Printing image clipping paths

Sometimes an imagesetter has difficulty interpreting image clipping paths, or a printer finds the image clipping path too complex to print, resulting in a Limitcheck error or a general PostScript error. Sometimes you can print a complex path on a low-resolution printer without difficulty but run into problems when printing the same path on a high-resolution printer. This is because the lower-resolution printer simplifies the path, using fewer line segments to describe curves than does the high-resolution printer.

You can simplify an image clipping path in the following ways:

• Manually reduce the number of anchor points on the path. (See Adding, deleting, and converting anchor points.)
• Increase the tolerance setting used to create the path. To do this, load the existing path as a selection, choose Make Work Path from the Paths palette menu, and increase the tolerance setting (4 to 6 pixels is a good starting value). Then recreate the image clipping path. For more information, see Converting between paths and selection borders (Photoshop) and Using image clipping paths to create transparency.