Eran Tadmor
28-Aug-01

Spot-to-Spot blends from FreeHand are not supported by the Brisque and the PS/M in PostScript workflow.
Usually, such a gradient will be created in CMYK CT.

Normally, the workaround for this problem is to print the file pre-separated, thus keeping the spot separations in the job. In some cases, however, this might introduce other problems such as having the vignette in the LW instead of the CT (In case of direct printing from FreeHand, for example), resulting in visible bending on the film or the plate.

The new SynapseDistillerStartup for Acrobat (which is installed by the Synapse Pro installer) provides a better way of dealing with such files. Please follow the procedure below to create Spot CT from the Spot-to-spot FreeHand blends:

1. Install Synapse Pro on the Mac which will be used for Acrobat Distiller. This will automatically install the SynapseDistillerStartup file in the correct location (Startup folder inside the Acrobat Distiller folder). Currently this is the only available method for obtaining this Distiller startup file
2. If the job is created directly in FreeHand, use the Export command to export it to EPS. (Do not print to PostScript file). If the FreeHand gradient is embedded as EPS in another DTP application file, such as Quark, Print it to PS file.
3. Launch the Acrobat Distiller. Distill the file to PDF with the preferred settings (Usually "Press optimized")
4. To RIP the PDF correctly on Brisque v3.0 use CPSI 3011 ("ChangeRip 3011" from terminal window). The default 3010 CPSI RIP (Extreme 2.0), will create the spot separations but with 100% Black as their CMYK equivalence.

   Make sure the RIP Spot Colors are set to "All to Spot". You will not be able to see the Spot list, but the RIP result will be correct: the gradient will be created as two spot CT.

5. PS/M 7.0 and Brisque v4.0
   Either "All to Spot" or "Specific Info" in the RIP parameters will work correctly, as the colours will appear in the Spot list.
   This workflow was tested successfully with FreeHand 8 & 10. Acrobat 4.05 and Quark Passport 4.1.