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• • February 13, 2014 at 12:45 pm #67166
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    I am having an issue converting my InDesign document to a pdf using the Transparency Flattener technique. As mentioned in the article on this site about converting text to outlines the right way, https://creativepro.com/converting-text-to-outlines-the-right-way-updated.php, I am following the steps mentioned, but I am ending up with a pdf file of 0 Bytes.

    Here is my system:
    MacBook Pro
    OSX 10.8.5
    InDesign CS5

    In my 10 page layout, I have placed a master layer on top of the whole spread. This layer contains a box set to a color with .1% tint and .01% Transparency. This layer then is applied to each layout page. There are 10 pages total. Each page contains type and complex art objects created in Illustrator and placed/linked into inDesign.

    • When I go to export to a pdf, I select Adobe PDF (Print) Format
    • I then select the “High Quality Print” option
    • Standard is set to “None”
    • Compatibility is set to Adobe 4 (PDF 1.3)
    • I set my preferred crop marks and bleeds
    • I select my preset Transparency Flattener
    • I hit export.
    • The file appears in the finder but lists it as 0 Bytes. If I click to open, I get an error message. If I don’t attempt to open the file, it eventually “disappears” and vanishes. Where, I am not sure.

    I am on a deadline and need to get this file output, but if I need to manually convert to outlines, I am up a creek as I am using rules in my layout and those don’t convert! Please, any help is appreciated.

    Thanks in advance,
    Marwan

  • February 13, 2014 at 1:13 pm #67167
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    What happens if you try to just export a normal PDF with the same PDF settings? I mean, can you export a normal PDF? Do you get a workable (but not-flattened) PDF if you export with compatibility set to Acrobat 6? Only Acrobat 4?

  • February 13, 2014 at 1:22 pm #67168
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    Yes. If I try to export a normal, hi res/lo res pdf, there is no problem. But as I am starting to look and wonder at what’s going on, I am starting to wonder if it is just taking longer to create the pdf. The 0 Bytes file is just in place because InDesign is building the file and it’s not “cooked all the way” yet. It is really odd that it would take so long, but there is a panel called background tasks that I opened up in InDesign. It is showing a very SLOW progression for the file. I am wondering if that is what’s going on?

  • February 13, 2014 at 1:30 pm #67169
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Ah yes, this could definitely take longer… it needs to flatten and convert. Often these PDFs are also FAR larger than normal PDFs (because all the text is converted to outlines, so there’s no compression going on). If it is still showing up in Background Tasks panel, then it is not done exporting (and would therefore be only 0 K large).

  • February 13, 2014 at 2:01 pm #67170
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    Well, after waiting some 30 minutes, I don’t think it’s going to come back ;-) This file is not saving as a pdf with the Transparency Flattener

  • February 13, 2014 at 2:19 pm #67171
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    Is it possible to create a normal Hi Res pdf from the InDesign file and then, after it’s been generated, strip the fonts from the document or flatten them in Acrobat?

  • February 13, 2014 at 3:35 pm #67173
    Dwayne Harris

    Member

    What was the completion percentage in the background task manager after 30 minutes? Was it moving at all or staying in the same place?

  • February 13, 2014 at 3:40 pm #67174
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    1%. It never really moved. I’m having a nightmare of a time. I tried to apply the transparency flattener in Acrobat PRO as well, and it failed. Not sure how to get around it all. May try starting a new doc and copying and pasting all assets from the old doc into the new one.

  • February 13, 2014 at 4:47 pm #67177
    Dwayne Harris

    Member

    Well, if it only stayed at one percent, then yeah–something is wrong. Have you tried to do a “save as” on it? Sometimes doing that will make the file smaller and strip out junk in it.

    Have you tried to make the PDF on a different machine?

    I know I’ve had jobs where for some reason InDesign refused to make a PDF that had a ton of art in it, but I could make a PDF on a spare work machine with no problem.

    You mentioned that the file includes “complex art” that was done in illustrator. How complex? Are you placing .ai files or did you save as EPS or something else? It’s possible InDesign and the Illustrator .ai files aren’t playing nicely together.

    Just throwing out some suggestions as I know how frustrating things can get when it’s deadline time and things go wrong. Good luck!

  • February 13, 2014 at 11:42 pm #67194
    Marwan Salfiti

    Member

    So, I rebuilt the file. I created a new one from scratch and moved in all of the elements per each layer. I also went into each of the native Illustrator files (yes, they were placed into inDesign as .ai files) and stripped out any unused color swatches and patterns.

    Then, I tried to export the pdf with the Transparency Flattener and it worked this time. Few things happened though. It created a 1.35gb file! and Acrobat Pro is having issues “reading” the file. I am sending it off to the printer as is to see if they can work with it. If not, I am also “packaging” the file for output (old skool)

    InDesign/Adobe really has to offer a better solution for this don’t you think?

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