Losing Bleed Area when Exporting to PDF

[peachesQT]

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me why, when exporting to PDF, the Bleed area of 5mm is deleted; so when I view the new PDF it only has the original design (bus card) and the bleed is gone (which the printing company have requested.

Is it better to print to PDF; but when doing this, the output is very ragged.
I've also just read in another Thread that if using Print to PDF, don't use the High Quality Print. But no matter what I pick, the design still comes out ragged.
So it would seem better to Export to PDF but I do not seem able to keep the Bleed area in.

Read through the help files, but they give no clue regarding why the bleed area disappears when exporting to PDF.
...I have a headache

Can anyone shed any light on this please?

[steve.ledger]

The bleed area isn't deleted, you just don't actually see the same red outline when viewing the result in Adobe reader.

Just make sure you choose PDF/X for high quality commercial printing.
If you have bitmaps, ramp up the quality setting in the PDF export advanced opions dialogue.

See the (quick and basic) ppp.xar which has a 3mm bleed margin, then see the exported PDF is the same.

[peachesQT]

Hi Sledger,
I viewed the pdf you attached and yes, you have the bleed area.

I use XX 2.0f so don't know if that is the problem, but my PDF result when exporting definitely reduces the bleed area back to the original image design.

I will try again using as close to your settings as poss, given that I don't have version 4.

[raynerj1]

Might be a good excuse to upgrade...

[Know1]

Maybe try these two things together.

Go to File -> Print options and select the imagesetting tab. Click on Output printer marks and select the things you need.

Then when exporting to pdf select the Layers tab and select Include crop and printer marks in PDF document.

.

[peachesQT]

Hi again, and thank you for responding.
I don't have any of those available when I do a Print Options. (see image attached.

What I find so peculiar is, I have a design and have the page underneath to the same dimensions. Then when I add the Bleed area, it places it around the whole design/page. If I try and increase the page underneath to match the Bleed size, the bleed area moves around the new size and does not stay around the design.
If I increase the design to the bleed area, when I then Export to PDF, the bleed area is removed.
I have read the help files and they mention nothing constructive to show what is the correct method for ensuring you have a Bleed area.

I feel like I'm going round in circles getting nowhere.
Can anyone outline what they do for ensuring the Bleed area is viewable after Exporting to PDF? Because I must be doing something wrong.

[amoore]

The key is that the paper output size for the pdf "printer" must be larger than the page size in your project.

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...ight=pdf+bleed

[peachesQT]

Hi Amoore,
I've now got the bleed margin showing in the exported PDF but I cannot get the Print Marks to show. (Read the link you indicated)

Also, why does the bleed area show around the page and not the design.
If you increase the design to cover the bleed area, you need to increase the page print options (seems illogical).
You can just as easily do it by using a negative x,y function.
I would much prefer the bleed option to be attributed to the design and not the page size. If you have a page big enough to place your design centred, then having the bleed to the design makes more sense, than fiddling about with Print page sizes.
I only every save the design and not the page when exporting.

But still no Print marks showing either in XX or when Exported to PDF.....
I think this must be a problem of ver 2.0f.

Need to save some pennies for an upgrade, I think....

[steve.ledger]

Also, why does the bleed area show around the page and not the design.
If you increase the design to cover the bleed area, you need to increase the page print options (seems illogical).

Bleed-off allows your document to be printed over the edge of the page. The standard bleed-off distance is 0.3cm. The page size doesn't need to be larger, your design needs to be - and it has to allow for the bleed area, which is what the printer wants.

But still no Print marks showing either in XX or when Exported to PDF.....
I think this must be a problem of ver 2.0f.

The print marks don't appear in Xtreme, they appear only on the print output.
I don't have version 2 available to test, but version 1.1 can print these marks (and include the bleed margin.)
As Know1 mentioned, you need to make certain that they are enabled through the 'Image Setting TAB' of your printer options. If version 1.1 has this available I'd have thought version 2 does also?? Though as I say, I don't have version 2 available to test for you.

1.1 has no PDF export of course, so I use the freeware version of PDF Redirect from Xtremes print output dialogue

[handrawn]

just checked on my xtreme 2 - it only has the output and print layout tabs

this was the version in which xara 'dropped' pantones, only to bring them back in version 3 - I think they dropped the imagesetting for that version too

I cannot test printing at the moment sorry