Design Center article

About this paper

Written for creative pros, production staff, IT professionals, prepress and print staff, this paper covers how to create valid PDF/X files for high-end printing. You can download the PDF version of this file, PDF/X Files and Adobe® Creative Suite® 3. For details on how to use features discussed in this guide, see Acrobat 8.0 Professional Help.

Introduction

You can create Adobe® PDF files from almost any application, using a wide variety of settings and features. But to successfully exchange those files with others and achieve the expected results, it helps to have a set of agreed-upon parameters. The PDF/X standard eliminates many of the color, font, and trapping variables that could cause printing problems. PDF/X makes it possible to deliver files ready for print production to nearly any print service provider with the highest possible confidence that they will print as you intended

Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 Premium, including Adobe Acrobat® 8.0 Professional, gives you the tools you need to create and verify PDF/X-compliant files. Here’s how you’ll benefit by using PDF/X in your print production workflow:

• The standard is based on high-end printing requirements used worldwide.
• The standard ensures that the file is print-ready.
• PDF/X files created using a PDF/X setting (job option) yield valid PDF/X files.
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 components—Adobe InDesign®, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, and Adobe Photoshop® CS3—directly export or save valid PDF/X files.
• Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Professional can preflight a PDF, correct common errors using built-in fixups, validate against the chosen PDF/X standard, and convert the PDF to a PDF/X file. Preflighting a PDF file in Acrobat is a good practice, especially if you’ve received the file from another, such as a client or colleague, and don’t know how the file was created.

Talk with your publisher or print provider to determine whether the PDF/X format is appropriate for your project. Many workflows, particularly in the printing, publishing, and advertising industries, are well-suited for the PDF/X standard. When in doubt which PDF format to supply, ask your printer for a custom preset or recommendations to follow; and, if your printer can accept files with live transparency, choose PDF/X-4, the latest variant of the PDF/X standard.

Requirements

To follow along with this article, you will need the following software:

Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Professional

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