PDF Trapper

[Joe]

4 color photo with a black box on top of it with reverse type. Black box is set to overprint. The trapping is choking the reverse text. Optimally I'd like the CMY to spread back in the photo but I don't think that is possible with auto trapping and I don't want to have to rely on an operator catching this and fixing it. I'd rather it just do nothing than choke the text.

Anyone else seen this and know of a solution other than manually fixing it?

[almaink]

Set the black box to KO and choke it to the photo. If the black needs color support, make the black rich black and let the auto trapping set the keep a way. I never overprint black on 4/c photo's as the color is never even.

[Joe]

Yeah, that's the problem. It came from the customer set up to overprint. That was my solution to change it to knockout. Luckily I noticed it on the proof before I output plates. It would be nice if the autotrap would just leave it alone instead of choking it though. I guess my next question is how can you turn black overprint off on everything but text that is smaller than 24 point with Pitstop?

[tapdn]

I would love to know that too. I am forever getting files from customers with a black (100k) box with white type over 4C pic and the setting is to overprint. The pic shows thru the black and the white type in turn knocks out of all four colors. Takes a lot of time to check each of these boxes for overprint settings and "correct"/change them to knockout.

[almaink]

I do it on the rip, by checking Ignore overprint, then I set black to not overprint. It's one of the many things I like about RAMPage, I can also ignore white overprints for those pesky Illy files. Gotta watch using ignore overprint tho if transparency is used. The problem comes from the default in most page layout programs that sets black to overprint. Those in the know uncheck it in Indy, don't remember WTF I did in Quack since I don't use that app much anymore...

[tapdn]

I should have stated I work almost exclusively with PDFs, seldom get native files.

[Joe]

I should have stated I work almost exclusively with PDFs, seldom get native files.

Ditto. So I'm stuck with what they send me. And sometimes I will turn off black overprints or all overprints entirely but different jobs require different settings so I'm not fond of that method. Turning off black overprint entirely makes small black text printing on a background knockout and I don't want that either. I'd like a Pitstop profile or action list that can set all black to knockout except text under a certain point size. Not sure if it's possible though.

[almaink]

"Turning off black overprint entirely makes small black text printing on a background knockout and I don't want that either. " For me RAMpage has a text size option for overprinting, and even without that, if you have trapping on, black text will choke to the background and anything smaller than 10 point will be a virtual overprint anyway.

[Joe]

That's true but it still is not ideal. I really don't want to turn black overprint off completely. Sometimes I want it. In this particular case I'm fine with letting the black box overprint the photo because that is how the customer sent it. I don't want the responsibility of manually catching it and don't really have the time with the volume of pages that we do. They send it that way...it prints that way unless I can find a Pitstop way of changing it globally.  I'm more concerned with the white type choking than the black overprint on top of the photo.

[tapdn]

I did a 128 page real estate quarterfold job yesterday- one day turnaround. This thing had about 30 pages that I noted with like 6 point white type KO of a small black box over 4C photos set to overprint. Pressmen are going to kill me for having to try and keep this type in register all four colors, but I just didn't have time to open every one of those pages in Acrobat, click on the boxes and change them to KO. There were about 15 of these per page! You find a global change for that  (that doesn't mess with legit overprints) let me know.

[almaink]

I think it comes down to what you have to work with rip wise. Like I said I can handle these issues right in RAMpage.
But before I had RAMpage, it was all had to be done manually. Maybe Matt Beals has an answer...

[Joe]

Yeah, it's Nexus new PDF RIP. Will contact support and see what they say. I'm still very new on it.

[PrepressN00b]

Joe not sure if support ever got back to you on this. I just created a file and ran it thru Nexus 9.0.3 trapper. This is the result. If you need my trap settings I will be happy to give them to you.

[Joe]

Thanks for the offer PrepressN00b but we no longer have the PDF Trapper and we don't have Nexus 9 either...and probably never will.

And welcome to the forums.