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venus_k
Inspiring
July 29, 2025
Question

Vector charts exported from InDesign look pixelated in Acrobat (Windows)

  • July 29, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 198 views

I’m building charts in Illustrator (100% vector, no effects, no transparency, no filters, no spot colors, Im' working in RGB in Illustrator) and placing them into InDesign 20.3.1 on macOS Ventura. I export to Interactive PDF (RGB). On my Mac in Acrobat and in Dropbox’s inline preview, everything is crisp. Two clients on Windows + Acrobat see (apparently) the same charts as pixelated, as if Acrobat is showing a low‑res proxy (similar to InDesign’s “Typical” Display Performance setting). When I import the same PDF into Illustrator, all elements are still vector paths.

 

We’ve used this workflow for ~8 years without issues; the previous project 2 months ago (earlier InDesign version) was fine. I can't get a sign off on this project until we settle this issue. The only thing that changed is that I updated Adobe apps and I'm slow to update, so I was working with early 2024 versions previously.

Side-by-side screenshots attached show my view vs. theirs at similar zoom levels.

Questions:

  • Is there a known Acrobat (Windows) display/rendering bug with Interactive PDFs or recent updates?

  • Any Acrobat settings to check (e.g., Page Display > Rendering, Smooth Line Art/Images, Enhance Thin Lines, GPU)? (I've run into the smooth line art issue before, this also affects the type.)

  • Can this be something with the new version of InDesign and output settings? I could try going back to a previous version.

1 reply

Meenakshi_Negi
Meenakshi_Negi
Legend
July 29, 2025

Hi venus_k,

 

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry about the trouble caused. 

 

As mentioned, the workflow used to work fine. You mentioned that your clients are viewing files as pixelated. Please confirm whether you experienced the same issue on your machine. 

If yes, this needs to be checked. Please try creating a sample file and using the same workflow. If the issue still occurs, share that sample file with us. Also, share the screen recording of your steps to convert the file to PDF. It will help us replicate the behavior and check the root cause of the issue.  

Please also share the Acrobat and OS version numbers currently in use on your and your clients' machines. 

 

Feel free to let us know if you need any help.

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

V
venus_kAuthor
Inspiring
July 29, 2025

Hi, thanks for the reply. I am NOT seeing the same issue – they are also not seeing pixelation in Dropbox's inline PDF viewer. My screenshot is their version of the PDf vs. my version of the same PDF. Both the type and the vector artwork are pixelated as if they are seeing a preview image of the chart, and not the actual vector. I do not know if they are using paid Acrobat or free Reader, but I will find out. 

 

I may have to loop in their IT dept. to find out – this is a large institution. I have done hundreds of these projects for the client's organization and have never had this issue. The previous version of the project had the same issues in the PDF, but we wrote it off to possibly incorrectly-linked art – but that was not the case.

V
venus_kAuthor
Inspiring
July 29, 2025

Should I try updating InDesign? I normally don't do that in the middle of a large project, but maybe there is something in the update that could fix this? I'm not sure if it's their Acrobat or my InDesign-exported PDF that is the actual issue.

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