.png's print better from PDF than PowerPoint - Why?

Question

I create clip art (.png's) from AI & PSD CC, then test their print quality using PowerPoint because that's the program my end users use most often.

When I print the .png's from PowerPoint, they all print with an ugly black halo. It doesn't matter if they're CMYK or RGB. Always a black halo. But when I save the PowerPoint as a PDF and print from PDF, all of the .png's turn out great. No halo. Drop shadow looks great. Totally as intended.

My question is, why? What is it about saving as, and printing from, a PDF that makes my images turn out the way I intend (in print)?

Willi Adelberger · Answer

If you are on Windows, you should try to export as EMF (but without any font or text) and use that for MS Office (to use also on Mac Office). Illustrator on the Mac has many flaws when it comes to WMF/EMF exports. EMFs can be positioned over colored areas in MS Office and will not cover up with an rectangle.

If you export as PNG, I would recommend not to use the command Save for MS Office but use the export command and export a PNG with transparency. It allows later to put this PNG above colored areas. With EMF it is not a problem anyway.

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