About a year ago, when InDesign CS3 arrived, it brought with it a host of new ways to create transparency effects, using the new Effects panel. However, the question always comes up, “But will it print?”
At the same time that the Effects panel arrived, the solution to the printing problem arrived as well. This was the ability of InDesign to create PDF/X-4 files with a PDF preset which preserved the transparency effects, rather than flattening them. (Previous versions of InDesign can export PDF files with transparency by selecting Acrobat 5 compatibility but without supporting the PDF/X standard.) I wrote about this just after InDesign CS3 came out. What makes this solution useful and important is the arrival of new printing technology from Adobe called the Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE). The APPE can natively render PDF files. Previous CPSI RIPs converted PDF into PostScript before rendering them. APPE supports live transparency as well as device independence (RGB to CMYK conversion and screening done at printing time), support for ICC profiles, and greater speed.
The Adobe PDF Print Engine isn’t something you can go out and buy off the shelf. It’s a Software Development Kit (SDK) that Adobe licenses to its printing partners to build into their next generation PDF RIPs and print workflow systems. And last year, commercial printers all over the world began purchasing those RIPs. James Wamser, senior trainer at Sells Printing in Wisconsin, was interviewed by Tim Cole in his blog about their Prinergy 4 system that includes an Adobe PDF Print Engine RIP. Here are a couple excerpts:
James Wamser: The thing I used to hear at previous InDesign and Creative Suite conferences–and that I used to agree with–was speakers saying, “Just because Adobe gives you all these [transparency] options, it doesn’t mean you should actually use them.” Now you don’t have to say that. You can say, “Yeah, use your gradient feathers, use all the effects built into CS3 with confidence in knowing that they’re going to RIP properly. So, that’s a huge benefit to them as designers, and it also enables us to deliver proofs on time that are correct.
* * *
Tim Cole: Do you think the PDF Print Engine benefits you more or the customer? How do you convince them that it’s in their interest to give you an unflattened PDF with which to work?
James Wamser: Well, they know they’re better off, because they don’t receive the phone calls saying, “Hey, we had a problem with your files…” They won’t necessarily notice a difference when they see the proof, but they’ll eventually say, “You guys didn’t have any problems with my files, and in the past you used to run into some…” So, although it’s more of a big leap forward for prepress people, customers now have the confidence that no matter what they throw at us in terms of transparency effects, they know it’s going to work.
According to Mark Lewiecki, Senior Product Manager for APPE, there are now over 2000 installations of the PDF Print Engine around the world. “Many of these systems include both PostScript and APPE. After carefully testing APPE, some reports from users indicate that they have switched to APPE for the majority of their work.” You’ll find most of the installations at larger printers with modern computer-to-plate printing systems from Heidelberg, Agfa, Fujifilm, Kodak, Screen, and Xante. He also reported that “some of the workflow/proofing vendors like Dalim and GMG are also beginning to adopt APPE.”
James reports that for printers, APPE helps them avoid all the problems that can occur with flattened transparency (like having a customer choose the incorrect flattener preset) and greater flexibility in print workflow:
Tim Cole: Do you recommend unflattened PDF because of the fact that flattened PDF is device dependent, and therefore limiting in terms of production options?
James Wamser: That definitely plays a role, because once you flatten a PDF, you’re commited to one production path. Not only is the resolution set at the time of flattening, but the color conversions are done at that time as well. There’s lots of options when you don’t flatten a PDF, including when the file is actually ripped.
I’ll cover some more details about the advantages of an APPE workflow, such as keeping live transparency and device-independent color, in another blog posting.
This article was last modified on December 18, 2021
This article was first published on April 8, 2008
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