Color Tab
Adobe Color Settings, Settings File: select the pull-down option – Color Management Off. This option disables all color management functionality of Distiller and Adobe’s built-in color management will not be used. By turning “Color
Management Off,” continuous tone images with attached ICC profiles are not automatically converted to a device- independent color space (Lab) and all device-dependent color spaces (CYMK) are maintained.
“Color Management Off” is now a standard “One Button” setting in all newer Adobe products. Starting with Photoshop 6.0 and Illustrator 9.0, all Adobe applications have the same “One Button” setting to disable all color management. In Acrobat 4.0, the setting to “Leave Color Unchanged” has a similar effect.
Device-Dependent Data, Preserve Overprint Settings: leave this setting – ON. This setting preserves overprint settings from applications, such as QuarkXPress, InDesign, and Illustrator.
Preserve Under Color Removal and Black Generation: turn this setting – OFF. This How2PDF guide specifies working with images that are in the CMYK color space (non color-managed). Therefore, any Under Color Removal or Black
Generation has already been built into the images.
Transfer Functions: select the pull-down option – Remove or Apply. The special effect of curving of a continuous tone image can be added through a transfer function. Transfer functions are normally used to compensate for dot gain and are output device specific. The setting Remove deletes all transfer functions from continuous tone images. Any of these special effects/curves need to be saved into the image prior to distilling. The setting Apply applies the transfer function to you PDF file.
Preserve Halftone Information: Leave this setting – OFF. Screening and halftone information can be saved into an image using an application such as Photoshop. In some RIPs/workflows this setting overwrites the settings on a high resolution output device. There have been occurrences when these settings were set for LaserWriter quality output which results in poor quality. By removing this information, the print facility controls their high resolution output settings for optimal results.
How2PDF Guidelines – © Quad/Graphics, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved
Quad/Graphics, Inc. Technology Group
May 2010
Page 15
Advanced Tab
Options, Allow PostScript file to override Adobe PDF Settings, turn this setting – OFF. Activating this setting allows the
PostScript file to overwrite your Distiller Job Option settings. Note that Distiller Job Option settings are desirable for producing consistent PDF files.
Allow PostScript XObjects, leave this setting – OFF. In previous versions of PDF (1.3 and earlier), PostScript language fragments (XObjects) could be embedded into a PDF. These objects could only be used for printing to a PostScript device, they had no effect when viewing on-screen or to a non-PostScript device. Adobe recommends extreme caution when using this feature, Quad/Graphics does not recommend it at all.
Convert gradients to smooth shades, leave this setting – ON. This setting will cause gradients to be converted to smooth shades and will appear much smoother when output to a PostScript 3 device.
Convert smooth lines to curves, leave this setting – OFF. Designed to speed up CAD drawings, this setting will reduces points in curves to speed the display and reduce file size.
Create Job Definition Format (JDF) file, leave this setting – OFF. This is a new option added in Acrobat 6.0, the Job
Definition Format (JDF) Specification is owned and maintained by the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and PostPress (CIP4). This option has limited capabilities today, but is the key to the future. For more information on JDF and its capabilities visit www.cip4.org.
Preserve Level 2 copypage semantics, leave this setting – ON. This setting deals with the semantic differences between
PostScript Level 2 and PostScript 3. By activating this setting, it allows you to image to both PostScript Level 2 and
PostScript 3 devices.
Preserve Overprint Settings, leave this setting – ON. This setting preserves overprints assigned by applications such as
QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Illustrator.
Overprint default is nonzero overprinting, leave this setting - ON. This settings affects how colors are painted (laid down).
By leaving it on, the underlying colors are maintained (not erased).
How2PDF Guidelines – © Quad/Graphics, Inc., 2010. All rights reserved
Quad/Graphics, Inc. Technology Group
July 2010
Page 16
Save Adobe PDF settings inside PDF file, leave this setting – ON. This setting will embed the Distiller “Job Options” settings used to create the file. The settings are accessible through Document > File Attachments from the Acrobat 7 UI
(user interface).
Save original JPEG images in PDF if possible, leave this setting – ON. This setting is used to pass JPEG images through
Distiller without recompressing them. Distiller decompresses the JPEG images to ensure that they are not corrupt, but it will not recompress valid images, passing the original image through untouched. Gained are performance and no loss of metadata or image data (compress/decompress/re-compress). Images must meet the following criteria: image at correct resolution (no downsampling) and no more that 10% image is to be cropped.
Save Portable Job Ticket inside PDF file, turn this setting – OFF. This setting allows you to embed job ticket information.
Most PDF workflows generate their own job tickets and do not require a job ticket to be embedded in the original
PDF file.
Use Prologue.ps and Epilogue.ps, leave this setting – OFF. The prologue and epilogue files allow you to append PostScript code to a PDF file when it is created. These .ps files are installed with Acrobat and are located in the “Macintosh
HD>Library>Application Support>Adobe PDF>Data” folder of the Macintosh and the “C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Documents\Adobe PDF 7.0\Data” of the PC (Microsoft Operating System). Both files must be customized before they have any influence on Distiller or your PDF.
Document Structuring Conventions (DSC), Process DSC comments, leave this setting – ON. DSC comments contain detailed information about the PDF file. These comments are helpful in troubleshooting and by leaving this setting on, you can maintain access to the individual DSC controls.
Log DSC warnings, leave this setting – OFF. If a file has errors in DSC structuring, the errors are logged into a file.
Preserve EPS information from DSC, leave this setting – ON. By turning this setting on, the DSC comments from an embedded EPS file are maintained.
Preserve OPI comments, turn this setting – OFF. When creating PDF files that contain embedded high resolution images, the OPI comments are not necessary. Embedding these comments can cause your printer’s OPI-aware workflow to fail. The OPI workflow initiates a search for high resolution images outside the PDF container when this setting is turned on. Preserving OPI comments can also inhibit effective preflighting.
Preserve document information from DSC, leave this setting – ON. This setting preserves the DSC document structure of the PDF.
Resize page and center artwork for EPS files, leave this setting – ON. If you drop an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript File) file onto Distiller that does not contain page size information (bounding box), the page size will default to the “default page size” setting located in the General Tab. When this setting is activated, Distiller reads the bounding box information of the EPS and uses this bounding box information to define the page size. The artwork will be centered within the document.
How2PDF Guidelines – © Quad/Graphics, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved
Quad/Graphics, Inc. Technology Group
May 2010
Page 17
