What would you do with this technique?
I’m working on a demo file of how forms work in the new ID CS6.
I want to distribute the document to my students to work on, but don’t have permission to distribute the vector artwork along with the file. But I can distribute a raster version of the artwork.
Rather than convert each individual piece of artwork to rasters, I set my file up with the form fields on one layer and the rest of the artwork on another.
I then turned off the layer containing the fields, leaving only the text and artwork from the other layers.
I then chose File > Export JPEG and exported the visible layers to an image.
Finally I placed the JPEG onto its own layer at the bottom of the document.
I’ll be able to delete the layers with the vector artwork and send the document to students with just the raster background. (Additional benefit is I don’t have to worry about fonts.)
I like this technique, but I wonder does anyone who isn’t a trainer need the convert to JPEG for backgrounds?
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Ocassionaly I export backgrounds for ads to make it easier to control ink limits when using layer effects and blending modes, but I always keep the original art on its own layers and place the raster image on a layer above. I keep the original art invade I need to resize the ad for another publication.
I do a lot of flattening with final Jpgs. I usually export a full res with transparency PDF for this and open it in photoshop to save the final jpg. This will be much simpler provided it flattens things the same way.
I use the same technique Ryan does, with the exception that I save the “flattened” raster file as a CMYK PSD. RIPs seem to have less difficulty processing PSDs than JPGs.
@Yvonne: That’s an interesting workflow. Why is it necessary to send a PSD rather than a flattened PDF (PDF/X-1a, for example)? I’ve not met a RIP that couldn’t handle a flattened PDF, and the separations are much easier to verify in PDF than in a PSD.