Answered
Freeform gradient not outputting to PDF
In Adobe Illustrator for Mac, the Freeform Gradient does not properly appear when saving a PDF. Solution please?
Ton FrederiksCorrect answer
Community Expert
July 24, 2025
Ton, thanks for all your prompt help on this matter. There's no individual page that's behaving differently. I was curious if you could test this not on a Mac but on a PC to see how it opens up in their most used browsers
@nyds0806 I don't have access to a PC, but maybe @Bobby Henderson can help you with that.
Freeform gradients are not fully supported everywhere as you noticed, so it is maybe worth trying to use Effect > Rasterize on them. Select the Freeform Gradient object , choose Effect > Rasterize and give it a 300 ppi resolution. This will rasterize the gradient in the PDF, but because it is an effect, keep it editable in the Illustrator file.
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