Placing PDF in Indesign CS4 has options greyed out

[E]

I just got Indesign CS4 and went to place a PDF, clicked show import options and under "OPTIONS" the "CROP TO:" ART, TRIM and BLEED are all greyed out. Has anyone else experienced this and/or know the fix? I have so many jobs that went so smooth using this in CS3.

[rich apollo]

Double-check the PDF - it may not have those boxes defined. Quark is very naughty about that.

[Vee]

It's a beautiful thing that INDD can place and handle PDFs. But I must say, it really seems like it is being abused these days.

For those who have worked in prepress long enough, remember what used to happen with nested EPS files?

I know PDF is "different", but the integrity of the process begins to deteriorate working this way.

[E]

Double-check the PDF - it may not have those boxes defined. Quark is very naughty about that.

the PDF is fine, I created it and it works in CS3

[E]

It's a beautiful thing that INDD can place and handle PDFs. But I must say, it really seems like it is being abused these days.

For those who have worked in prepress long enough, remember what used to happen with nested EPS files?

I know PDF is "different", but the integrity of the process begins to deteriorate working this way.

how is it "abused"? and how and what deteriorates?

[oxburger]

I think he means that you're prisoner to whoever created the pdf. Did they embed fonts, did they use the correct color usage for your job, are the images hi resolution, etc.

[rich apollo]

the PDF is fine, I created it and it works in CS3

Hm. Does CS3 keep them lit up whether they're defined or not?

On my end, if the creating app did not define the box then it's grayed out.

[leonardr]

I think he means that you're prisoner to whoever created the pdf. Did they embed fonts, did they use the correct color usage for your job, are the images hi resolution, etc.

While it can't solve the "too low image resolution issue", if you were to place a PDF without embedded fonts into InDesign and then export the ID file out as (for example) PDF/X-1a, which requires embedded fonts - InDesign will happily find the fonts referenced in the placed PDF and be sure to embed them. Same thing with color correction.

So I don't see any issues here - beyond things you should probably be preflighting for in your specific workflows...

[margadri]

Sorry, but I have to ask!
Is your Indy 4 registered with Adobe?
The "dodgy ones" don't have all the options working!