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C
ciao
Participant
March 6, 2024
Answered

Acrobat pdf received showing blank pages when opened with Mac Preview or Printed as pdf or saved as

  • March 6, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 18806 views

Lately, when I receive a pdf and I  open the file with Preview (MAC apple 3M pro), or save as reduced size pdf with Acrobat, or I print to pdf , I get almost all the pages blank.

I first thought it was a problem of compatibility between a file made with Acrobat and the fact that I am trying to open it with Preview, but  this does happen also when I  just try to reducing the size of a pdf  within Acrobat.

I can't also send the files to clients who don't have acrobat. Because if they have Preview, they only see blank pages.  No fun.

Thank you to anyone with a suggestion/solution.

    Correct answer ciao

    Preview is basically an image viewer that may damage a pdf just by opening it, as already mentioned. Your Acrobat seems to be working normally. I don't know why Finder is not showing the pages, perhaps you could try turning off enhanced security under your Acrobat preferences (this is just a guess). The optimized setting to try is the second one in the screen shot below, you could also try saving your pdf as PDF/X-1a.

     


    Hi Luke,

    THANK YOU! The trick that worked was to "save as other.." and then choosing "PDF/X"  ( "press ready PDF" ). Now my file shows up both in finder and in Preview. Case solved. Thank you again. : )

    1 reply

    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 6, 2024

    Try it only with Acrobat. Don't even open the file with Preview. It's a very buggy application, known to corrupt PDF files just by opening them.

    Luke Jennings3
    Community Expert
    Luke Jennings3Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 6, 2024

    Does reducing the file size create blank pages, even if you never open the pdf in Preview? if so, that should not happen. Does the pdf view correctly on another machine or when viewed in Adobe Reader? if so, then check for Acrobat updates (under the Help menu) and install them, if you are still seeing the blank pages, do a re-install of Acrobat and apply all updates. I believe Preview won't show layers or overprinting, which could cause some pages to appear blank, the fix would be to flatten the visible layers by saving as an optimized pdf.

     

    C
    ciaoAuthor
    Participant
    March 7, 2024

    Hi Luke,

    -If I reduce the size of the file I get blank pages when I open the file in Preview and also when I just look at it with Finder. If I open the reduced file in Acrobat, everything is visible.

    - I had checked the layers and I am familiar witht the "flatten layers" command and the files I am trying to open don't have layers.  Any particular box that should or should not be checked in the Optimized  command for this? I usually just the default boxes, maybe this will work.

    - If I select the files with Finder,  step before opening the files, even in Finder I see blank pages, maybe this is an Apple problem, but it is frustrating because it's a "new" problem for me, I've been using Acrobat and Mac for years... and I've always been able to see Acrobat files in Preview. 

    Thank you 

    -

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