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ArtOfRandy202
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Why does one object lower opacity when saved out as a PDF?

Jun 15, 2012 7:58 AM

Tags: #illustrator #pdf #opacity

I'm having a repeating issue and I can't seem to find a proper answer on how to fix it. When I'm saving out a file in AI, all the objects that I want to show are at 100% opacity and it looks right. When I save out a PDF (High Quality Print - Don't keep editing capabilities) the object is repeatedly somewhat transparent. Any ideas what might be causing this? Any idea on how to fix it?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Opacity Problem.jpg

 

Top image is the AI file and the bottom is what the PDF turns out. I apologize for the lower quality with the PDF image since it's blown up so much.

574 Views   5 Replies   Latest reply: Mike Gondek, Jun 15, 2012 8:47 AM
 
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  • Monika Gause
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    1. Monika Gause,
    Jun 15, 2012 8:03 AM   in reply to ArtOfRandy202
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    Are you sure that this is caused by "transparency" and is not simply compression artefacts?

     
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  • ArtOfRandy202
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    2. ArtOfRandy202,
    Jun 15, 2012 8:06 AM   in reply to Monika Gause
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    It certainly isn't compression artifacts. At full size it's still very clear that the plants behind the illustrated object are visible through the orange. Again, I apologize for the low quality close-up, but it's a project at my job and I don't want to give away what I'm working on.

     
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  • Mike Gondek
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    3. Mike Gondek,
    Jun 15, 2012 8:18 AM   in reply to ArtOfRandy202
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    I see the PDF looks softer but cannot see the transparency, can you please provide a better explanation.

     

    Ibn Acrobat, you can turn on transprency, with show transparency grid, to help troubleshoot.

     

    Screen shot 2012-06-15 at 10.12.39 AM.png

     

    This si a longshot, but there is this option in Illustrator which would have an effect on your pdf result, if for example your background was was set to nto print. Therefore what you see on the screen would not match your pdf.

    Screen shot 2012-06-15 at 10.15.04 AM.png

     

    For a high quality PDF this looks blurry, I could only see this happening if your source images were greater than 300dpi effective pixel resolution. Are you sure you made a high quality pdf?

     
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  • ArtOfRandy202
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    4. ArtOfRandy202,
    Jun 15, 2012 8:34 AM   in reply to Mike Gondek
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    Hey Mike,

     

    Thanks for the help. Yes, I did export as a High Quality Print PDF.  While I was checking out said PDF in Acrobat the object was not transparent at all. It appears that it only appears invisible in Preview and Mail as an attachement so I'm guessing it's just a display error/wrong option in those programs. As long as it's working in Acrobat I shouldn't have any worries when it comes to printing, so I guess my worries are gone, but I'm still curious as to why it displays as such.

     
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  • Mike Gondek
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    5. Mike Gondek,
    Jun 15, 2012 8:47 AM   in reply to ArtOfRandy202
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    Glad to hear your file is good. That screenshot I posted is where you can fix Acrobat display problems. A setting I usually change is to turn off Enhance thin lines, it makes for example UPC codes look blurry/bold, and thin type look bold.

     

    As far as solving your tranparency not sure anything there would help, (and honestly I did not see your problem in the screenshto), but still good to understand those settings and here is some good reading

    http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/standard/using/WSe6c6ee3e336ebb13- 630c189912be99aedab-7fff.html

     
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