PDF exports not correct

I just finished reading the thread about PDF imports but I'm having a problem with X3, 12 and 11 versions of CD. The pdfs that I create do not match a printout from native pgm (CD). The fonts are usually smaller and alignment on the page is different.

Does anyone have any solutions??? I've had to export CD file to .ai to allow my printshop to have an accurate version of the file. IE: 8 up labels — when printed out of .pdf file they do not line up on the page in the proper format for cutting. The top of the file is accurate but everything else moves up as all the text is smaller.

Thanks for any help.

I know that one thing that can throw a platemaker off and maybe it can have the same effect on .pdf: if you have objects grouped and then drag the edges to fit and do not ungroup, then everything inside the group is a percentage of the height and width of the group. It takes a lot more memory for the platemaker to figure all this out, and it can crash it.

If your grouping is at 100%, it does not matter.

However, it may be effecting the .pdf also. Try being sure that there is not a group at a percentage of size.

Sally,
thanks so much for quick response. I'm not quite sure what you mean by group. But if you mean in CD itself then no. I'm cloning the first label to the other seven at precise locations on the page. I have 2 columns with 4 rows (not a table) that is just what it looks like. Each label is 2.75 high and when I clone/duplicate I have the nudge set to 2.75.

Well, none of that should influence the .pdf unless it isn't text, or is not a standard font.

Why use nudge, when you can copy and move with the transform palette and then use nudge for what you need it to do, move small increments to correct placement by eye.

Well, Sally, I agree the .pdf should not be distorted but it is. I'm guessing no one else has had this problem!!! Surely wish I could find a solution. It's gonna make me learn AI and I really don't want to. Oh well!!!

Re: using transformations,,,, I find the nudge much faster and I don't need another docker opened as I have the nudge on my tool bar. Much easier just to change nudge size than mess with another docker window and start changing coordinates there. Just my way of doing it as I was not aware of 'transformation' when I started with CD3.0

Do you have another means of making .pdf? Download for a trial Acrobat Distiller which comes with Professional and see if it does the same thing.

It makes no sense and my condolences to you if you have to use Illustrator. It is amazing that people can draw in it if you ask me. It is a sad fact that the will to achieve supercedes the ability of the person to hinder them from doing so.

But it is slower to work in, without a doubt.

Thanks for the reply,Sally.
I do have Adobe Acrobat Pro. 7.0. Does that count? Or is that what is allowing the ability for CD to create a .pdf file? I'm pretty ignorant of these things.

It does seem odd that you have experienced this issue in three versions of Draw.

I rarely use PDF's and then not in a professional capacity, however. Once exported from Draw a PDF is just like any other PDF created from any other application, including Acrobat Writer. It has no link with Draw and is not a Draw PDF.

I mention this because it is not quite clear from your original post if your PDF's export properly, but don't print properly. If this is the case, it is unlikely to be a Draw issue but more likely an issue with the way the printer is handling the PDF. If this is the case a PDF created from AI will not perform any better.

Sark

Hello Sark,
I have tried several different printer but, this should not be the problem as .pdf used the Adobe PDF driver to create the print file.

The only reason I've sucumbed to .ai is because the print shop I work with does not have CD but they do have AI.

I did print out the .ai file and in AI saved as .pdf and there the .pdf file page layout is smaller also. I looked for settings in the PDF driver and could not find anything that may suggest a 'fit to page' type setting. I'll have to do more research.

WordPerfect files converted to .pdf also produces smaller fonts. Seems to be shrinking the page.

For your problem, I may suggest perhaps not the best solution, but a quick one if you are short on time and need your work printed fast. Print your file with Adobe Acrobat professional (I think the 30 days trial will be enough until you gather around with your solution) or with macromedia flash paper
http://www.adobe.com/products/

Thank you Availor,
I do have Acrobat Pro 7.0 but the print shop does not. Currently I'm creating a .pdf and email that file to the print shop, they print on their end and then create a plate.

I'm not at all familiar with Acrobat Pro 7.0 and will look into that option. Will the print shop be able to print the o/p file?

Where I work, depending upon the press, we may need more gripper or on the side the customer was not expecting, so we will occasionally reduce the .pdf so that nothing cuts off.

If you print to your desktop printer from your .pdf, it should be the same size as what the printer will print. It may be this printer is actually reducing your file or it is their policy (because some customers have no common sense therefore all do --- this doesn't make sense but I have seen it in action with people who just would rather make sure everything prints so nothing gets printed the right size.

When you drop off your .pdf, have them print a copy for you right there so you can see that it is the correct size and make them understand that it will be rejected if it is a different size.

I have never had this problem. But I know that I must leave gripper.

inphoenix, I know your problem, and have experienced it myself with even large printing burues (whatever it's spelled :) I solved my problem sending them the small and simple (no need of installing) FoxitReader
A great small free app to read pdf files. Send it to your copy shop and they will thank you later, and it will solve (hopefuly) your problem.

To mention that PDF document has been created for printing. It has color seperations and exact measurements of your document.

Good luck :D

I'm posting you an example of my work: I needed to create small cards for students. 2100 cards to be exact. I made them with Microsoft Word since Indesign does not support many formula features. I made it into several small PDF files which then I combined to one long file. See screenshot.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/Availor/made.jpg

Then I had to make it into plates for the copy shop. So I opened Indesign and arranged the cards, measuring the plates borders. Each card is linked to a certein part withing the long pdf, so if I change something in the original PDF file, all the others are changed automaticaly (imagine yourself I find a mistake and have to relay all 2100 cards:eek:)

So this is the next screenshot:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...or/desired.jpg

After layed out, I created the last pdf which was sent to the copy shop.

End of project. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by inphoenix

and in AI saved as .pdf and there the .pdf file page layout is smaller also.

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I guess this does at least confirm this is not a Draw issue. My Mobo died and I'm awaiting a new one, so can't test my own setup just yet. Will do this, just out of interest, as soon as I'm up and runing again. In the mean time I can only wish you luck in solving this problem.

Sark

You are all so wondeful in helping me.
I'm going to attach the orig cdr file and the pdf file and let you see the difference. I don't think it's the print shops printer as the size changes here on my printer(s) also.

For some reason I still think it's the conversion into .pdf that is causing this. I've looked at all the help stuff and subscribed to another user group and am awaiting answers there also.

Wonder why the upload does not allow .cdr files???

I don't have Corel Draw so I can't open your file. I've opened your PDF file (seems very large for Black and White).

What size do you need them? (Please specify in CM not inches) I'll try to edit your pdf in Indesign

The width of each ticket is 10.795cm
The height is 6.985 cm
But that is not what I'm getting in the .pdf file.
Hmmmm!
Thanks so much

Hi, InPhoenix

If you don't want to use the transform docker, you can use the property bar or the transform toolbar (this isn't up by default, I leave mine up all the time and dock it at the bottom of my screen because the values I need to see are always there whereas the property bar changes data depending upon what you are doing). If when you have what you need to duplicate selected, hit the plus key (this makes a duplicate right on top) then make your offset onetime (find your x and y axis and add the values to go to the right, you subtract from the y axis to go down). This will depending upon what you duplicate first, mean one more duplication to duplicate everthing to move over to the right half of the page. Select all and then use the the property bar to add the distance and then it will move your selected items. And you never lost any screen space. You can see some of my tutorials for how to use the propert bar or transform bar to accomplish this.

I found that your file has more margin at the top than at the bottom of each lable. This may not be working out for the printer who may be trying to pull it from the bottom. People are wierd, they could pull it from the top, you have enough gripper. If he is using a specific lable, say Avery of a specific number, you could use the Avery template in DRAW and save yourself a big headache. It is located under your Page Setting in your options and if you are supposed to be using the Avery L7165, your settup is not right. If you are printing on a specific label, CorelDRAW has presets for nearly all of them, if you have a custom label, you can create the setup. The setup for a label is one up and the print preview does the imposition. You do not have to worrry about anything. If you had a sheet of 8 labels and you wanted different data on each page, you would then have an 8 page DRAW document.

Your settup is for them cutting the labels for you, in which case you will get square corner.

You have put a hairline outline on the text, if you remove the outline, the lines go bye bye, simply select those and assign them the outline, not all the text too.

If you have a reason for greater margin on the top from on the bottom, then it may be well to have the page set up toe to toe for each of the lables, and then your duplication is 1/4 of the page.

But you need to give the printer a version with your crop line, since you are using .pdf, you could use page two as a page to show the printer how you want it triimmed with your red lines.

Again, you need to find out the printer's gripper margin and how they are duplicating this for you. The second page will not print on the press, it is for the bingery person to see just how you intend for the lables to be trimmed.

When the lower part of the page is not printing because you have only a small amount of margin, there is a setting with .pdf which lets you use the printer's default margins, and this reduced the page.

Many printers use an old Hewlett Packard 5P and the gripper on all four sides is 1/4". HOWEVER, if they are printing to a desk jet, it can reduce it automatically if they are ignorant and do not know what they are doing.
By "ignorant" let me say that there are many useful things that experience and common sense teaches which are not taught in colleges. Most colleges do not touch CorelDRAW and do not know anything about it. Because of their preference for Adobe programs, they assume if it is coming out wrong, it is your fault (in this case it isn't your fault).

Pdf ordiarily does add a little extra boldness to all letters, but this is usually okay with the customers as it is less than a quarter point but will appear larger on uncoated paper because it absorbs more.

This quality of .pdf adding a slight thickness to text is the same irregardless of whatever you use to create your .pdf as is in fact an issue which belongs to the .pdf process, not CorelDRAW.

There are also other options if you do not want this added width. If you send them an .ai file, they should know how to use it, and this will not add to the text width.

In the meanwhile, there are other printers who accept .cdr files and who know how to use them. Who have experienced people who know how to print jobs they receive, who can look at the screen and make the right decisions on your file so that you don't have 10 headaches.

So long as there is a mental block with printers who look down on DRAW as second rate software, it is better if you have to use them not to mention that you are a DRAW user. This is a predjudice on their part. There is nothing inadequate in DRAW. Their people have no understanding on how DRAW works and the whole world should rush right out and bankrupt themselves buying all three softwares: InDesign, Adobe Illustrator and Acrobat Professional. You can do all of this with just CorelDRAW. DRAW costs less than buying any one of these. It is all about the money. Adobe is making a killing here. They have made sure that it is graduation requirement to learn their programs and there is no requirement to use DRAW. People who use DRAW generally either love it and don't want to use anything else or are Adobe users who never got passed their disdain to really allow themselves to learn it properly.

If they have learned CAD, it is far more like DRAW than like Illustrator, and it is easier to learn for one who knows CAD than who only knows Illustrator.

If the printer wants your business, you can ask him if he has a template, or you can get a package of the labels or have him give you one sheet, from this you can do your own imposition correctly for him. From what you have told me. Premade labels have cut marks on the surface, you'd need then to use an accurate ruler and just do the setup for your own template.

If it is a label CorelDRAW has as a preset, you again do only a one up from your page layout diagloge box, choosing "label" and then the appropriate one. You can even make a .pdf from the print preview, and if you need to give the printer a .pdf you can use Acrobat distiller as your print driver from the imposition print preview and create you .pdf that way.

If you have the CorelDRAW 12, Big book by Steve Bain, there are directions in the book for doing labels on pages 64 and 65.

CorelDRAW is complete software, you don't need additional downloads to do a label setup.

For those who already know how to use Xara, CorelDRAW is in most cases very similar, but with added functionality. DRAW is a highly customizeable program. One software does just about anything except for a few of the unique drawing tools of Xara such as vector feathering and italic brushes. There are some DRAW workarounds for these issues. I just prefer to use Xara for these things, and do my mulit-page layouts in DRAW as it is easy for me and I know the software quite well.

If you still need it resized and havent solved your problem yet, I can only offer you to resize the entire pdf, as I can't see each stamp size.

as Sally said, there is nothing you cannot do with a graphical software like CorelDraw. Nevertheless, as I promised, if you still need it resized either post only one stamp or tell me the whole size.

Its impossible to measure the size of each of them while grouped like that.

Quote:

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I found that your file has more margin at the top than at the bottom of each lable. sally

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If this is the case, just ask the copy shop to give you the exact measurements. I found your whole pdf file to be 215.9mm W X 279.4H

You don't have crop marks as well (I assumed you need crop marks for the cutting blade). Moreover, your pdf file fits into A4/letter page. As far as I know the plates are a lot bigger than that (unless you print it difitaly and not offset).

"Fit to Page" will follow if the last thing printed out of Adobe Acrobat was used and it doesn't mean this is the default for your label. Acrobat remembers your last settings whether you want them or not, whether they are appropriate or not. The graphics person at the printer you are using does not know how to use Acrobat and as often happens, blames someone that way he/she still won't have to learn anything.

When it happens enough and consistently to many customers, the boss will finally ask "What is the problem?" This is sheer stubborness.

It matters little if the printer insists on using "Fit to Page" when this is a setting he can easily turn off and it is not a setting you have any control over when making the .pdf.

Tell the printer NOT TO USE "FIT TO PAGE". Elsewise it matters little if they are printing to a deskjet or a laserjet or to a digital platemaker, because it is this operation which is scaling your page.

You are all so great to stick with me this long on this problem.
The print shop is not biased against CD. They really don't care as long as their sftware can read and produce the file.
They us a HP Laserjet 5100 (platemaker/copy/printer) machine. I'm not at all familiar with it other that it seems to be an awesome machine.

The sizes of my page are dictated by the print shop, gripper, etc. The lack of crop marks is only because they are on a different layer and if the form uses the entire 8.5X11 up to 11X17 page they do not want crop marks. Thus the lack of printing them for their output. I could/should have put them visible on the file I sent you.

The Gripper(s) are designated by the printshop and vary with page layout. Sometimes on top sometimes on one side sometimes on bottom. I just follow their directions.

They don't know/use CAD.

The label layout does not work well for me as I could not use crop marks with the label layout but now since they don't need them I'll try that. The form(s) are not actual labels as they are tickets left at the customer's home for service information. Corners don't matter here.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your time. I know you are very busy people and I'm so grateful for the time you take with me and others on this site.

I've been here since 2000 and love every byte of it.

The evening is my time I get to be a human being instead of a slave for hire. And you don't know how nice it feels to have someone say "thank you". Really.

A human being can learn to be an artist, but if you haven't full risen to the occasion of being a real person, one acquainted with kindness, good humor and the tenacity to hang in there until you've seen it through.... is that something you can teach someone? That part rubs off if you are impressed by the right people.

I've had other people who never faltered to answer my questions. Its called "Paying it forward".