crop marks break bar code

[pdenchfield]

Crop marks can be added to PDF output using the following setting in the .fltar file:
PDF Options > Document Properties > Include Crop and Registration Marks

This setting appears to break my bar code so that it doesn't scan. Details below. Am I missing something? If I have to add the crop marks after building the PDF, then how might I do so?

Test 1: Build PDF with this setting selected.
Results: FAIL. Printed bar code does not scan.

Test 2: Build PDF with this setting unselected.
Results: PASS. Printed bar code scans.

[LTinker68]

Is the crop mark overlapping the bar code? I can't imagine how that could be affecting the bar code unless it was overlapping the bar code. If you're trying to crop right next to the bar code, then it's possible that it's too close and it's overlapping the very edge of the bar code, and the crop mark line is covering up part of the info in the bar code.

If you can't add separation between the bar code and the crop mark and/or it is far enough away that they're not overlapping, then you can turn off the crop marks in Flare and use Adobe Acrobat to add the crop marks. I actually have to do that for a project because my header background goes from page margin to page margin and the Flare crop marks are added behind the decoration frame containing the header background, so they're not visible. (That's a bug that's been there for a couple of versions but hasn't been fixed yet.) So I insert the crop marks on the generated PDF using Acrobat instead of having Flare insert them.

[pdenchfield]

Thanks, Lisa. The crop marks inserted from the Flare target do not overlap the bar code. In fact, the crop marks are inches away from the bar code. I'm not sure why the Flare-inserted crop marks affect scannability of the bar code.

I am using this workaround: Add "trim marks" in Acrobat.

1. Back up the PDF. This operation cannot be undone.
2. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
3. Click Tools and then select Print Production. (If you don’t see Print Production, click the down-arrow at the top of the pane. I had to do this to see the Print Production options.)
4. Click Add Printer Marks.
5. Select Trim Marks for all pages, at .5 line width, using the default style, with the setting selected for "Embed printer marks with layers."
6. Save changes.

Best,
Pamela

[pdenchfield]

Although I now have a workaround to add marks using Adobe Acrobat, I still need to know how to remove the marks that were added by Flare.

We have PDFs from localization that have the crop marks, and I am hoping there is a way to remove them. In Adobe Acrobat, I've only discovered how to add marks, not remove them. There is the option to crop the pages, but I'd prefer to leave them their current size and have marks.

[pdenchfield]

Update with new learnings:
* The crop and registration marks do not break the bar code except by shrinking its size. (The PDFs I rebuilt with a much larger size of bar code scanned fine, with or without crop and registration marks.)
* Adobe Acrobat recognizes Flare-generated crop and registration marks as images, so it is possible to remove crop and registration marks using the Tools > Edit Text & Images function.