A white vector object with drop shadow displaying the way it is intended to.

Every once in a blue moon I run into a problem in Adobe Illustrator when using Save for Web. The issue occurs when saving a transparent PNG file that consists of a white vector object with a drop shadow. For some reason the white vector registers as 100% transparent in the save for web dialog box. Unfortunately, it isn’t just a display glitch. The file actually saves this way making the object, in this case a logo, useless.

The Adobe Illustrator Save For Web Menu displaying a PNG file with a transparency issue involving a White Vector object and Drop Shadow

The problem always seems to take me 5 or 10 minutes to resolve and drives me crazy. Usually I end up opening the AI file in Photoshop and then create a drop shadow and save it for web there. Today, I came up with a new solution. Simply enter the color editor and add 1% Black (K) to the white object. The human eye cannot detect such a small percentage of gray (at least mine can’t) so the vector object still appears white. When you save your slice for web, the white vector objects magically are no longer transparent. Thus saving you the step of opening the file in Photoshop.

Adding 1% Black in the color editor to the White Vector Object in Adobe Illustrator corrects the issue.

Hopefully this solution saves you some time also. If you know what the actual cause of the problem is I please feel free to explain it to me below.

The Adobe Illustrator Save For Web Dialog box with the vector object transparency issue corrected.

Mountain Lake Estates signage for a real estate new development on County Rd. 21 in Wallkill, New York

It is always so exciting when you unexpectedly run into one of your old designs on the street. While driving some back roads through Orange County, New York  to go to the Shawangunks this morning for a hike, I stumbled upon a project I worked on in the fall of 2010. It was some signage for the real estate new development, Mountain Lake Estates, near Newburgh, NY.

I remember being disappointed with the outcome of the project because there were many changes made that I didn’t really think were improvements to my initial design comps. However, I was surprised to see that the actual sign came out a lot better than I expected it to. It actually really stood out on the road.

The stone wall graphic on this signage was  drawn by hand, scanned in on a flatbed scanner, and then Autotraced in Adobe Illustrator. The Mountain Lake Estate’s sign layout as a whole was also created in Adobe Illustrator.  The sign was created as a  6 foot by 4 foot grand format print mounted to allumalite and installed on 4×4 posts. I kind of wish the installer had cut the posts down a little bit. I guess I’ll have to call them about that on Monday.

Flyer Promoting the Hudson Heartbeat Video Contest

On April 1, 2011  Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty released its new lifestyle blog dedicated to Westchester and the Hudson Valley. The goal of the site was to further enhance Search Engine Optimization as well as awareness of  RandRealty.com by generating traffic from an audience that wasn’t necessarily looking to purchase real estate. One chief component of the site is user generated community profile videos in the spirit of social media. What better way to garner this sort of video content than through a video contest. The flyer above was designed to entice a youthful and creative audience to enter their work in the video contest. The flyer’s design also closely follows the general design system used for on-air advertising promoting Hudson Heartbeat. This was done to reinforce the sites brand identity. The flyer has been posted in colleges and areas where young creative types may be found. This design was created entirely in Adobe Illustrator and will also be used on postcards and possibly print ads.