PDF export displaying ellipse/shape boundaries

[mwenz]

PDFX isn't an option for some types of work. I could care less what a printer requests.

This card design is an example. I have attached two screen shots of a close up of an issue where converting the PDF inside of Acrobat blows up the design elements.

PDF 1.5 is the screen shot named: pdf_1-5.png
PDFX-1a is the screen shot of the converted 1.5 version and is named: pdf_x1a.png

See the ghosting of the rays that ought to be behind the sun?

In any case, this is from a post I did on another board concerning transparency, vector elements and flattening.

Take care, Mike
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From Adobe:

Types of transparency

Transparency in Adobe publishing applications is referred to as either live or flattened. As a general rule, files that contain live transparency are more desirable due to their device independence and the ease with which they can be edited.

Live transparency

The transparency attributes of objects created in Adobe publishing applications stay live and fully editable while in their native applications. While not editable, transparency will remain live in non-native applications that support the native file format (such as PDF 1.4, 1.5, and 1.6). Transparency attributes are considered live because they can interact with objects that are placed beneath them, allowing those objects to show through the transparency. The use of live transparency in a file gives it a very high degree of device independence because the transparent elements are maintained as vector art rather than raster images with a fixed resolution.

The following file formats can contain live transparency:

• .AI: Adobe Illustrator 9, 10, CS, and CS2
• .INDD: Adobe InDesign 2, CS, and CS2
• .PSD: Adobe Photoshop 6, 7, CS, and CS2
• .PDF: Adobe PDF 1.4, 1.5, and 1.6 (Acrobat 5, 6, and 7)
• .TIFF: Version 6 (TIFF files saved from Photoshop 6 or later)

Flattened transparency

Transparency is flattened when a file containing live transparency is converted into a format that doesn’t support live transparency or the file is printed. Conversion is the job of the Flattener. During the flattening process, the Flattener replaces transparent objects with objects that are visually equivalent to the transparent originals, but contain no transparency. These new opaque objects are often referred to as flattened transparency. Flattened transparency does not contain any live transparent elements and, therefore, cannot be manipulated. If you think it may be necessary to make changes to the artwork after the flattening process has taken place, make sure to save a copy of the unflattened artwork for future editing.

The following common file types do not support live transparency (the Flattener must flatten transparent objects prior to printing or exporting): PostScript, EPS, DCS, PDF 1.3 and earlier, PDF/X, GIF, JPEG, BMP, and versions of TIFF that do not conform to the TIFF 6.0 specification (for example, TIFF files created with a version of Photoshop software prior to version 6.0).
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And there's a bunch more. The live transparency from within a particular application can become a flattened transparency due to the type of object as well.

For your reading plasure:

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/cr...ansparency.pdf

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/cr...cs3ip_pdfx.pdf