PDF/X-1a output from signa

[mazengh]

The designers at our prepress output PDF/X-1a compliant files, ex magazine pages. When those pages are imposed in signastation we are outputting a pdf file of the imposition that we later send to our harlequin rip for processing... My question here, is there a way to control what type of pdf is outputed from signa? Shouldn't it be a PDF/X-1a compliant file? It's not currently...

P.S.: we are using signastation version 4

[mattbeals]

It doesn't have to be, but it is nice to have the consistency throughout the workflow.

[mazengh]

doesn't it effect setting applied by pdf/x-1a applied at the layout step? like messing up transparencies and shadows...

[mattbeals]

X1-a doesn't allow for transparency. The shadows are raster images or smooth shades. Both of which are allowed in PDF/X-1a. If you have all PDF/X-1a coming into Signa then you're basically good to go. Nothing in Signa that I can think of is going to change the document when trapped and imposed.

Like I said, it's nice to have the consistency of PDF/X-1a into Signa and PDF/X-1a out of Signa. You could even have the Harlequin RIP preflight the trapped and imposed PDF using a PDF/X-1a verification profile before the job is actually RIPped.

[mazengh]

if that's the case, then there is no way to attach an icc profile to the pdf to tell it how to convert to the destination profile.

[mattbeals]

that's what the output intent is for.