TRANSPARENCY Flattening and printing

[marybellfrank@adobeforums.com]

I help trouble shoot files for a small local printer and the use of transparency is driving me crazy. Mostly when people use it with pms colors. Screen values change when printing directly out of Illustrator or a placed .eps in Quark. Some files won't print properly unless flattened first and does the flattened artwork automatically change to cmyk values (and not pms tints) or are there settings I need to check? Is there a really good indepth source on transparency someone can recommend. Thanks.

[Wade_Zimmerman@adobeforums.com]

You have to wait for John Kallios to wake up! He is on the West Coast I think.

[Douglas_Habben@adobeforums.com]

A couple quick suggestions that may help:
If you must print an EPS placed in Quark, save the EPS from Illustrator CS. It is much better than AI 9 and 10 at preserving spot colors that interact with transparency.
If you are printing from Illustrator, print as separations, not composite.

[John_Kallios@adobeforums.com]

There is a lot to chew on in this post.

What version(s) of Illustrator are you dealing with?

The information to your questions will vary upon the version used.

Regarding "Screen values change when printing directly out of Illustrator or a placed .eps in Quark", is the Illustrator output different from Xpress output? Or, do you generate different outputs from within the same application?

What kind of device are you outputting to?

Do you have Acrobat 6 pro?

What color mode is the Illustrator file in?

What CM settings are you using for Illustrator and Xpress?

Can you send me a sample file of the screen values changine upon output?

john(at)orionprinting(dot)com

You can start here for resources regarding transparency and flattening. <http://busca.adobe.com/search?site=AdobeCom&client=AdobeCom&filter=0&outp ut=xml_no_dtd&requiredfields=&getfields=&proxystyl esheet=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adobe.com%2Fspecial%2Fsear ch%2Fadobecom.xsl&restrict=Adobe_com&q=flattening+ guide&x=0&y=0>

Unfortunately, any post I make regarding this topic tends to be lengthy and I am swamped for the next couple of days. Don't worry, others will chime in.

To take it one step at a time, pose a specific problem with steps to reproduce it to get more replies regarding it.

John