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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Mac/pc File Differences With Adobe Illustrator

dla_001 - Aug 24, 2005 - 6:24 pm

Good day...

I posed this question a few days ago in the design forum, but so far have gotten no response...so I'll try here if that's appropriate.

Thanks in advance...

We're a small graphics company using both Macs and PCs (OSX 10.3 & Win2K).

Most (but not all) art is created on a Mac and RIPped to the printers on PC. We have noticed that .eps files don't always appear the same on the two systems. For example, it is not uncommon that an object which shows at the front of the illustration on the Mac will be behind some other object when the file is viewed in Illustrator on the PC. Both systems running AI 10.0.3.

Also, files created on the PC and opened on the Mac often have one or more layers turned off, although all layers were visible when the file was saved on the PC.

It should be noted that most files are saved out to a network shared drive on a WinNT4 server.

What's up with this? I would expect the on-screen rendering to be the same between both systems.

Thanks in advance for your insight...

David

Natobasso - Aug 24, 2005 - 8:19 pm

Howdy! I saw your post on the other forum here, and had a thought.
Could you just create pdfs of your illustrator docs and then you won't have to worry about layers changing on the pc?

Also, you could flatten your illustrator eps files (combine all layers using "flatten layers" in Illustrator CS) and then save them out as pdf files to get the best possible rip.

When saving a pdf I'd use the PDF/X-1A because it's ISO 9001 certified and won't let you create one with errors.

Does this help? Let me know.
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*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.

dla_001 - Aug 25, 2005 - 12:35 am

Well - that work-around would be appropriate for some projects, but we often use the same printer to contour-cut the shapes we've printed, and the pdfs don't contain the vector information to drive the cutter.

I was really trying to get some understanding of why the rendering would be different between systems...it's not just about figuring out how to jury-rig the work-flow...that said, thanks for your thoughts...I'd certainly entertain any more ideas.

David

Natobasso - Aug 25, 2005 - 1:38 pm

Flatten your illustrator eps files and you will eliminate the layers issue. I don't see that as a jury rig or a workaround.
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*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.

dla_001 - Aug 25, 2005 - 1:53 pm

OK...but does anyone have any understanding of why the on-screen rendering should be different on the two systems? And why some visible layers saved out from the PC are turned off when the file is opened on the Mac?

Natobasso - Aug 25, 2005 - 1:56 pm

Files created on a mac and transferred to a pc (and vice-a-versa) don't always directly translate (different operating systems). That's why I'm suggesting flattening your illustrators to get around that. I'll put this back in the queue to see if anyone else has more info.
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*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.

TechSupport - Aug 28, 2005 - 2:30 pm

This ticket has been moved to the open forums for more exposure.

Please follow this link:

http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241950