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jamesrog · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 10:07 AM

Hey all,

I am hoping someone here could help me with a problem I am having with our files...

Lately, we have had a lot of customers coloring their grayscale images within CS2. Whenever I output the film to the RIP a slightly darker tint of the PMS color they are coloring the image with appears within the image box. It seemed at first like an overprint issue.

Anyways, when I run a proof to the Docu240 it shows up as well. Am I missing something here? I check my seperations within Acrobat as well all appears to be seperating fine.

Another example was a week ago when a customer had a circular gradient image that faded from 5% to 100% black and was placed within CS2. When I output film, the box containg the image didn't match the surrounding black which was at 100%. It was at a 96% or so.

Any ideas?
James.

pmkprog · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 01:33 PM

My initial guess would be that they are coloring the box and not the image.
Without seeing an example, it's hard to say.
I guess I prefer to set the image up as a monotone in Photoshop and use that. That way I know what I'll get.

soilworker · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 02:11 PM

That'd be my initial guess too, that they are coloring the box. Or they're coloring the image but there's no clipping path on it so it's coloring the whole thing including the background..... just a thought.

jimking · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2006, 02:11 PM

What's your workflow, rip? How old is your workflow?

jamesrog · #5 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 09:34 AM

I am on a AGFA workflow... running to a Taipan version 2 I believe. I have never had this problem before so it seems pretty strange. The proofing system is the Xerox internal RIP for the Docu240. Both are giving me the same results. The only way I have been able to correct it is to add a clipping path to my images. It is not a big deal for small jobs but for larger jobs it is quite time consuming.

I have checked the images very carefully in Photoshop and have found the backgrounds to be completely white around the images. As mentioned the boxes are colored to the specific tint of the PMS color in the background and the resulting film and proof produce a darker area where the image sits. Yet when I check my seperations in Acrobat it appears perfect. It is difficult thing to explain so please let me know if there is any confusion.

Thanks,
James.

soilworker · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-2006, 09:50 AM

I'm just gonna ramble a bit here...... if I'm not mistaken you're saying that what you see on film (forgive any potential ignorance.... I've never worked with film) and when you check the seps in Acrobat everything looks fine..... Have you checked the separation preview in ID? Are you using an unflattened PDF??? If so it could account for the difference between the two.... some sort of flattening issue if the file needs to be flattened before the film is made.

Clipping paths are the best bet but that's no fun for a larger job, even if you try to generate psuedo versions in ID. I suppose you could always try to use a blending mode on the fill of the image box in ID so that the color only affects the image and leaves the white background white. If that works you may be able to work it into an object style so you can apply it to numerous images at once on the fly. I'm guessing you might be stuck with the clipping paths though.

just some thoughts........ rambling complete.