I just had to print a 2 color job for a customer who created the file in PageMaker. The pdf file they gave us along with it was not seperating correctly (it was outputting black as a screen, even though Acrobat showed it as 100% in the seperation preview). Then I was having trouble myself creating a 2 color pdf from their file. When I did it, the black was turning into "printer's black" which is a mixture of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black instead of staying as 100% black on only that plate.
So, this is what I figured out:
Make sure the native file is set up correctly for the number of colors you require. Then go to the Print dialog and set that up as though you were going to output it from there, using the best ppd on your system. BUT, instead of sending seperations, choose Composite and print to a post script file. Use the best Distiller setting for your purposes and make your pdf. Then, when you open the pdf in Acrobat 6, you will have a composite of the job (instead of an individual page for each seperation) and when you view it with seperation preview, your plates will all be correct!
Voila!
So, this is what I figured out:
Make sure the native file is set up correctly for the number of colors you require. Then go to the Print dialog and set that up as though you were going to output it from there, using the best ppd on your system. BUT, instead of sending seperations, choose Composite and print to a post script file. Use the best Distiller setting for your purposes and make your pdf. Then, when you open the pdf in Acrobat 6, you will have a composite of the job (instead of an individual page for each seperation) and when you view it with seperation preview, your plates will all be correct!
Voila!