Indesign pdf oddness

[bellinifan]

I'm using InDesign CS for pc.
Why is it that the export pdf generated is different from the one I get when I print to file?
When I print to file, my Distiller is set to press ready, the same as the settings in the menu when I export.
However the pdf Tif images always look like 100 line screen (or lower res) in the print to file process but when I do it the export way, they look crisp. What is up with that?
When I print to file in PageMaker, I never get this difference and I do it the same way.
Exporting a pdf from InDesign is fine except I can't export color separations which I can do if I print to file.
You would think the "print to file" process would give me the same results as the "export to pdf". It does in PageMaker...why not InDesign?
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[jmgalvin]

When you "print" a pdf the result is dependnet on 2 things, the Distiller setting and the print settings. To see this select Print, then Postcript as teh printer and Adobe pdf as teh PPD. Then take a look at the print settings. There are many.

Just yestrday, I had to run a proof of a letterhead. I printed to pdf and got grayscale where I was supposed to have color. Same thing happened when I "printed" a postscript file for distilling. I had mistakenly left the Output section of the ID print set to grayscale.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[bellinifan]

I use the postscript printer as you suggested instead of the Distiller printer and the ppd for Distiller (press ready). Still get the same fuzziness low res look. In Pagemaker when you print to file a composite, you can change default frequency to 133. In InDesign when you print a composite you do not have that option. Upping the frequency (line screen) makes the bitmaps better.
Again, printing to file and then distilling or exporting a pdf from InDesign should get same results if Distiller is set to Press ready. I don't understand why my print to file is not as crisp unless it has something to do with a conflict with Acrobat Distiller 5.

 

[jmgalvin]

Try one thing on the ID print dialog with Adobe pdf selected as the printer. go to the Graphics section and select Send Data - All. In the Advanced section select High for Transparency Flattening.

The screening is wierd, It does not become available on composite cmyk or rgb, but does on compoasite gray, unless you select a certain ppd for certain printers that allow this. It also comes up for separations rather than composite, so you can change that if you're making seps.



Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[bellinifan]

THAT'S IT!
Thanks so much. I tried it using the Distiller printer instead of the postscript option and it worked as well as long as I clicked "Select all" and High Resolution in the Advanced Menu.
I don't think High Resolution alone does it cause I tried that before. The "Select all" is the key.
Thanks much!