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Anna-macuser
Anna-macuser
Participant
Nov 9, 2026 9:25 AM UTC
Answered

exporting in photoshop - artboards to PDF

I am a volunteer producing print materials for a local charity - so limited photoshop skills.  

The printers requirements are multipage pdf, forgra39, compression 300dpi, embedded fonts (and I am using their template)

My artwork is created in photoshop as artboards.  I've used export->Artboards to PDF - I'm selecting multipage pdf, jpeg quality 12, embed ICC

However, there are none of the PDF settings available to me, for example this defaults to PDF 1.4 (some printers I've used specify 1.7 and I’ve set 1.7 as my default), so how do I change this when I export Artboards?

If I save a copy as PDF, I get the PDF dialog, and can choose different settings  - but this is a one page PDF.  If I export Artboards to PDF, I can't select any of the settings - but do get two pages. 

Saving as PDF,  the defaults, aren’t the same as when I select Artboards to PDF

Is there something I am missing?  

    justlearn
    justlearnCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Nov 9, 2026 9:53 AM UTC

    ​@Anna-macuser  Are you creating a brochure? I would use either InDesign or Illustrator for this and just use Photoshop for color correcting the images and setting the images for CMYK for 300ppi for print purposes. 

    Photoshop is a little quirky when it comes to creating multi-page PDFs. If you want to do most of the work in Photoshop, I would save each artboard using Save a Copy - Photoshop PDF, since that gives you access to the full PDF options dialog. The downside is that each page is saved as a separate PDF. You can then combine the PDFs in Acrobat. It's a bit more work, but it gives you much more control over the PDF settings and should meet the printer's requirements more reliably.

    m
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    7 replies

    Astonished_portfolio467f
    Participating Frequently
    Nov 10, 2026 5:47 AM UTC

    You are not missing anything, I hit the same wall doing a two-page flyer for a local fete last year. Artboards to PDF really is a fixed recipe, so I went the Save a Copy route too, and the bit that saved me time was saving my settings as a preset at the top of the PDF dialog, so each page reused the same FOGRA39 and PDF 1.7 choices without me retyping them. Then I merged the pages in Acrobat and the printer took it without a word.

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    Sunny_portfoliodd1f
    Sunny_portfoliodd1f
    Participant
    Nov 9, 2026 2:34 PM UTC

    You are not missing anything. Artboards to PDF is a quick export. It does not show the full PDF settings. Save a Copy as PDF is the way to get them. Save each artboard on its own first. Then join the files into one PDF. Ask your printer if they can join them for you. Many printers do this for free. Good luck with the charity work.

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    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Nov 9, 2026 2:56 PM UTC

    All printers would do their own imposition – never use a printer who asks the designer to do it!

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    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Nov 9, 2026 1:54 PM UTC

    Can you let us know how many pages (sides) you have for your document and the trimmed page size and I will talk you through how to produce your document in form suitable for your printer. Check with your printer that they are happy to impose separate pages and whether they need trim marks and whether they want the artwork in RGB or CMYK (some digital workflows prefer RGB).

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    justlearn
    Community Expert
    justlearnCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Nov 9, 2026 9:53 AM UTC

    ​@Anna-macuser  Are you creating a brochure? I would use either InDesign or Illustrator for this and just use Photoshop for color correcting the images and setting the images for CMYK for 300ppi for print purposes. 

    Photoshop is a little quirky when it comes to creating multi-page PDFs. If you want to do most of the work in Photoshop, I would save each artboard using Save a Copy - Photoshop PDF, since that gives you access to the full PDF options dialog. The downside is that each page is saved as a separate PDF. You can then combine the PDFs in Acrobat. It's a bit more work, but it gives you much more control over the PDF settings and should meet the printer's requirements more reliably.

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    m
    Anna-macuser
    Anna-macuserAuthor
    Participant
    Nov 9, 2026 11:18 AM UTC

    thanks - unfortunately I only have photoshop on my plan (can’t afford the extra to add extra things to my plan, as I’m doing it for free & not working :-( ).  But thanks for confirming my suspicion, that I’m using the wrong tools.  I’ll work with what I have, with the knowledge its as good as I can do in the circumstance!

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      Stephen Marsh
      Community Expert
      Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Nov 9, 2026 9:25 PM UTC

      This Photoshop script creates a single multi-page PDF file from a layered document.

       

      https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/new-feature-request-layers-to-pdf/idi-p/14122836

       

       

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