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VPS


Ellie Mae

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We had been using VPS files on the Konica Bizhub 6500 with no problems in the past. But a few months ago we started getting black boxes and strange results with that format. The PDF files dog down the rip something terrible. Any one having the same issues with VPS? Is there another format that would be preferable? I have to find a fix, quick. Konica really didn't know what was causing this.
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I don't use the VPS format, but we were getting black boxes (and other strange occurrences) around graphics in our variable JLT files. Static PDFs appeared (and printed) fine though. Turned out to be a problem with the PDFs we were using for our templates -- the PDF format supported the transparencies, but the native variable file format (JLT for us) did not. We had to begin saving PDFs for variable jobs in an older PDF format that forced transparency to flatten. Of course, this introduced some new issues that require us to sometimes save variable files in the static PDF format and then wait hours for the PDFs to RIP, but that's another story. Does this sound familiar?
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Exactly. First option is to flatten and try VPS, if that causes issues I fall back to the static PDF and wait for hours to RIP. This is exactly my story.

 

Thanks.

 

Do you have any repeat campaigns(data just changes) that this started up on? Any saved .vps files that RIP OK or are in the jobs storage device?

 

Did Konica get a .vps file to test on their end that you are having a problem with?

How are you prepping your files? I would look into possibly placing .pdfs into InDesign with different settings to test and then export out to through FusionPro, just an idea.

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I have attached a .zip file which contains the job settings we use when exporting PDFs from InDesign (or Distilling PS files) to use for our FP templates.

 

Note that these settings save the file without bleed which you can edit on your end. The critical setting that allows these settings to work with our variable output format is saving file using PDF 1.3 compatibility.

 

We do not use the InDesign/Quark plugin from Printable because it creates a PDF with the problems we both seem to be having. Perhaps you can try generating a template PDF from these settings to see if they work for you as well. :)

ClassicGraphics.zip

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Ellie,

 

As Eric mentioned, the presence of transparencies in artwork (more often than not in the PDF background itself) can cause this printing issue. The reason for this is that the PostScript language (which most of the optimized VDP formats we output - including VPS - are based on) does not have a capability to express an element that has a transparency value.

 

The best solution is to flatten your artwork to remove transparencies either at time of creation of the PDF background (or other variable images that have the transparency) or on the background inside of Acrobat using the built in capability there.

 

A couple other options include looking for the setting on your Creo to enable PDF optimization. This will instruct the Creo to cache re-used objects in a PDF file that it processes. On the Creo simulator we have here, this is set by going to the Job Parameters screen for a given PDF, selecting the "Services" tab, and then setting the "PDF Optimization" setting to "Yes".

 

Alternately, PPML output from FusionPro should also process on the Creo as opposed to VPS.

 

Hope one of these options works for you.

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Thank you all for giving me a lot of options to try! I will see what I can get accomplished before work tomorrow. I do have some troublesome PDFs that flattening just creates white boxes in the PDF also. Let me work on all these suggestions and will see what I come up with.

 

No, Konica didn't offer anything but a shrug of the shoulders as they had no idea, but didn't pursue the subject any further. They got out of here when I wasn't looking. :-( I can't believe I would be the only one who might be having this problem in their travels.

 

Thanks again!

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I do have some troublesome PDFs that flattening just creates white boxes in the PDF also.

 

No, Konica didn't offer anything but a shrug of the shoulders as they had no idea, but didn't pursue the subject any further.

 

White boxes could be PANTONE colors with transparencies.

 

I would think that Konica would bend over backwards to help you out, especially with the amount of options you have out there. Weird.... I would contact either your supervisor to let them know or someone else at Konica to make them aware of the situation.

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Regarding transparency with the Adobe Creative Suite for print production, here's a PDF that discusses this a bit further with references to a whole bunch of other resources about working with transparency:

 

http://partners.adobe.com/public/asn/en/print_resource_center/Transparency-GetStarted.pdf

 

Hope there's some useful nuggets of info in here for others working with transparency.

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  • 1 month later...
Ellie,

 

As Eric mentioned, the presence of transparencies in artwork (more often than not in the PDF background itself) can cause this printing issue. The reason for this is that the PostScript language (which most of the optimized VDP formats we output - including VPS - are based on) does not have a capability to express an element that has a transparency value.

 

The best solution is to flatten your artwork to remove transparencies either at time of creation of the PDF background (or other variable images that have the transparency) or on the background inside of Acrobat using the built in capability there.

 

A couple other options include looking for the setting on your Creo to enable PDF optimization. This will instruct the Creo to cache re-used objects in a PDF file that it processes. On the Creo simulator we have here, this is set by going to the Job Parameters screen for a given PDF, selecting the "Services" tab, and then setting the "PDF Optimization" setting to "Yes".

 

Alternately, PPML output from FusionPro should also process on the Creo as opposed to VPS.

 

Hope one of these options works for you.

I was experimenting with a PPML file today and it is going to save the file with a .zip extension. Will the CREO recognize this?

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