How to print PDF containing transparency and layered graphics keeping non vector images quality

Flattening may be necessary when you print or when you save or export to other formats that don’t support transparency. To retain transparency without flattening when you create PDF files, save your file as Adobe PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5.0) or later.

I don't want to flatten my images

Is there any free non PostScript(garbage) printer so I can print in PDF version >= 1.4?

asked Jul 31, 2017 at 21:57 1,971 10 10 gold badges 31 31 silver badges 43 43 bronze badges one option is save the artwork as a png then export to PDF Commented Aug 1, 2017 at 0:05 This is exactly what I'm trying to avoid Commented Aug 1, 2017 at 12:07

Pedro - Would happen to have a link to a Word document that has such an image in it or could you create one, find a place to upload and provide a link for others to download. I have an idea off the top of my head but I'd like to test before I suggest to ensure it works as you describe you need it to. You can remove anything from it want removed but having at least a graphic in it for the test as you see lose quality would be nice.

Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 18:33

2 Answers 2

You may have a box checked in your settings that you should not. In the options panel, check that your ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) field is unchecked. This will prevent transparency's in artwork.

. I finally discovered that the problem was arising only when I had "ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)" selected under the PDF Options. Deselecting that option causes the image to be displayed correctly. Further investigation shows that transparency in objects is forbidden in "ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)" formatted documents.

43.5k 35 35 gold badges 108 108 silver badges 138 138 bronze badges answered Aug 10, 2017 at 19:59 Mason Rodrickc Mason Rodrickc 31 1 1 bronze badge

As I said in my question: "Word can save as PDF and keep the transparency unchecking the PDF/A Compliant, but non vector images (PNG JPE) quality is very bad (pixellated) and there is no option to customize PDF image compression."

Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 22:32

One advice that is consistently given by Adobe is to use CMYK for images with transparency that are to be printed.

The Adobe article About flattening says this :

If you apply transparency to objects on a spread, all colors on that spread convert to the transparency blend space you’ve chosen (Edit > Transparency Blend Space), either Document RGB or Document CMYK, even if they’re not involved with transparency. Converting all the colors results in consistency across any two same-colored objects on a spread, and avoids more dramatic color behavior at the edges of transparency.

The above advice seems to imply only that it is bad to mix RGB and CMYK handling where transparency is concerned. (I would really love to understand what means that beautiful rhetoric of "edges of transparency".)

But the following text is more specific:

If you create documents for print only, choose Document CMYK for the blend space.
If you create documents for web only, choose Document RGB.
If you create documents for both print and web, decide which is more important, and then choose the blend space that matches the final output.

I would therefore advise to convert your images and blend space to CMYK. I do not know if that will help in your case, as the above article only gives hints which it does not explain.

Note that JPEG and PNG images are RGB. TIFF is better adapted to CMYK.