Compress Text Compressing text will not result in any data loss and will decrease the size of your PDF files. Depending on the amount of text in your DRAW document, the decreased file size may be substantial. As with the None option for Bitmap Compression, we see no reason not to enable this option. It is lossless compression.

Subset Type 1 Fonts This speaks to the strategy of sending only the needed portion of the character information, instead of the entire character set. You determine the threshold for subsetting—the percentage under which DRAW will use a subset of the font information.

The arguments for and against subsetting Type 1 fonts are almost as vigorous as those for and against TrueType fonts, or Macs vs. PCs. We’ll try to stay out of the fracas and just relay the facts.

Argument 1: Subsetting reduces the file size. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Any file size decrease depends on how much text is in the original document. If there is a lot of text that uses the same font, however, subsetting may be ignored depending upon the percentage threshold you entered.

Argument 2: Subsetting makes it difficult to combine PDF files. True. If you expect to do this, do not choose to subset typefaces.

Argument 3: Subsetting hinders in-place editing of PDF files. It’s a gamble all right. If you accidentally spelled it “ozymoron,” and you want to fix it, you had better hope that somewhere else in the file you used a lowercase x of the same face. Otherwise, that letter won’t be available for use. If there is any possibility that someone, somewhere, sometime will edit the PDF, do not subset fonts.

Argument 4: Subsetting is risky with printer-resident fonts. If a font of the same name is already resident on the output RIP, that font will be substituted for the one you used, often with disappointing results. If you are using a base 14 font, do not subset fonts. Instead choose to enable the Embed Base 14 Fonts option to avoid this potential problem.

Well, we thought we were neutral, but after reviewing our own prose, our bias shows. We recommend unchecking the Subset Type 1 Fonts option unless none of the above applies to your files.

Encoding

Binary encoding is the default because the compression is greater, resulting in smaller PDF files. Under most circumstances, you will not run into any trouble with Binary Encoding and, in fact, it is also the default for Distiller/Acrobat. But, if for some reason the recipient of your PDF is having trouble reading your files, try ASCII 85 encoding instead.

Advanced

If you’ve opened the Print dialog or read through Chapter 26, most of the options on the Advanced page will be at least vaguely familiar to you. But, just in case memorizing Chapter 26 wasn’t high on your list of fun things to do, we’ll cover the options again here (as well as those not available from the Print dialog).

Render Complex Fills As Bitmaps

What qualifies as a “complex fill”? Texture fills, fountain fills, pattern fills, lenses, and transparencies are all complex fills and objects of one sort or another which can bring a RIP to its knees and give imagesetter operators more gray hair than they already have (to say nothing of your own condition, should they report back to you that the job failed). Checking this option will reduce the overall complexity of the PDF file. If your service bureau rep grumbles every time you walk in the door, you may want to enable this option. And, if you are creating a PDF for the screen, you should enable this option.

This is a recurrent theme throughout the book, as Chapter 23 and several of the special effects chapters discuss the viability of converting complex objects to bitmaps. This is a very handy option to have here, because should you decide to use it, you don’t need to convert your objects, perhaps permanently. Instead, you can just do it when it’s time to output.

Preserve Document Overprints

DRAW 9 lets you manually set overprint options on a per-object basis. Checking this option will preserve those overprints. However, third-party trapping software may override your selections, and we advise communicating with your service bureau before choosing this option.

Preserve Halftone Screen Information

DRAW 9 also allows you to set custom PostScript halftone screens for objects filled with spot color. Again, consult with your service bureau before checking this option or you may find it has been overridden by the RIP.

Preserve Spot Colors

Most service bureaus now have the ability to generate color separations from composite PDF files, either directly in-RIP via PostScript 3 devices, or with third-party PDF separation software. Checking this option will generate separate plates for the spot color inks defined in your original document. If the option is unchecked, spot colors will be converted to CMYK, RGB, or grayscale, depending upon your selection for Output All Objects As.

Maintain OPI Links

Certain bitmap formats—.tif, .cpt, and others—can be used to create OPI (Open Prepress Interface) links. You can import one of these images into DRAW with the OPI option turned on, as explained in Chapter 26. If you do, you are telling DRAW that there is another, higher-quality version of this bitmap that your service bureau will substitute at print time. The obvious advantage here is that you can edit using a lower-resolution bitmap for your design and avoid the memory overhead of a high-resolution color bitmap. Such bitmaps can easily be larger than 20MB. When creating the PDF, you can check Maintain OPI Links and DRAW will place a reference to the path and name of the high-resolution version in the PDF file. Check with your service bureau for their instructions on how to handle OPI links and images.

Fountain Steps

When you create a fountain fill, it is displayed and printed as a series of discrete bands of color hues and shades. The more bands, the smoother the fountain fill appears, but the longer it takes to redisplay or print. The value in the Fountain Steps box determines how many steps are printed, subject to two restrictions:

•  The setting applies only to fountain fills that you left locked when you created them.

•  The output device has its own limits, based on its resolution. A very high number would be ignored on, say, a 300dpi printer.