The soft mask in a PDF can be vector based, quite similar to using an isolated group as layer mask in PhotoLine.mwenz wrote:What I do know are the ramifications of live transparency from a PDF/X-4 file when brought into a different applications. So InDesign, QuarkXpress, AI, XDP, etc., when they bring in a vector illustration that originates in another application that is a PDF/X-4 file, the transparency is then (can be) passed through into the PDF/X-4 PDF for print. All flattening then happens at the RIP, which is the best place for it to occur.
Well, now we are back at the start of the discussionmwenz wrote:A PhotoLine PDF containing a vector with a gradient going from color to transparent is flattened to an image when the PDF is created.

Martin