Don’t fear the white lines in your PDFs created…
You’re working on a brochure under a tight deadline, and upon opening the PDF you just exported from Adobe InDesign, you notice thin white lines around certain objects. Don’t miss your deadline spending too much time troubleshooting the InDesign file. More often than not, those white lines are simply a display glitch in the PDF caused by transparency flattening in the export process.
If you’re concerned, you can check your file in two ways. The first method is to simply open the PDF and zoom in and out – if the thin white line disappears when you zoom in and out, it’s just a display glitch.
The second method is to just run InDesign‘s Package command (Command + Option + Shift + P); when the report dialog appears, make sure you have no RGB images in use. When RGB images overlay CMYK images, transparency flattening problems can occur. If this is the case, then you definitely should convert those RGB images to CMYK before exporting your file as PDF.
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I have had many conversations reassuring worried clients when they have received finished pdf artwork and have notice the ‘white lines’.
I have found over the years that the ‘fine slice lines’ appear consistently in CMYK only projects as well as RGB & CMYK mixed.
RGB images shouldn’t be a problem if you are working in a CMYK only indd doc (i.e. no spots), all of your RGB images are tagged (ICC profiles), Transparency blend space is CMYK, Your document CMYK profile matches your output profile (by default if using PDF/X-1:2001 standard).
I worked in a pre-press / retouching department and most of our projects used an RGB image workflow… kind of a ‘one file – out multiple device’ scenario. Great for repurposing to web, tv, large format print or offset print
In saying that, if you haven’t had much experience with RGB image workflows I would suggest sticking within CMYK workflows for safeties sake if you are outputting at a commercial printer.
typo: “one file – output multiple device”
When you zoom in and out the line might not always disappear. If the line does not increase or decrease in size or the line moves around it is defiantly just a glitch.
This is only a display problem, which you can solve by changing your display preferences. Choose the Preferences command. Look under “Page Display” in the list on the left. Uncheck the option “Smooth Line Art”. Press OK and the white lines will disappear. Afterwards, make sure the “Smooth Line Art” option is checked again, because otherwise your vector artworks looks jaggy.
Yup i’ve often wondered why this way when making a multi pg catalogue. I always put it done to reason 1) display issues. Hardly ever was a result of reason 2.
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