Print to PDF prints B&W

[Dami]

AI CS2 printing to pdf prints a color file in B&W. How the heck can I get it to print in color? I can print a Word doc in color and PS file in color, but AI won't.

TIA for any advice.

[ldg40]

Hold tight Dami- I am sure the mighty AI guru will be here to help! I too am interested to see what needs to be done. Wish I could help ya out! :)

[Scott]

Why are you "printing to PDF" Why aren't you just using Save As? And I don't understand really... are you generating a PDF by creating a postscript file and the PDF is coming out one color or are you actually printing to a printer?

[Dami]

I'm making a Christmas card on a 17 x 11 that is printed out duplex on 8.5 x 11. Saving as PDF saves it as one page. (If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a complete novice with Illustrator.) I don't know how to get that to print as I want. So, with my limited knowledge, I'm printing to the Adobe PDF driver that shows up in the printer list.

Clear as mud?

[Scott]

So you've got an 17x11 file you need to split in half so each half fits onto a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper?

[Dami]

Exactly. I usually do that using the artboard and print that to a pdf.

[Scott]

Okay.. and when you print the PDF that's generated is black and white?

Try using Save As and choose PDF rather than Print.

[Dami]

I did, and it is in color, but it saves it as one 17 x 11 page, and I don't know how to print that as I want.

[Dave]

Can't you save it as a jpg (or something) then use PS to split it into the two parts as seperate image files then print them from PS .....

(daft idea from total amateur)

[Dami]

Yes, I did pull it into PS and that is a work-around, but I would like to resolve this other issue. Do you think it could be a problem with the preferences file?

[Scott]

The best way to set up multiple pages using Illustrator is to either a) use one document for each page or b) set p an large artboard and use the "Tile Full Pages" option in the print dialog (this method can be a little bit of a nightmare in newer versions of Illustrator).

[swillox]

I'm not sure to get it ... one christmas card in 2 parts ??? ... anyway,

Isn't this a "mosaic" option problem ?

[Dami]

It's a two-page card, front and back, that I created in one Illustrator document.

[Dami]

Jolt, you're right, I should create two docs, but that aside, why does it print B&W? Deleting prefs didn't change a thing.

[swillox]

I dunno, but generating a pdf is usually used to create a "Printguy friendly" color separation ready doc for him to burn his plates... so there's maybe the problem. Somewhere, an option... dunno.

As for cutting your job in 2 parts, I've heard it's extremely easy in illustrator,...

Jolt ? can you give us some light here ? ...

[Dave]

IT Help Desk response "Has your printer run out of coloured inks?" (actually it's "Is your printer switched on?")

You don't know how often that has been true! :) (then there was this guy who set his right hand margin inside the left hand margin and wondered why paper just streamed from his printer! But that was back in the days of escape sequence codes)

Or as someone here once told me "Dave, you're doing it the hard way, do it the easy way, like this ...." :doh:

Or "There's more than one way to skin a rabbit"

So unless this is just a theoretical exercise at least you have some alternative ideas to play with. :)

[Dami]

Yes, I do have alternatives, but I still think a color document should print to color in Illustrator. Thanks folks.

[Dami]

FWIW, I found the solution at the Illustrator U2U forum: I didn't know what Dot Gain 10% in the Printer Profile meant, but once I changed that to RGB, I got a color PDF.

Thanks, everyone.

[ldg40]

I am glad you finally found what you needed Dami! :)

[swillox]

As I told you,... an option, somewhere.... :D

Anyway, ... Does somebody knows how to cut a illustration in 2 parts? I mean, ...does illustrator redraw all de vectors adding anchor points at once with the complete job ??

and how to do that ?

[reddaisy]

Hi Swillox

cutting in 2:
- go window>pathfinder. Then draw a rectangle over half of everything you want to divide. Select everything and choose "subtract form shape area" (number 2 in the list). If you want to make this permanent choose "expand".
- draw a rectangle and choose object>path>divide objects below: then throw away everything that is not needed. Watch out: this is very drastic and very permanent!
- select everything you want to divide and go window>transparency. Then choose under the little triangle "make opacity mask" there you can make masks as you would do with a layer mask in PS

good luck and cheers
tom

[swillox]

A very huge thanks Tom !!