Comments on: Eliminating the White Box Effect

By: JAI GOEL

JAI GOEL — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:38:13 +0000

great post, thanks a lot
I was exporting jpgs, eps, png, n all, but wanted a solution for white patches with pdf.
Thanks again

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:46:55 +0000

@userware1: I wonder if your problem isn’t a “white box” effect but rather the “yucky box” effect that Claudia wrote about here: http://indesignsecrets.com/eliminating-ydb-yucky-discolored-box-syndrome.php

Just choosing Acrobat 4 compatibility may not be it; make sure you’re using the PDF/X1-a preset for those old clunker printers.

By: userware1

userware1 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 06:03:58 +0000

Hi – when the article says the problem is almost always related to spot colours and transparencies, what about the other times? I have no spot colours – all my images are CMYK and no spot colours are used anywhere in the file. I’m exporting from InDesign CS5 to pdf and I get the lighter boxes around my images when printing (both me on my office printer and the guy at the printshop). What else could be the problem?
I’m using Acrobat 4 Compatibility (the printer says I ‘haven’t flattened properly’, so I assume he has an old RIP) and the high resolution flattener preset. The images are a mixture of psds and pngs (both types have the boxes).
many thanks

By: Bob Levine

Bob Levine — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:18:25 +0000

@ Tracey, Why not post this question in the forum where it will get more attention? Let us know what settings you’re using for export.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:46:55 +0000

When exporting a CS4 InDesign file to a PDF my graphics disappear and there is a thin white outline around the imported PSD files. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

By: design guy

design guy — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:08:32 +0000

so i am printing in a new paper a b/w ad. I am using a psd file for transparency in InDesign ( no color is used in the psd or indesign files besides percentages of black ).
When i print a sample of this ad it looks perfect on a b/w printer, when i printed on a color printer I get a redish box over the psd images. I am afraid when this ad is in the newspaper ( which is a b/w ad ) that this color will be overlayed on top still . But I am also thinking that the only reason this looked like this on a color printer was because it is an RGB printer which does not contain black . Any insight so I do not have to worry ?

By: Gwen the designer

Gwen the designer — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:45:54 +0000

Seriously, I am SUPER thankful for this post. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I’ll make the end printer print my native files – but at least I can print out a professional proof for my client – and email them pdf proofs that will print accurately on their colour copier. Yah!

By: Gwen the designer

Gwen the designer — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:43:25 +0000

It works!! After eons of trouble shooting – FINALLY – a post that helps! Whenever I tried to print a PDF file of my InDesign files (that used spot colors and drop shadows) I received the dreaded boxed objects. It was a pain on my tuckess! The Acrobat Professional 7.0 PDFs looked fine on screen, but printed boxes whenever drop shadows were involved. This time I saved them as PDF/X 1a files and clicked the simulate overprint feature AND converted all spot inks to CMYK process. When I brought those PDFs to Stinkos (uh, I mean, Kinkos) … voila! No more yucky boxes. THANKS A MLLION!!!!

By: Me

Me — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:51:00 +0000

Hey there, I have this problem with the white box in InDesign. I don’t even have to print yet, I already see the white boxes on my screen. I really dont want this. I think it has something to do with the way I use pictures in photoshop… I have to ‘free’ the pictures or something, in order to copy-paste them to ID? (Please help a desperate person in Holland

By: Graphic Designer Va

Graphic Designer Va — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:50:27 +0000

Great tip — a super timesaver for an annoying problem!!