How to JPEG (JPG) Flatten Files

How to JPEG (JPG) Flatten Files

Some files have elements that cause print issues. Some issues we've seen are:

  • artifacts appearing within an image
  • loss of an entire image 
  • loss of certain layers 
  • transparency issues
  • Details lost.

One of the most effective ways we have found to eliminate these issues is to JPG flatten in InDesign. This is effectively creating a screenshot of the file so there are no layers or vectors in the file at all. This isn't optimal for most situations as it increases the size of the file and you lose detail in vector graphics. This should only be done when we're having print issues.

When we have these issues we can do some of this work in house but for documents with many issues needs to be done by the graphic designer.

  1. In InDesign go to File-Export.
  2. Export as JPG with these settings for art that has very heavy detailed line work. 
  3. Create a folder for all the jpgs to go (each page will be a jpg)
  4. Once complete, in the finder organize by name.
  5. Inspect the jpgs with a lot of vectors and see if anything dropped out/ getting too light. If good proceed to next step, if not then ask Leiman. You can try random settings to get a better image. Lowering resolution sometimes helps.
  6. Save your current InDesign file as a different name so you don't destroy your original InDesign file.
  7. Re Insert the images into InDesign. 

Test Case: Architectural Portfolio

We used this portfolio to test how increasing resolution affects image quality. We printed this file on our HP Indigo.

Here's a video of the print output. The settings we took a screenshot of are the optimal settings for this particular project.


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