Drop shadows don't work over a spot color graphic

[Gregg Sewell]

Have read everything currently posted about the InDesign CS2/Windows/Drop Shadow experiences. Some have been helpful, but nothing has solved my own DROP SHADOW problem:
CS2, Windows XP platform
Product is 2-color, black and a Pantone spot.
Workflow for in-house prepress is to generate a Postscript file for our imposition software (Preps, imaging to film on an old RIP).
We generally create an Acrobat file (Distilling the .ps) for CYA purposes, but have been able to use that Acrobat file if the .ps file bombs.
Drop shadows have worked for us previous to CS2...even with the old RIP.

The current product is PhotoshopCS2 duotone placed in IDCS2, Text with drop shadow generated in InDesign. Drop Shadow is a Mixed Ink of the Pantone spot color with black.
The InDesign file DOES print to HP Laser Jet 2500 PCL 6, Apple Laser Writer 8500, and an Epson 8500. It also exports as Acrobat fine. No weird boxes.

Generating a good Postscript is another issue. Once I generate a .ps file and distill it, I have the drop shadow boxes in the Acrobat file. Testing with Preps has the same result. Old RIP is the probable cause.

I need a work-around. The product needs to have quick editing capabilities. The art is a Master that will be repeatedly SAVED AS for each publication.

I have made one unscientific conclusion: Drop Shadows do not seem to work if the graphic beneath the text has a spot color. CMYK graphics seem to work OK. Doesn’t matter if everything is on it’s own layer. Doesn’t matter it the graphic beneath is rastor or vector, placed or created in InDesign.

[L***@adobeforums.com]

Post by Gregg Sewell
Drop Shadows do not seem to work if the graphic beneath the text has

a spot color. <<




Exactly.

My experience has been that if the underlying background to a drop shadow is a spot colour, you will get the dreaded bounding box with a lighter coloured backgound beneath (when printed to a CMYK printer). This occurs whether printing directly from the ID doc or an exported PDF to, in my case, an in-house Canon colour laser. I even had it happening when the BG was NOT a spot colour, but very definitely a CMYK mix. I had to give up the idea of using a drop shadow for it to print correctly.

Other than confirming your conclusion, I cannot offer any further suggestions.

[Bob Levine]

Lyn,

Your observations, as you pointed out were to a CMYK printer. If that's
the case then like all other instances of using spot colors...DON'T USE
THEM.

If you're not going to press theres no good reason to use spots and
whole lot of reasons not to. This is just one of them. As I already
pointed out, drop shadows and spots work just fine on press.

Bob

[Bob Levine]

Post by Gregg Sewell
I have made one unscientific conclusion: Drop Shadows do not seem to work if the graphic beneath the text has a spot color.

I have made an unscientific conclusion also. They work just fine, but
you need to make sure that your printer's RIP and workflow is completely
up to date to handle it. You also need to study the effects of
transparency on spot colors. Not all blend modes will work.

I can assure you that using a drop shadow with a multiply blend mode
over a spot color will work. You can test it yourself by creating the
file and then exporting an Acrobat 5 compatible CMYK PDF and opening it
in Acrobat Professional. Turn on the separtions preview and see what you
get.

Bob

[L***@adobeforums.com]

Bob

I know that using spot colours is entirely pointless if the job is only ever to be printed on a CMYK printer. But if that's the only way of printing a proof, then what's what has to be used. And I wasn't confident enough to send this job out for commercial printing if I couldn't even get the PDF to print correctly. Especially if I have no control over who the final printer is to be and what sort of equipment they may be using. Where I work, all print orders are sent out to tender by the Purchasing Dept (stupid stupid idea I know but that's the way it is done) and they of course go with the cheapest. I do not have any contact with the final printer chosen at all.

[Bob Levine]

If you need to proof inhouse, try turning on simulate overprint. That
said, I assume that when you say you're using a CMYK printer that it's
actually a postscript printer capable of acception CMYK data.

Bob

[L***@adobeforums.com]

I assume that when you say you're using a CMYK printer that it's actually

a postscript printer capable of acception CMYK data<<




It's a Canon CLC5100 - PS3 colour laser.

[C***@adobeforums.com]

I have been having the same issues printing drop shadows (in this case over cmyk colours) through a RIP which is up to date. Have been getting the white transparent box around the image. The only way I have found around this is to export the file as an eps from Indesign and create the PDF using Distiller, instead of creating the pdf from Indesign. Chris

[Bob Levine]

Either the RIP isn't as up to date as you say or you don't have
overprints setup properly.

Bob

[S***@adobeforums.com]

Overprinting MUST be turned on to render spot colors with transparency. The Transparency Flattener requires it. There is no other way to do it.