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Satyam33106155oc05
Participant
November 25, 2023
Question

Illustrator exported Pdf completely different from the artwork

  • November 25, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2042 views

Hi, I made a banner design in Illustrator to make sure it doesn't pixelate when printed/projected on a large scale. I used a lot of effects in the design and used various blending modes as well at some places. The design looks fine and is a vector but as soon as I export it into a pdf, it looks absolutely different.

 

I tried looking for answers as to why is this happening online. Read somewhere it won't happen if I rasterize my work and then export it. ( which worked by the way), but then it defeats the whole purpose of that design to be a vector and avoid pixelation when used on a large scale. 

I have attached some screenshots to have a look at.

Please help me fix this.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2023

    If those are gradients interacting with each other in transparency, then it will be rasterized anyway when transparency gets flattened. And changing the color space when exporting will cause this.

    B
    Community Expert
    Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2023

    I can't tell for sure what I'm looking at in the two screenshots.

     

    Generally speaking, two very important safeguards need to be followed when using a lot of the native effects and blending modes in Adobe Illustrator. First, the color model has to stay consistent throughout. If artwork starts out in RGB mode and is converted to CMYK along the way many of the blending appearances will change unpredictably. Second, the printer and/or large format RIP application used to print the banner must have an Adobe certified PDF print engine. The leading ones such as Onyx, Caldera and RasterLink Pro do. But there are others that don't.

     

    If you happen to be using any spot colors (such as Pantone) in gradients or transparency effects that will lead to color shifts and other unpredictable results. Any gradients, glows, etc should be made using colors from the document's color space, be it CMYK or RGB.

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    Satyam33106155oc05Author
    Participant
    November 25, 2023

    I did not change colour model while making this, and i don't use pantone either. No idea why is this happening... if i rasterize the whole thing and then export, it works, but normally exporting pdf doesn't 

     

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2023

    What do you use to view the PDF? Does it look different in Acrobat?

    S
    Satyam33106155oc05Author
    Participant
    November 25, 2023

    It does, I don't know. Even in acrobat, its messing up the fx and stuff

    ;-;

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2023

    Can you tell us a little more about you PDF settings?

    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2023

    in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

    p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.



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