Transparency flattener preset options – Adobe Illustrator CS4 User Manual

Page 430

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USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4

Printing

Expanded Patterns (Illustrator and Acrobat)

Highlights all patterns that will be expanded if involved in transparency.

Outlined Strokes

Highlights all strokes that will be outlined if involved in transparency or because Convert All Strokes

To Outlines is selected.

Outlined Text (Illustrator and InDesign)

Highlights all text that will be outlined if involved in transparency or because

Convert All Text To Outlines is selected.

Note: In the final output, outlined strokes and text may appear slightly different from native ones, especially very thin
strokes and very small text. However, the Flattener Preview doesn’t highlight this altered appearance.

Raster-Fill Text And Strokes (InDesign only)

Highlights text and strokes that have rasterized fills as a result of

flattening.

All Rasterized Regions (Illustrator and InDesign)

Highlights objects and intersections of objects that will be rasterized

because there is no other way of representing them in PostScript or because they are more complex than the threshold
specified by the Rasters/Vectors slider. For example, the intersection of two transparent gradients will always be
rasterized, even if the Rasters/Vectors value is 100. The All Rasterized Regions option also shows raster graphics (such
as Photoshop files) involved in transparency, and raster effects such as drop shadows and feathers. Note that this
option takes longer to process than the others.

Transparency Flattener Preset options

Name/Preset

Specifies the name of the preset. Depending on the dialog box, you can type a name in the Name text box

or accept the default. You can enter the name of an existing preset to edit that preset. However, you can’t edit the
default presets.

Raster/Vector balance

Specifies the amount of vector information that will be preserved. Higher settings preserve

more vector objects, while lower settings rasterize more vector objects; intermediate settings preserve simple areas in
vector form and rasterize complex ones. Select the lowest setting to rasterize all the artwork.

Note: The amount of rasterization that occurs depends on the complexity of the page and the types of overlapping objects.

Line Art And Text Resolution

Rasterizes all objects, including images, vector artwork, text, and gradients, to the

specified resolution. Acrobat and InDesign allow a maximum of 9600 pixels per inch (ppi) for line art, and 1200

ppi

for gradient mesh. Illustrator allows a maximum of 9600 ppi for both line art and gradient mesh. The resolution affects
the precision of intersections when flattened. Line Art and Text Resolution should generally be set to 600-1200 to
provide high-quality rasterization, especially on serif or small point sized type.

Gradient And Mesh Resolution

Specifies the resolution for gradients and Illustrator mesh objects rasterized as a result

of flattening, from 72 to 2400

ppi. The resolution affects the precision of intersections when flattened. Gradient and

mesh resolution should generally be set between 150 and 300 ppi, because the quality of the gradients, drop shadows,
and feathers do not improve with higher resolutions, but printing time and file size increase.

Convert All Text To Outlines

Converts all type objects (point type, area type, and path type) to outlines and discards all

type glyph information on pages containing transparency. This option ensures that the width of text stays consistent
during flattening. Note that enabling this option will cause small fonts to appear slightly thicker when viewed in
Acrobat or printed on low-resolution desktop printers. It doesn’t affect the quality of the type printed on high-
resolution printers or imagesetters.

Convert All Strokes To Outlines

Converts all strokes to simple filled paths on pages containing transparency. This

option ensures that the width of strokes stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option causes thin
strokes to appear slightly thicker and may degrade flattening performance.

Clip Complex Regions

Ensures that the boundaries between vector artwork and rasterized artwork fall along object

paths. This option reduces stitching artifacts that result when part of an object is rasterized while another part of the

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