Transparency Problem in AI CS3 1

[petejm]

I have made an element of a logo in Illustrator CS3 that includes transparency in the form of drop shadows, outer glows and feathers from the effects/stylize pallette. When saving as EPS, the effects blend into unwanted white boxes wher I intend them to blend into complete transparancy. When I place the file into Photoshop or InDesign the white shows up behind the shadows, glows and feather. This does not occur when I save as native ai format. Shouldn’t I be able to get transparency in an illustrator EPS? I there something I’m missing in preferences or something. I appreciate any suggestions from experts out there. Thanks, Pete McCabe

 

[apepp]

...postcript doesn't support transparency, therefore EPS files don't either...

...when you save or print to postscript you have to flatten the data, which in turn ends up as a white area to hold the transparency used...

...care also needs to be taken when using spot colors and transparency...

...your choices are to save to .ai or pdf, higher than acrobat 4 (1.3), then place that into indesign...

...quark is a different beast, and this is where quark is lacking somewhat...

...in illustrator ensure your transparency effect settings are on high (300dpi) if destined for print output...

...then indesign can handle the flattening when printing or exporting to pdf 1.3...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...to add...

...the transparency effects settings are under the effect > document raster effects settings...

...and really, adobe would rather people keep into native formats (same for PSD) these days as opposed to eps files if working in the creative suite...

...the benefits of doing so are worthwhile, of course some situations may need other formats...

...when flattening on export or output also ensure you transparency flattener preset is set to high...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...also, if you do encounter problems with transparency used with spot colors, you have to either:

1. convert them to process cmyk colors. (if viable)

2. view in acrobat with overprint preview turned on to see what your really getting and check the plates used via advanced > print production > output preview. (for on screen proofing only)

3. print with the option 'simulate overprints' turned on if printing to a non-postcript device such as a desktop inkjet printer.

4. verify that blend modes used are compatible with a spot color as not all of them are. In which case you have to build the effect in a different way so as to preserve it as spot plates and not process plates.

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...also an additional note on native PSD usage from Photoshop...

...when fonts are used they will become raster dot on output, the fonts aren't preserved, the only two ways of preserving fonts from photoshop are saving to photoshop pdf or eps formats...

...and in illustrator or indesign be careful with small typefaces under transparency bounding areas as they become raster dot when flattened, keep text you want preserved as text on a top layer above everything else...

...when compared, raster text ends up slightly thicker than that which is preserved...

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...forgot to add...

...fonts in PSD saving to pdf or eps will also only be preserved if you don't use 'faux styles' such as bold or italic...

...in any case, it is good practice to keep your font styles to the family style wherever possible...

Andrew