Jilli, I am so sorry.

The rice pasta shells are actually whole-grain brown rice pasta by Tinkyada.

The lasagna noodles I use are brown rice pasta from Tinkyada. I'm not fond of their spaghetti noodles (they just don't act right to me), but that could be because with spaghetti, the noodles are front and center, under some sauce. But with lasagna (at least the way I make it), the noodle is maybe 20% of the whole dish, so it's not overwhelming.

Finally, dear sweet Christ, if anyone can explain overprinting in graphic design to me, please speak up. My problem specifically involves checkboxes, like the kind you would make a checkmark in if you want to indicate your choice of [whatever]. We use them in our house ads (believe me when I say that design-by-committee is hell on earth).

We have used the same ads -- same files, I mean; we don't make new pages from scratch in Quark XPress every month -- for a long-ass time. Years in some cases.

In XPress, the checkboxes were made in the Zapf Dingbat font, and whoever made it (possibly me) used the keystroke that gives you a solid black box, and then applied a faux outline AND faux shadow to it from the style palette. (I am now aware that I could have just typed a goddamn "o" in Zapf Dingbats and would have gotten the same thing, without the faux styles applied to it. God damn it.)

For our printer, I output the XPress files to PDF using the settings THEY GAVE ME, which involves first outputting to Postscript and then using Distiller to make the final PDF. (I don't know; it's what they told me to do, and I assumed that following their instructions would yield a final product that looked the way we wanted it to.)

So. As I said, we've used these ads with the checkboxes (made with the faux outline and faux shadow) for years. And they always print properly. Every month.

Until this past issue, when EVERY checkbox (there are a lot) overprinted with black.

Did I mention that I am entirely self-taught, learned on the job? I really don't know what in the hell trapping and knockout and overprinting are, except in the most general of terms. Meaning, I use all the default settings. And it's never been a problem.

So we call the printer today and ask, WTF?!? The printer tells us the production team turned on Overprint Preview in Acrobat and saw that the boxes would overprint black. (And then helpfully printed the entire press run.)

What I'm flailing about is this -- I haven't changed anything about how I create or output the files. (The printer INSISTS that they haven't changed anything that they do. "We are at an impasse, then," I told them, "because *I* haven't changed anything *I* do, which I do using the settings YOU GAVE ME.") I have no idea why, when the stupid motherfucking checkboxes have NEVER overprinted black before, they're doing it now.

Possibly they've always been inclined to overprint black, and until now the printer manipulated our PDFs to fix that (although I don't think so).

But I guess what my rage-blackout-inducing frustration is about is -- I really don't know enough about XPress to know why those checkboxes would overprint black in a black/white publication.

This is a long shot, but...anyone? ANY idea?

And when I say "rage-blackout-inducing frustration," you *really* don't want to know about my afternoon. I am amazed, after how badly I lost my shit, that I'm still employed.

Steph, your printer has produced these magazines for a hella long time, right? And this thing just changed with this issue - and you've called them to say it's wrong... they should be able to go look at their back run and say "wow, yeah, this *is* different." And also? Checkboxes look uncheckable when they're filled with black.

Yes, there are prepress settings, but if they've done this forever for you, there are also eye settings, and blueline proof catches and the like - frankly, it sounds like newPerson at the printer changed a pdf standard when they turned on Overprint Preview (maybe? I'm not a printer, and don't play one on tv, and haven't done a presscheck in 10 years) OR they've upgraded their software and it's not as friendly to the PDF standard you have from them, and they know it's different and don't want to eat the reprint.

Steph, your printer has produced these magazines for a hella long time, right?

Yes, although we switched from their web-fed press to digital printing back in May. That said, they've obviously printed everything correctly between May and now, so I can't quite believe that it's the digital printing process.

Yes, there are prepress settings,

I output everything exactly the way they asked us to, so if they changed their settings and didn't tell us, I'm going to go Wolverine on them.

frankly, it sounds like newPerson at the printer changed a pdf standard when they turned on Overprint Preview (maybe? I'm not a printer, and don't play one on tv, and haven't done a presscheck in 10 years) OR they've upgraded their software and it's not as friendly to the PDF standard you have from them, and they know it's different and don't want to eat the reprint.

Right?

Have either you or the printer upgraded any software, Steph? That's one place where fonts go wonky.

The printer tells us the production team turned on Overprint Preview in Acrobat and saw that the boxes would overprint black. (And then helpfully printed the entire press run.)

This is the smoking gun. Regardless of how it happened, they should have called you. They should eat it.

Actually, Bonny, I just wanted your address, for non-stalkery reasons!

Stalkery reasons would be fine too!

I'm actually having rice pasta and it IS FG. It's DeBoles multi-grain penne. I had a talapia filet that wanted cooking, so I popped it in some Classico pasta sauce and made poor person's ciappino over noodles.

It's good!

Can you e me your addy, or post it and immediately delete, doll?

Erin, insent.

Oh Jilli, love, I am so sorry about your Grandma Vida. We Miracleborns are thinking of you and your Dad and Pete. We love you sweetheart.

Jilli, that is completely sucktastic. So sorry.