- PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 and PDF 1.3 files leave the layers they don't print
out of the flattening. A flattened group no longer takes the place of
art in a layer that doesn't print, so the art of a clipping layer over
such a layer prints, and art of a layer that doesn't print stays out
of the file.
- A flattened group goes into a lower layer only when that layer prints,
shows and is a template as the clipping layer does, the clipping layer
and the groups it leaves have no opacity, blend mode or isolation, and
the clipping path has no fill. Otherwise the group holds only the art
inside the clipping layer, drawn over the clipping path's fill and the
art below, and the art below is flattened on its own. Before, the fill
covered the group, the group lost the layer's opacity, or the clipping
path cut the art below.
- Transparent art that a clipping path hides entirely, such as one of
area type holding only a space, is removed. Before, the export failed
because the art kept its transparency.
Object › Flatten Transparency follows the same rules. Documents without
clipping layers or layers that don't print export the same bytes as
before.