Need Acrobat help!!

[grnofslt]

I work in the art room for a company that uses flexography extensively and who out sources the making of our printing mats. More and more of our customers are sending us PDF files and we haven't been able to figure out how we would be able to apply the distortions needed for the flexographic process to the PDF files. We have developed a work around that requires to much time and work to achieve the needed results and really need to learn how to apply the distortions. even the company who makes our mats can't figure out how to apply the distortions needed to the PDFs. Any help out there? Please!!!!

[The Repro Kid]

Howdy grn, I have no useful ideas, but I have some questions.

Are the labels Illustrator files? How do you usually distort them, in their native program, or with some Pre-RIP prep software? Can they be re-opened with AI and distorted? Or is that too time consuming? Can the clients do it in themselves, given an Illustrator or Photoshop Action created by yourself and supply distorted art?

Can you do it with Pit-Stop?

[grnofslt]

Hey Repro, we produce customized file folders. You know like the folders you see at the doctor or Dentist office and much more. Everything we do is custom work. Our basic work flow is ancient. The software is Freehand 9, Arts and Letters, and Paint. The only Adobe app we have that is worth having is Acrobat 7 pro which is where we are having a big jam up with our work flow. We do not have an image setter. We still produce camera ready copy and then go into the darkroom and use a camera to shoot film.

We usually get the pdfs as as camera ready art work. But we don't make our own flexo mats, we outsource to another company in a nearby town. They have freehand and Illustrator and they perform the distortions at their facility. But we do the math at our shop and then send both emails (with the computer files as attachments) giving the distortion that we require for each individual mat. This changes from mat to mat because cylinder size and repeat sizes vary between jobs.

Our clients are usually doctors, dentists, lawyers, court systems, other businesses using other printing houses who outsource the work to us. The formula for computing the distortions is somewhat confusing when you do them every day, it wouldn't be feasible for ourcustomers to do them.

I wish we had Illustrator in our art room. Doing the tracing method of typesetting with Illustrator is so much more intuitive and easier with Illistrator. I messed around at home with Illy CS2 trying to see how easy it would be to transition from Freehand to Illy. I've been lobbying for getting the Creative Suite 2 since before I was promoted into the artroom from working one of heir offset presses. They are slow to act with this just like they are with everything else.

I hope that I mde sense, This work flow is strange, slow, and hard to work you through step by step bercause there are so many steps (I tried to write the work flow we have to use to work with PDF files now. It is a full two pages single spaced at 12 pt type in a word file and I haven't finished yet. I decided to trash it because it was too long for a forum posting
Thanks for your help Repro and thanks to anyone else that tries

Billy J

[The Repro Kid]

You may be able to open the PDF files with Acrobat Pro and save them as "Illustrator Editable Files" and then your vendor could open the PDFs directly with Illustrator.

[grnofslt]

Thanks Repro, we do have Acrobat 7 pro where I work. I just did the saved a pdf as an EPS and then opened in Illustrator. I just discovered that Illustrator will also open a pdf converting it into a editable file to work. I took a chance and tried it because I saw that pdf files aren't dimmed out when you see them in folders when opening files.Our service bureau/mat makers use Illustrator so our troubles might just be over.

Thanks again Repro

Billy Jay

[The Repro Kid]

Cool deal. It really is sort of a trick question/answer. Illustrator's native file format has been PDF for several versions now, so Illustrator can open any PDF file, with saving as "Illustrator Editable" giving best results.