Adobe Illustrator - jaggies question

Author

jaggies question

Mike Teegarden

2005-10-05, 6:15 pm

Hi all,

I created a simple graphic in Illustrator CS2 that included a path drawn
with a pen tool then filled and modified with the gradient mess tool.
The file was placed inside an InDesign CS2 document and a PDF was made
(printed to file, not exported) using the specs from my printer. When
the page was printed, the curved edges of the graphic were jaggy. Please
advise what I am doing wrong?

I did not rasterize the file. It was saved as an Illustrator file.

Thank you,

Mike

iehsmith

2005-10-05, 6:15 pm

On 10/5/05 2:55 PM, Mike Teegarden uttered:

> Hi all,
>
> I created a simple graphic in Illustrator CS2 that included a path drawn
> with a pen tool then filled and modified with the gradient mess tool.
> The file was placed inside an InDesign CS2 document and a PDF was made
> (printed to file, not exported) using the specs from my printer. When
> the page was printed, the curved edges of the graphic were jaggy. Please
> advise what I am doing wrong?
>
> I did not rasterize the file. It was saved as an Illustrator file.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Mike

Is your printer non postscript?

inez

Mike Teegarden

2005-10-05, 6:15 pm

iehsmith wrote:
> On 10/5/05 2:55 PM, Mike Teegarden uttered:
>
>
>
>
>
> Is your printer non postscript?

>
> inez
>

It is a postscript workflow, and when I said printed, I mean PDF
workflow to plates and a printing press. I work at a magazine.

steggy

2005-10-05, 6:15 pm

Mike Teegarden wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I created a simple graphic in Illustrator CS2 that included a path drawn
> with a pen tool then filled and modified with the gradient mess tool.
> The file was placed inside an InDesign CS2 document and a PDF was made
> (printed to file, not exported) using the specs from my printer. When
> the page was printed, the curved edges of the graphic were jaggy. Please
> advise what I am doing wrong?
>
> I did not rasterize the file. It was saved as an Illustrator file.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Mike

I can not see what you did wrong. Maybe you would be better
of to export it as PDF instead of printing it to PS?
Sounds to me like an InDesign problem, well probably not as
problem but a question. With an easy answer I bet........but
on the other hand,

You might question the printing office. What versions
(Acrobat) are they working with? If you have CS2 did you try
the PreFlight in Acrobat?

Was it a pen made stroke that was jaggy or was there no
stroke? Are you able to show us the original AI file and the PDF?
--
steg

Mike Teegarden

2005-10-05, 6:15 pm

steggy wrote:
> Mike Teegarden wrote:
>
>
>
> I can not see what you did wrong. Maybe you would be better
> of to export it as PDF instead of printing it to PS?
> Sounds to me like an InDesign problem, well probably not as
> problem but a question. With an easy answer I bet........but
> on the other hand,
>
> You might question the printing office. What versions
> (Acrobat) are they working with? If you have CS2 did you try
> the PreFlight in Acrobat?
>
> Was it a pen made stroke that was jaggy or was there no
> stroke? Are you able to show us the original AI file and the PDF?

Final PDF was preflighted with Pitstop Pro. The only error I get is that
the document contains an unsupported gradient screen. Which I have seen
before with no problems.

It was made with a pen tool, and it was stroked.

iehsmith

2005-10-05, 10:14 pm

On 10/5/05 5:01 PM, Mike Teegarden uttered:

> Final PDF was preflighted with Pitstop Pro. The only error I get is that
> the document contains an unsupported gradient screen. Which I have seen
> before with no problems.
>
> It was made with a pen tool, and it was stroked.

I can't imagine, it should have been fine. I (sadly) don't have InDesign, so
I can't speak to that other than double checking all you settings.

You didn't rasterize the Illy file, so I don't know what would have
happened. As far as the gradient issue, was that applied in Illy or
InDesign? If in Illy, is the stroke in question above the gradient in a
higher layer?

I would ask in comp.publish.prepress, and maybe share the files with someone
there for checking.

inez

Constance Pierce

2005-10-05, 10:14 pm

In article <11k8bt5ke1ihmf9@corp.supernews.com>,
Mike Teegarden <miket@ruralite.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I created a simple graphic in Illustrator CS2 that included a path drawn
> with a pen tool then filled and modified with the gradient mess tool.
> The file was placed inside an InDesign CS2 document and a PDF was made
> (printed to file, not exported) using the specs from my printer. When
> the page was printed, the curved edges of the graphic were jaggy. Please
> advise what I am doing wrong?
>
> I did not rasterize the file. It was saved as an Illustrator file.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Mike

Dumb question I'm sure, but did you check your output settings? Make
sure that the Bicubic sampling was top notch (meaning NO downsampling of
images)?

Too, did you make sure that you had "High Quality" checked on in your
view settings? Seeing as how you're not actually printing to a PS file,
the view settings can affect your final output.

I, too, design for a magazine and found this out the hard way! BTW, we
now work from natives, not PDFs. PDFs often have unpredictable results.
One go, because we had a transparent image atop another transparent
image, the images on top of the transparencies had white boxes around
them.

--
Constance Pierce
principal/designer
pierceDESIGN
www.pierceillus.com

Mike Teegarden

2005-10-06, 6:16 pm

Constance Pierce wrote:
> In article <11k8bt5ke1ihmf9@corp.supernews.com>,
> Mike Teegarden <miket@ruralite.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Dumb question I'm sure, but did you check your output settings? Make
> sure that the Bicubic sampling was top notch (meaning NO downsampling of
> images)?
>
> Too, did you make sure that you had "High Quality" checked on in your
> view settings? Seeing as how you're not actually printing to a PS file,
> the view settings can affect your final output.
>
> I, too, design for a magazine and found this out the hard way! BTW, we
> now work from natives, not PDFs. PDFs often have unpredictable results.
> One go, because we had a transparent image atop another transparent
> image, the images on top of the transparencies had white boxes around
> them.
>

With help from many, I think I have found the problem. The transparancy
flattner setting in Illustrator was set at medium, not high as it should
have been.

Thank you all for your help,

Mike

iehsmith

2005-10-06, 6:16 pm

On 10/6/05 9:25 AM, Mike Teegarden uttered:

> With help from many, I think I have found the problem. The transparancy
> flattner setting in Illustrator was set at medium, not high as it should
> have been.

Ah! Congratulations. Checking settings is a PITA, but as necessary as it is
easy to overlook;)

inez

steggy

2005-10-06, 6:16 pm

iehsmith wrote:
>
> On 10/6/05 9:25 AM, Mike Teegarden uttered:
>
>
> Ah! Congratulations. Checking settings is a PITA, but as necessary as it is
> easy to overlook;)
>
> inez

Exactly. And I discovered a lot of people hate checking
Settings just because of that. Most problems they have at
the office I resolve by checking the settings (sometimes by
trial and error but ain't that life?). No I need to note
things down so I remember them for next time;)
--
steg

Mike Teegarden

2005-10-06, 6:16 pm

steggy wrote:
> iehsmith wrote:
>
>
>
> Exactly. And I discovered a lot of people hate checking
> Settings just because of that. Most problems they have at
> the office I resolve by checking the settings (sometimes by
> trial and error but ain't that life?). No I need to note
> things down so I remember them for next time;)

I think I will open a blank file, set it up the way I want and save it
as a template so I don't have to think about this next time.

-Mike

steggy

2005-10-06, 6:16 pm

Mike Teegarden wrote:
>
> steggy wrote:
>
> I think I will open a blank file, set it up the way I want and save it
> as a template so I don't have to think about this next time.
>
> -Mike

:)

I think there is also a way to save your settings Mike, so
every new doc will turn up with the settings you prefer. Not
sure how that works in CS2. Would be grateful to hear that
one though.

--
steg

iehsmith

2005-10-06, 10:14 pm

On 10/6/05 4:15 PM, steggy uttered:

> I need to note things down so I remember them for next time;)

It recently can off, but I still always keep a note taped to my monitor,
"RUN SPELL CHECK!" I still forget when I'm in a hurry.

> I think there is also a way to save your settings Mike, so
> every new doc will turn up with the settings you prefer. Not
> sure how that works in CS2. Would be grateful to hear that
> one though.
>
>
I think the document settings part can be set and saved with no document
open to be a default. Don't know about the rest though.

inez

steggy

2005-10-07, 6:15 pm

iehsmith wrote:
>
> On 10/6/05 4:15 PM, steggy uttered:
>
>
> It recently can off, but I still always keep a note taped to my monitor,
> "RUN SPELL CHECK!" I still forget when I'm in a hurry.
>
> I think the document settings part can be set and saved with no document
> open to be a default. Don't know about the rest though.
>
> inez

I still remember in OS9 you need to save the doc, with all
the settings as Preference file.
Dunno about OS X.
--
steg

iehsmith

2005-10-07, 6:15 pm

On 10/7/05 7:49 AM, steggy uttered:

> iehsmith wrote:
>
> I still remember in OS9 you need to save the doc, with all
> the settings as Preference file.
> Dunno about OS X.

Wonder if there is a way to change the defaults using a text editor?

inez

Constance Pierce

2005-10-07, 6:15 pm

In article <43455D33.9A5BC0C3@hotmail.com>,
steggy <steggy2001@hotmail.com> wrote:

> iehsmith wrote:
>
> Exactly. And I discovered a lot of people hate checking
> Settings just because of that. Most problems they have at
> the office I resolve by checking the settings (sometimes by
> trial and error but ain't that life?). No I need to note
> things down so I remember them for next time;)

There is a way to save the settings you use to create a successful PDF
export (if I am correct in assuming that's what you're asking??). And
remember, Adobe remembers the last settings used and reloads them . . .
sometimes a big help.

Illustrator ~ When you change the settings from "Default" in the Adobe
PDF Export dialog, go to the "Save Presets" button at the bottom of the
dialog.

InDesign ~ With InDesign open, go to "File>Adobe PDF Presets> Define.
From there you can set your PDF prefs and name it as you wish (same with
the method for Illustrator above), say. perhaps, Pre-press, or Magazine.

I use InDesign almost exclusively for magazine design, so I have saved
MY settings in place of the "Default" settings. Do this at our own risk
.. . . Same with Illustrator. It's a simp to go and change the settings
for proofs and a lifesaver when you're going to press . . . ( :

Have a good weekend!! ( :
Connie

--
Constance Pierce
principal/designer
pierceDESIGN
www.pierceillus.com

Constance Pierce

2005-10-08, 10:14 pm

In article <BF6BEF82.3D665%inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net>,
iehsmith <inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 10/7/05 7:49 AM, steggy uttered:
>
>
> Wonder if there is a way to change the defaults using a text editor?
>
> inez

Why would you want to change defaults using a text editor, when it's so
simple to click a few buttons and choose "Save Presets?"

I just might not understand the question, though . . . (-;

--
Constance Pierce
principal/designer
pierceDESIGN
www.pierceillus.com

iehsmith

2005-10-08, 10:14 pm

On 10/8/05 7:23 PM, Constance Pierce uttered:

>
> Why would you want to change defaults using a text editor, when it's so
> simple to click a few buttons and choose "Save Presets?"
>
> I just might not understand the question, though . . . (-;

I was only talking about the things you would set in Document Setup. But
then, I'm also in OS 9.2.2 running AI 9.0.2. I don't have Export PDF, only
Save As and Print/Create PDF, and I don't seem to have "Save Presets"
anywhere. I still print to ps file and distill.

My software is almost as old as I am;)

inez

Constance Pierce

2005-10-15, 3:14 am

In article <BF6DCFBC.3D7DF%inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net>,
iehsmith <inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I was only talking about the things you would set in Document Setup. But
> then, I'm also in OS 9.2.2 running AI 9.0.2. I don't have Export PDF, only
> Save As and Print/Create PDF, and I don't seem to have "Save Presets"
> anywhere. I still print to ps file and distill.

<my face is red> What about in Distiller? I seem to remember a button
you could use to save presets there??

I'm running Tiger and CS2 ~ I spend every available dime on software &
hardware . . . probably why I don't own a house or much of anything
else that isn't Mac or graphics related! (-: For me, it's the perfect
replacement for what others call a "life!"

--
Constance Pierce
principal/designer
pierceDESIGN
www.pierceillus.com

iehsmith

2005-10-15, 3:14 am

On 10/14/05 9:55 PM, Constance Pierce uttered:

> In article <BF6DCFBC.3D7DF%inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net>,
> iehsmith <inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> <my face is red> What about in Distiller? I seem to remember a button
> you could use to save presets there??

In Distiller I can set up my own joboptions:) Getting detailed specs from
printers can sometimes be a challenge though;)

To date I've never saved PDF or even printed to ps file from AI 9.0.2. I
keep reading posts putting down AI 9.x on comp.publish.prepress to feel
secure about it. Right now I'm importing AI EPS files into Quark 4.11 for
the production work I do.

> I'm running Tiger and CS2 ~ I spend every available dime on software &
> hardware . . . probably why I don't own a house or much of anything
> else that isn't Mac or graphics related! (-: For me, it's the perfect
> replacement for what others call a "life!"

Well, our mortgage is WAY cheaper than most apartments. But we are
month-to-month folks with no savings. Get a little ahead and then pay for
what breaks; back to zero:\

I'm dreaming of a G5 and new SW, but I have to earn it ABOVE our household
needs. For now, I'm running on a G4-350MHz-PCI/Yikes. Can't update my apps,
so running in Classic would be just an added drain. Now I'm just
hoping/aiming at an upgrade on ebay;)

I just found that trying to illustrator in hi-res raster is becoming near
impossible on my machine... paint a smudge stroke or apply a filter, then go
have lunch (literally), while it works on it. Hopefully it doesn't lock up.
I hope I can still photo-illustrate at hi-res. EESH!

inez

Constance Pierce

2005-10-15, 3:14 am

In article <BF75EAF5.3DF50%inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net>,
iehsmith <inezhsmithspammenot@earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 10/14/05 9:55 PM, Constance Pierce uttered:
>
>
>
> I'm dreaming of a G5 and new SW, but I have to earn it ABOVE our household
> needs. For now, I'm running on a G4-350MHz-PCI/Yikes. Can't update my apps,
> so running in Classic would be just an added drain. Now I'm just
> hoping/aiming at an upgrade on ebay;)
>
>
> inez

I bought my dual 450 on eBay for $200 (including shipping!) ~ I did an
awful lot of upgrades, though. New SuperDrive, extra RAM, addt'l HD,
etc. Now I've decided to upgrade my processor ($369 @ OWC) from the dual
450 to a single 2.0, hoping for increased speed and performance. With
Tiger, my apps are just so much slower, esp Photoshop CS2.

For what I've paid for my Mac and the upgrades and now this upcoming
upgrade, I'm fairly sure I could've gotten a low end G5, but I couldn't
swing it all at once. It's sort of been like buying a good quality
machine on payments.

But when it comes to affording it, my Mac is pretty much all I spend $$
on. Where other women are getting their nails done here, I'm lurking at
DealMac trying to find the best piece of hardware for dirt cheap.
Whereas other women here are wearing the latest trendy duds and shopping
until their eyes fall out, I'm wearing stuff that's held together with a
bit of duct tape and a prayer. It drives my hubby crazy, but to me, my
Mac is my life and my obsession . . . and besides that, at my age, I
don't feel like trying to squeeze my big butt into a pair of tight jeans
~ so it's old cargoes and tees for me.

At the risk of being nosy or a jerk ~ are you sure you're pricing out
your services enough?? Or are you working for a company? If you're
working for a company, and not yourself, even though I'm sure to get
flamed for it, I'd try a few freelance jobs at places like eLance or
Contracted Work. I got a lot of my regular customers there when I first
started out and over the past couple of years, raised my prices just
enough to do fairly well.

Right now, I make a bit more than I would if I worked at a regular 9-5,
have more flexible hours, and more freedom. There's more stress, though,
but the knowledge that I'm doing what I want more than makes up for it.
I can pick and choose jobs that I'm interested in, and drop annoying
hi-maintenance clients (for the most part). I still wander over to
eLance & CW from time to time to see if anything piques my interest, but
I never underbid other designers and I always price my work out so as to
be fair to me and my client. Too, most of those jobs are easy and quick
to do.

Again, not trying to be a jerk or offensive, but freelancing, if you
have the time, can be really lucrative and can put you behind the wheel
of that G5. (-:

--
Constance Pierce
principal/designer
pierceDESIGN
www.pierceillus.com

iehsmith

2005-10-15, 6:14 pm

On 10/15/05 1:29 AM, Constance Pierce uttered:

> But when it comes to affording it, my Mac is pretty much all I spend $$
> on. Where other women are getting their nails done here, I'm lurking at
> DealMac trying to find the best piece of hardware for dirt cheap.
> Whereas other women here are wearing the latest trendy duds and shopping
> until their eyes fall out, I'm wearing stuff that's held together with a
> bit of duct tape and a prayer. It drives my hubby crazy, but to me, my
> Mac is my life and my obsession . . . and besides that, at my age, I
> don't feel like trying to squeeze my big butt into a pair of tight jeans
> ~ so it's old cargoes and tees for me.

Yeah, we sound a lot alike in this way. I have never 'had my nails done,' or
my hair, in my adult life. No jewelry, holey clothes, 2 pair of Payless
shoes. I was delirious to find a pair of jeans on sale at W-M for $3;)

But I do have a bad smoking habit I have no intnetion of giving up, even if
I have to go back to rolling them. And the 7 cats + dog take some $$. They
are my family.

> At the risk of being nosy or a jerk ~ are you sure you're pricing out
> your services enough?? Or are you working for a company? If you're
> working for a company, and not yourself, even though I'm sure to get
> flamed for it, I'd try a few freelance jobs at places like eLance or
> Contracted Work. I got a lot of my regular customers there when I first
> started out and over the past couple of years, raised my prices just
> enough to do fairly well.

I sometimes price right, but frequently cheap. I've gotten a couple of low
ball jobs off guru.com (1 was from the former creativemoonlighter site, now
guru.) I'm a non paying member though. While on the cheap side, one of the
jobs yielded a piece I'm still pretty proud of though.

I had some 2 regular customers for short while, but one went out of business
due to problems in the market and a bad association, and the other fell off
due to bad health. This was all production work though. I can't seem to
break away from production work... need the money.

I have 1 regular client ( production) now. But where that had yielded
$375/mo., now it's down to $125, and she's not sure what the future hold
since Katrina. But she takes large portions of my time for the little $$.
Part of that is my fault; since one of her ad clients is a friend of mine so
I do work above and beyond for her ad. Plus, the woman loves clipart and
it's all this old B&W dover stuff, copies of copies out of books, that I
have a hard time making myself use, so I end up creating clipart:\ Then too,
I'm also a slow worker.

> Right now, I make a bit more than I would if I worked at a regular 9-5,
> have more flexible hours, and more freedom. There's more stress, though,
> but the knowledge that I'm doing what I want more than makes up for it.
> I can pick and choose jobs that I'm interested in, and drop annoying
> hi-maintenance clients (for the most part). I still wander over to
> eLance & CW from time to time to see if anything piques my interest, but
> I never underbid other designers and I always price my work out so as to
> be fair to me and my client. Too, most of those jobs are easy and quick
> to do.
>
> Again, not trying to be a jerk or offensive, but freelancing, if you
> have the time, can be really lucrative and can put you behind the wheel
> of that G5. (-:

I'm making my last stand at freelancing. At first things were looking up
with the 2 clients I mentioned before. I have no intention of doing design
or production as an employee EVER again. I rather labor. I need to get my
site finally designed and start self-promoting. I do need to stop
lowballing. And, I really need more creative/less production type work so
I'm not ashamed to show the stuff.

I'm totally depressed about a project I'm finishing up because I just
couldn't pull my vision out of my computer. Plus, bad communications between
my client (in Spain) and myself (in Louisana) caused me to lose the logo
portion of the job:( He got a low-mediocre logo from a local. I had to edit
it just to make it workable. Everything else went downhill from there. I'd
give him some money back if I could. The project has stretched out forever
too; partially due to my computer, then interference of production work and
2 hurricanes. ARGH! Just completely disgusted with myself on this one.

And as discussed on adg, I suck at selling myself. Wehn I do acidentally do
it, I feel like my client has made a mistake. I still haven't developed a
portfolio (even of mock samples) that I want to show anyone.

Since I tend to be way too candid, we should probably continue this thread
off usenet. (X-No-Archive header doesn't seem to actually work.) I'm
envisioning prospective clients stampeding away from me as I speak.
E-mail me without the spaces inez h smith at imagessence .com

inez