PDF/VT Transparency Guide

The current print-technology trend is revolutionized by the introduction of PDF Transparency to VDP, as driven by PPML and PDF/VT standards. Suddenly the simple intuitive opaque printing world has changed. Adding PDF Transparency Model to VDP is like leaving Newton's innocent predictable linear world and falling into Einstein's world, where the time and space is completely redefined: lurking black holes smilingly curve the time/space continuum, smashing and obliviating the innocent souls that innocently pass by. Suddenly, the simplicity is gone and the chaos rules the world.

The purpose of this website is to bring some simplicity to this complicated subject and move the knowledge from a handful of Adobe scientists to the general public. We know that we would fail to provide a Normative PDF Transparency Guide that anyone would understand. Instead, we would like to share our knowledge, observations, and to illustrate the PDF Transparency science with numerous examples.

But let us not have illusions: reading this material is not a substitute for reading the Transparency Chapter of Adobe PDF Reference Manual. In fact, we expect the reader to have the basic understanding of PDF notions such as opacity, PDF Blend Modes, and PDF Isolated/Non-Isolating Transparency Groups.

Table of Contents:
Playing with PDF Transparency
Introduction to VDP and VDP Transparency
PDF-VT Transparency Guide
Analyzing PDF Files