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AnjaPop
12-21-2006, 04:24 PM
I am wondering if my pdf looks slightly pixelated on screen if (when sent to the printer) it will be the same?

I am using Illustrator CS and have created a graphic which is the only thing that looks pixelated when open the pdf.

I rasterized the image also to see if that made a difference but no. I saved it at 300 dpi also.

any ideas??
Broacher
12-21-2006, 04:44 PM
Transparency effects-- dropshadow, feathering, any object transparency-- forces the vector into raster land. If it gets within, what is it.. a quarter inch? Three-eigths? If it gets near vector type, it will rasterize the type as well-- and that's what usually shows up when printed. Solution: keep all your transparency effects on the bottom layer(s), and wherever possible, text on top.
PrintDriver
12-21-2006, 04:54 PM
Transparency settings, flattening settings, compression settings...could be anything.
PrintDriver
12-21-2006, 04:55 PM
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10631
AnjaPop
12-21-2006, 04:56 PM
No transparency, drop shadows or feathering....just basic pen drawing with some text and a background. When I zoom into the pdf it acutally doesn't look pixelated - only when its at about 100%..looks slightly pixelated.
AnjaPop
12-21-2006, 04:58 PM
I'm new to this forum and wondering if there a place on this site that I can upload a file so you can see what I mean?
jimking
12-21-2006, 05:11 PM
Try printing it on a laser printer and see what you get.
Broacher
12-21-2006, 05:34 PM
Ah. That's your display settings in Acrobat.

Preferences, smoothing> smooth line art. Switch it off and see.
AnjaPop
12-21-2006, 06:03 PM
Thanks for the responses. Unforunately I don't have a laser printer and I tried turning off the 'smooth line art' but that made it more pixelated.
eeeek!!
doubting_thomas
12-21-2006, 06:52 PM
Did you make the text into Outlines? That'll produce that effect on screen.
If you did, try resaving the pdf from a file where the type is live, and embed
the fonts. That would explain why it looks smooth when you zoom in.

Edit: It'll be fine if you did make Outlines when it goes to press.
Seapony
12-21-2006, 07:46 PM
No transparency, drop shadows or feathering....just basic pen drawing with some text and a background. When I zoom into the pdf it acutally doesn't look pixelated - only when its at about 100%..looks slightly pixelated.
If it's the text that's pixelated, then your fonts are suspect (I'd guess bitmapped or they weren't embedded properly). You should also check your raster and resampling settings, they might be set to the default which is normally screen resolution.

Do you have Acrobat Pro? How are you creating the PDF's?

:)
Broacher
12-21-2006, 08:15 PM
I still say it has something to do with the way Acrobat's smoothing/anti-aliasing is interacting with her video card. Shut off all the smoothing in Acrobat and see what happens.

Maybe you have one of those vid drivers with a 'font smoothing' option that is interfering with the display?
CamarotaDesign
12-22-2006, 03:23 AM
yeah, its probably just the way acrobat is displaying. My vector images always look a little pixelated when shrunk down, but blown up they are nice and crisp. It doesnt hurt to just send the file to the printer to have them look it over. If you saved everything at 300 DPI, and all transparency and document raster effects set to 300, you'll be fine.
Broacher
12-22-2006, 12:37 PM
Also, if it is the text that is exhibiting this problem, my guess is that the text has been converted to outlines. Check your PDF Document properties and see what (if any) font information is listed.
Shadowcat
12-24-2006, 04:58 AM
Your Acrobat could have the anti-aliasing turned off, which will make blends and some edges appear more jagged on screen, but has no effect on printing the image.

It may also be substituting the hi-res print image with a lo-res on-screen preview.

Are you viewing in Acrobat or Reader? See if there is a difference between what you see in each.
WPS23
12-28-2006, 08:39 PM
I've seen that happen to many PDFs in Acrobat. As long as when you zoom in it's crisp (as you already said it is) you should be fine.

However vector art is crisper than 300dpi raster so I wouldn't rasterize your image.

Also, unless the printing company that you go through is... less than reputable ...they know what high end output is supposed to look like and if you make them aware of your concerns they should help you, if you even need to do anything.
sierrastock
12-29-2006, 01:00 AM
Did you make the text into Outlines? That'll produce that effect on screen.
If you did, try resaving the pdf from a file where the type is live, and embed
the fonts. That would explain why it looks smooth when you zoom in.

Edit: It'll be fine if you did make Outlines when it goes to press.

I've had to explain this to clients on more than one occassion. The chunkiness of the outlined text is due to Adobe's raster engine, which has got to be about half the resolution of that of display fonts.