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Outline Fonts via Transparency Flattener no longer works in PDF/X-4:2010

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    • July 27, 2013 at 10:54 pm #34421
      Frank Kremer
      Member

      Since PDF 1.6 and PDF/X-4:2010 works much better with live transparencies, it no longer uses the transparency flattener settings.

      That means the functionality to outline fonts while exporting PDFs is no longer available. I loved it when I read about it here on InDesign secrets and have been using it ever since. I now have to update some PDF profiles for my current printer who requests PDF/X-4:2008 and the option to choose a flattener setting is greyed out under ?advanced?.

      Any work arounds for this? I am not sure if I posted it in the correct thread.

    • July 28, 2013 at 11:19 am #34425
      David Blatner
      Keymaster

      You are absolutely right: You cannot outline fonts as part of the transparency flattening process if you’re creating PDF/X-4.
      However, I’m curious: Why would you want to? Any printer who accepts PDF/x4 is probably sufficiently advanced and knowledgeable that they wouldn’t need outlined fonts.

    • July 28, 2013 at 12:45 pm #34426
      Frank Kremer
      Member

      Thanks for getting back to me, David.

      This particular printer is of the “print-it-cheap-and-print-loads” variety. So they still specify to convert all text to outlines to eliminate potential problems that would cost them time. I send a number of files to printers overseas and never get to see the final product, and my clients don’t always know what to look for – so this gives me some peace of mind.

      The reason I like the better way of doing it via the flattener is that it does a much better job. I know I can do it manually, but then I loose bullet points sometimes and any stroke applied to text suddenly centres on the line. And I don’t accidentally save a document that I converted to outlines just before exporting. I also had an issue where a dingbatty kind of font would not embed when I exported as PDF 1.6

    • July 28, 2013 at 2:03 pm #34427
      David Blatner
      Keymaster

      Well, if they’re quick-and-cheap, then pdf/x1-a might be better anyway. Maybe if I were a printer I would have more sympathy for them, but in general I find the request to convert to outlines pretty pathetic. Especially if they can accept pdf/x-4.

      I agree that using Type > Convert to Outlines is very dangerous and should be avoided.

      For those reading this who don’t know what Franky is talking about, this is the blog post:
      https://creativepro.com/converting-text-to-outlines-the-right-way-updated.php

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