX 11.0
AMD Athlon CPU
512MB RAM

Thanks in advance everyone... I'm on a deadline here and in a huge pickle.

[Judy Arndt]

Simon,

In my experience, this is an on-screen anti-aliasing problem in the
application importing the EPS. Gradients are proprietary features in native
FH files. When FreeHand writes an EPS linear gradient, it writes in a format
a Postscript printer can understand and creates numerous narrow rectangles
filled with a solid color. These rectangles abut each other. When imported
and anti-aliased in another application, the blurred edges show some of the
color behind the gradient.

When opening an EPS with gradient in Photoshop, uncheck the 'anti-aliased'
checkbox in the 'Open' dialog for a smooth gradient.

I don't use Quark, so can't advise you there. Do the gradients print
correctly from Quark? Why are you exporting the EPS from Quark and then
opening in Photoshop? Is the final destination a Postscript printer or a
Photoshop image? I'm trying to understand your workflow. Seems to me you
could build the artwork entirely in FreeHand.

You can increase the number of steps in a gradient by increasing the
_printer resolution_ in the document panel. Not sure if that's what you
meant by document resolution of 1200 dpi.

Judy Arndt
--
FHMX 11.0.2 (Build 92)
Mac G4, OS 10.3.4

SimonBowland wrote:

> I work as a comic book letterer, where the industry standard is Adobe
> Illustrator. However, I've remained loyal to Freehand as I've used it since
> version 3.1 and am currently on MX (11.0). I have to export my lettered files
> as EPS files so they can be placed over the artwork TIFF in Quark XPress. All
> works fine (the EPS has a white square behind it in Quark even when the fill
> is set to "none" but if I export the Quark file as an EPS and open this in
> Photoshop, the EPS is transparent as it should be so I guess it's a Freehand
> EPS quirk) EXCEPT that any gradient fills, for example in a sound effect where
> the colour is a red-to-yellow gradient, are showing up in the EPS so that the
> gradient steps are noticeable, and sometimes there are black lines in the
> gradient as well. The files print fine from Freehand, but from the EPS file
> the gradients have this problem - same on screen when opened in Photoshop.
>
> You can see an example here:
> [url]http://www.simonbowland.wanadoo.co.uk/example.jpg[/url]
>
> Does ANYONE have any solutions? My document resolution is set to 1200dpi and
> this has made no difference.
>
> System:
> Windows XP SP1
> Freehand MX 11.0
> AMD Athlon CPU
> 512MB RAM
>
> Thanks in advance everyone... I'm on a deadline here and in a huge pickle.
>

[SimonBowland]

Hi Judy,

Many thanks for the reply. Macromedia should pay you. Or give you free
upgrades at least!

I'm unable to check whether Quark prints the EPS file OK, as I don't have
access to a PostScript printer until tomorrow (Tuesday). That's why I opened
the EPS in Photoshop, to check how it was behaving - and that's when I noticed
the banding problem. I've tried things like increasing the printer resolution
to 1200, increasing the Output Options so the maximum color steps is set to
256, and changing the Raster Effects to 300ppi, but to no avail.

My work flow is this:

1) Create the lettering in Freehand.
2) Export ONLY the lettering (not the artwork underneath) as an EPS.
3) The publisher will then create a composite in Quark, placing the high
resolution TIFF artwork on a Quark page and then placing the lettering EPS file
over the top, setting the EPS background to "none".
4) Quark file is then sent off for printing.

I personally could happily create the entire job in Freehand, but the nature
of the comic industry is that files have to be combined in Quark, using TIFF
files for the artwork and EPS files for the lettering. Industry standard is a
Mac/Illustrator/Quark combo, so I'm kind of bucking the trend using a
PC/Freehand/Quark one - but really there shouldn't be any differences.

I also have another problem: the EPS file I create from Freehand will NOT
display as transparent in Quark as it should do. It will PRINT from Quark
correctly, it will EXPORT from Quark correctly, but it will show up on screen
with a white box behind it - when it shouldn't. An EPS from Illustrator does
not do this. Anyone any ideas why? At the moment I'm having to open the
Freehand EPS in Illustrator, and save it as a transparent Illustrator EPS...
which as you can imagine, is a rather long-winded way of working.

Thanks in advance everyone!

[Wes Rand]

SimonBowland wrote:

>
> I also have another problem: the EPS file I create from Freehand will NOT
> display as transparent in Quark as it should do. It will PRINT from Quark
> correctly, it will EXPORT from Quark correctly, but it will show up on screen
> with a white box behind it - when it shouldn't. An EPS from Illustrator does
> not do this. Anyone any ideas why? At the moment I'm having to open the
> Freehand EPS in Illustrator, and save it as a transparent Illustrator EPS...
> which as you can imagine, is a rather long-winded way of working.
>
> Thanks in advance everyone!
>

I haven't worked with Quark in a while (if I remember I'll experiment a
little when I get to work. I think we still have a copy of Quark hanging
around) but have you experimented with the different EPS export options
to see if any of them come into Quark better than others?

[SimonBowland]

Thanks for getting back to me. Yep, I've tried every option possible when
exporting the EPS file, but the same thing happens every time. I seem to recall
it also happened when I was working with Freehand 10. It's odd that it will
print OK, but obviously the EPS has to be aligned correctly in Quark so I need
to see it as a transparent image. As I say, I can get around this by opening
the EPS in Illustrator and saving it from there, but I'd rather not have to!

[Bill]

Simon,
The only way I've been able to get a live gradient from FreehandMX to
Illustrator is to export to Freehand 9 format. Illustrator (v10 at least)
will open .FH9 without slicing the gradients into discreet solid colors
bars. You can save to EPS from there.
Sorry I can't offer a non-AI solution, but I don't believe one exists.

--
Bill
FHMX/Win98/Athlon2500+/512M

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 19:54:38 +0000 (UTC), SimonBowland
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> PLEASE HELP!!
>
> I work as a comic book letterer, where the industry standard is Adobe
> Illustrator. However, I've remained loyal to Freehand as I've used it
> since
> version 3.1 and am currently on MX (11.0). I have to export my lettered
> files
> as EPS files so they can be placed over the artwork TIFF in Quark
> XPress. All
> works fine (the EPS has a white square behind it in Quark even when the
> fill is
> set to "none" but if I export the Quark file as an EPS and open this in
> Photoshop, the EPS is transparent as it should be so I guess it's a
> Freehand
> EPS quirk) EXCEPT that any gradient fills, for example in a sound effect
> where
> the colour is a red-to-yellow gradient, are showing up in the EPS so
> that the
> gradient steps are noticeable, and sometimes there are black lines in the
> gradient as well. The files print fine from Freehand, but from the EPS
> file the
> gradients have this problem - same on screen when opened in Photoshop.
>
> You can see an example here:
> [url]http://www.simonbowland.wanadoo.co.uk/example.jpg[/url]
>
> Does ANYONE have any solutions? My document resolution is set to
> 1200dpi and
> this has made no difference.
>
> System:
> Windows XP SP1
> Freehand MX 11.0
> AMD Athlon CPU
> 512MB RAM
>
> Thanks in advance everyone... I'm on a deadline here and in a huge
> pickle.
>

[Ken Kehl]

Try the Quark EPS option - it's quite a ways down the export file type
list and you may have missed it. It *may* work better. If a
transparent background is essential at all costs in your EPS files, go
to FreeHand's Export preferences and turn off color EPS previews. The
B/W bitmap preview will display as transparent in windows apps. Be
advised that any opaque areas that are rendered as non-black in the
preview will also be transparent, but this is a display-only quirk.

If you decide that you like FreeHAnd's Quark EPS export - and it's my
favorite - you will need to edit Freehand's preferences file directly
in order to change the color depth of the preview.
____
Ken
ellipsis design
(remove the _xx_'s)

Help provided in proportion to information supplied.

Please respond to the newsgroup - it benefits everyone.

[Wes Rand]

SimonBowland wrote:

> Thanks for getting back to me. Yep, I've tried every option possible
> when exporting the EPS file, but the same thing happens every time. I
> seem to recall it also happened when I was working with Freehand 10.
> It's odd that it will print OK, but obviously the EPS has to be
> aligned correctly in Quark so I need to see it as a transparent
> image. As I say, I can get around this by opening the EPS in
> Illustrator and saving it from there, but I'd rather not have to!
>

I did a quick test at work and found that all the EPS options *except*
for Quark EPS rendered transparent in Quark for me. But I do have an
older version of Quark (4 I think without looking) so maybe there is
something different with newer versions. What platform and versions are
you working with?

[SimonBowland]

Wes, I'm on a PC using Freehand 11.0, Quark 5, Illustrator 10 and Photoshop CS.
OS is Windows XP. I've tried placing the EPS files over the TIFF images in
Adobe InDesign as well, with the same problem: they're not transparent.

So now, here's what I have to do with EVERY PAGE I produce:

1) Export completed Freehand MX file as a Freehand 9 file.
2) Open this in Illustrator 10.
3) Save as an Illustrator 10 EPS.
4) Open saved EPS in Photoshop to make sure the gradient blends are OK.
5) Upload EPS file to publisher's FTP site.

If I jumped ship and worked in Illustrator, I'd work like this:

1) Save completed Illustrator file as an Illustrator 10 EPS.
2) Upload EPS file to publisher's FTP site.

Soapbox time:
You know, after 10+ years supporting FH, I fear it's getting near time for me
to jump ship. Look at the speed of the FH screen redraw when using
average-to-large TIFF files. Look at the way FH imports and exports CMYK TIFFs.
Look at the fact you can't drag objects to the bottom right hand area of the
work space correctly. Look at the fact the panels jump around when you try to
align them close to the right-hand scroll bar. Look at the peculiar behaviour
of the screen when using AntiAliasing. I can't export FH-created gradient
blends correctly if I want them in an EPS file. This is a joke. I almost lost a
very lucrative assignment this week due to the nonsense over gradient blends,
and the nonsense regarding non-transparent EPS files.

Macromedia seem disinterested in all this. I'm outside my 90-day support cover
now, and I'm be damned if I'm paying any more money just so I can get fobbed
off when I ask for some technical support solutions rather than excuses. It
pains me to say this, but when it's upgrade time, I fear I'll be going for
Illustrator CS rather than any possible Freehand 12 release. Macromedia, you're
seemingly ADDING bugs with each successive release.

[EllieJane]

Simon, I have just started working with Freehand on a pc, in an office of mac
users. As far as I can tell, text (or whatever) created in FH, when exported as
an eps, will have a screen image with a background.

This is not the case with a Mac, it is only with a pc (I believe). BUT it does
seem to be just a screen effect, when opened in Photoshop, or printed to a ps
printer the background is transparent.

It is a clumsy thing I know, but the way I get around it in Quark, is to use
ITEM>CLIPPING>NON WHITE AREAS so that I can see what is behind my imported eps.

I asked the self same q here a while back - if you do a search for
*transparency* etc etc, you may turn up similar threads with answers.

Hope this may help.

[Wes Rand]

SimonBowland wrote:

> Wes, I'm on a PC using Freehand 11.0, Quark 5, Illustrator 10 and Photoshop CS.
> OS is Windows XP. I've tried placing the EPS files over the TIFF images in
> Adobe InDesign as well, with the same problem: they're not transparent.

Ah, so there's your solution: buy a Mac! But, seriously, I wonder why
there is this difference between platforms? It seems like Freehand
should be making the same kind of EPS no matter the platform. Are there
options you can play with for the preview image that is included with
the EPS?

> Soapbox time:
> You know, after 10+ years supporting FH, I fear it's getting near time for me
> to jump ship. Look at the speed of the FH screen redraw when using
> average-to-large TIFF files. Look at the way FH imports and exports CMYK TIFFs.
> Look at the fact you can't drag objects to the bottom right hand area of the
> work space correctly. Look at the fact the panels jump around when you try to
> align them close to the right-hand scroll bar. Look at the peculiar behaviour
> of the screen when using AntiAliasing. I can't export FH-created gradient
> blends correctly if I want them in an EPS file. This is a joke. I almost lost a
> very lucrative assignment this week due to the nonsense over gradient blends,
> and the nonsense regarding non-transparent EPS files.
>
> Macromedia seem disinterested in all this. I'm outside my 90-day support cover
> now, and I'm be damned if I'm paying any more money just so I can get fobbed
> off when I ask for some technical support solutions rather than excuses. It
> pains me to say this, but when it's upgrade time, I fear I'll be going for
> Illustrator CS rather than any possible Freehand 12 release. Macromedia, you're
> seemingly ADDING bugs with each successive release.
>

I've some of those problems and actually started to try to do more work
in Illustrator but encountered a whole new set of problems. Seems like a
classic "no win" situation either way you go.

[Martin Gamache]

"Wes Rand" <wrand@mac.com> wrote in message
news:cdmbju$24h$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> I've some of those problems and actually started to try to do more work
> in Illustrator but encountered a whole new set of problems. Seems like a
> classic "no win" situation either way you go.

Exactly.

[SimonBowland]

Macromedia's silence in this topic speaks volumes, don't you think?

[IOP_jamie]

I find that any EPS that the PC version of freehand can make (ive tryed all of
them) - is unusable on the mac Quark - but mac EPS (only avalible on the MAC as
an export option) will work fine....... I got a mac just to get the Export as
Mac EPS option..... maybe i should of just got Adobe Illustrator instead - ive
not used it much but i do love good ol' chipshop - now theres a program that
works well...... consistantly....

[David Plank]

I suppose that when you say eps files from FH on a PC are
unusable on the Mac version of Quark, you mean that there is no
screen preview. It should print ok.

Illustrator gives you a choice when making an eps. You can
include a PC or a Mac screen preview in different bit depths.

dp

IOP_jamie wrote:

> I find that any EPS that the PC version of freehand can make (ive tryed all of
> them) - is unusable on the mac Quark - but mac EPS (only avalible on the MAC as
> an export option) will work fine....... I got a mac just to get the Export as
> Mac EPS option..... maybe i should of just got Adobe Illustrator instead - ive
> not used it much but i do love good ol' chipshop - now theres a program that
> works well...... consistantly....
>

[Ken Kehl]

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 09:51:30 +0000 (UTC), "IOP_jamie"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> I find that any EPS that the PC version of freehand can make (ive tryed all of
> them) - is unusable on the mac Quark

What versions of the two programs are you working with? I've made
quite a few EPS files with FH9 on my PC and don't recall having any
problems in Mac Quark. FreeHand's Quark EPS export doesn't work
either?
______
Ken
ellipsis design
(remove the _xx_'s)