Comments on: Eliminating YDB (Yucky Discolored Box) Syndrome

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:06:37 +0000

I followed the instructions, then fiddled with my printer settings to disable any “color corrections” it was making. I am shocked by the result! The colors are so much better! I wish I had known that my printer was messing with my colors all these years!

By: valve90210

valve90210 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:43:13 +0000

I’m so glad I found this page as I have just started using InDesign after years of using Quark and I am having this problem with some posters I have created for a client.

I have supplied the posters in PDF format where they have looked perfect but when the client prints them on their RICOH copier/printer the bounding boxes of objects with transparency have been a discoloured version of the background colour.

One work-around I have seen for this is to create a transparent photoshop file the same size as the whole document and place it just above the background colour layer. This seems to have worked but I’m guessing (as I have only seen a fairly poor quality scan of the printout) that this is merely making the whole document printout with the incorrect background colour?

Is there any other way to get round this problem when creating pdfs?

Any help would be very very much appreciated!

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:31:44 +0000

I have worked as a graphic designer for years, using mostly Illustrator and Photoshop. Just now am I starting to work with a beginner who is using InDesign, and this article, and everyone’s helpful comments were the key I needed to solve the YDB problems I was being asked about by the beginner. THANKS EVERYBODY!!!
Always take a look using the Overprint Preview in the View menu!

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:18:57 +0000

@Charmy: There is a chance that it is only on your desktop printer. If you’re going to send this to press, use Acrobat’s Output Preview feature to check the plates themselves. Or talk with your printer and ask them if you’re going to have a real problem.

By: Charmy

Charmy — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Ok, hey everyone! Firstly thanks for posting on here, i’ve been reading all of the posts and now I am officially confused, but more informed. Please can you help me?!!!!
My indesign file is all cmyk, the border around the edge has a little woman doing a wheelie in black, and her background is supposed to be clear, which it is in photoshop and indesign (5.5) and then when i pdf it off, I don’t get the seams as described by some poor souls above, i get this lighter shade of orange or whatever colour is behind the woman. i wondered if it is something i am doing when i export it to pdf? i am exporting to pdf print with printer marks and bleeds.
As this catalogue is being litho printed, please please tell me that i dont have to spend my weekend opening up each page of the 108 page book and changing the woman etc etc and that it only happens on digital printers like my little laser one here (how i discovered the problem and had a small heart attack!)
Many thanks and good luck to you all, i very much appreciate posters,
Charmaine

By: Claudia McCue

Claudia McCue — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:53:07 +0000

Kim,

Let us know how it goes!

–Claudia

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:40:54 +0000

@Claudia – Thanks for the quick response! If converting to CMYK fixes the issue, then that is what I will do. And yes, I am sending jobs to be printed digitally. In the past I have worked with a machine (small IKON) that could handle spot colors, so I wasn’t sure what would give me the best result. I’d much rather have minute color differences than weird boxes around things! Thanks again, and I will pass this along to my design team.

By: Claudia McCue

Claudia McCue — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:44:05 +0000

Kim,

If the inks are not intended to print as spot colors, then, by all means, convert them to CMYK. Sounds like you’re sending jobs to a digital printing workflow (as opposed to offset printing). If that’s the case, they can’t print spot anyway, so nothing lost.

Does this help?

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:50:03 +0000

As a designer who only does artwork to send to various printers, I seem to be encountering this issue a lot lately. What is the best method for eliminating the box when I am not handling the production end? Is it to simply turn convert the spot colors to CMYK? I need to be able to create a PDF that I can be relatively sure won’t have any issues, as I have to send them to printers around the south.

By: Max

Max — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:44:20 +0000

your solution worked perfectly – thank you very very much indeed!