What?? Acrobat doesn't support transparency?? PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/A,
PDF/E and PDF/H don't support transparency. But PDF does and has since PDF
version 1.4 which was Acrobat 5.
What PDF/X-4 does is now allow for transparency to be used in exchanging
PDF/X files. PDF/X (X1, X2, and X3) has always explicity *not* allowed
transparency to be present to be certified as a PDF/X file. PDF and PDF/X
are basically the same in that they are both Adobe PDF. But what
differentiates PDF/X from PDF is that PDF/X is specifically for the
printing/graphics industries. PDF/X-1a is for the "blind exchange" of art.
PDF/X-2 was never really used. It allowed for non-embedded fonts and OPI. It
was inteneded for use in catalog publishing. PDF/X-3 was for exchanging art
where ICC profiles could be attached to art or to the PDF. PDF/X-4 will
expand on this (PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3) and allow for Acrobat 1.6 (if I recall
correctly) and the presence of live transparency. This way print providers
can flatten the transparency manually or now in-RIP with the Adobe Print
Engine.
PDF/A is intended for long term archiving. The Library Of Congress was a big
supporter of this ISO standard. In fact all PDF/A, E, H and X formats are
ISO standards. PDF/E is for engineering fields, PDF/H is for health care and
PDF/X is for graphic arts.
Matt Beals
Consultant
Enfocus Certified Trainer
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(206) 201-2320 - Main
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Perhaps your printer ought to tell Adobe that Acrobat doesn't support
transparency. They seem to think it does - at least according to this:
"In addition to supporting industry-standard PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 files,
Acrobat 8 Professional now outputs PDF/X-4 for native transparency
support, as well as PDF/A for long-term archiving."
Mike