Print to Pdf file results in rough text

[metallums18]

If you've run into this at all please share your experience, knowledge, workaround, correction.  Thanks.

I'm printing an existing PDF file back through the DC printer/distiller to create a new PDF of one of the pages that will essentially have a new added image. The result usually ends up as an image that is less selectable and more like mixed content of the page if that makes sense to you.  You can't just highight the image anymore and right click and choose Save As on the single image.  Anyway, that's the point of doing this.

What I've started with is a clean looking PDF document that someone created with Word initially and possibly used either Adobe DC, Bluebeam, or MS converter on their machine to create the PDF from Word.   There are logos, text, maybe one image in the source PDF.  It's clean looking text.   But I add one image to one page and want to print just that page to PDF file, even choosing highest quality job options, and the resulting PDF has text that is much rougher, thicker/darker than I would describe the Light variant of font I saw in original PDF file.   Now I can't reinsert that updated page without it looking like someone changed the text fonts only I haven't touched them besides recreating a pdf.

Anyone have an idea what I am doing wrong?   This is something I've done for years for small requests from others.  Thank you for your time.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse · Accepted solution]

Are the fonts listed in Document Fonts the same in both versions?

Typically, the reason why fonts would look different is that they may have been converted to outlines and no longer benefit from the font's built-in hinting for good screen rendering, OR you've accidentally printed the entire page as as image to new distilled file.. in which case your text is now a bitmapped graphic and will definitely appear differently.

In any case, this is not a good workflow. You'd be better adding the image to the existing PDF (no reprinting) and then securing the file to prevent editing if you are concerned about people plucking out an image.

[metallums18]

Thank you Brad.  It was the print to image setting in print/advanced panel that was turned on.

I didn't remember turning this on for this need in the past but maybe it was just too long ago to remember.   However maybe AdobeDC is also just now no longer showing pdfs made this way with fonts/text shown as clearly anymore.  In fact as mentioned I tried numerous higher output settings and it never got any better. When I know I've had to do it hundreds of times to export at just a little higher or lower to get good enough quality text/images and filesize.  Only now the text was alwayss rough.  Maybe they are handling text differently when displaying the fonts saved as image.  Not sure.

Either way, you were right and pointed me to the right spot immediately. Thanks for your quick insight!

The intent was indeed to just make it more difficult for people than just right clicking individual items and save them.  In a perfect Adobe world their security on the file would stop that but we've tested and found apps that can still grab them and it centers around the PDF still seeing them as individual images.  If you can't select them individually things are much more difficult to pluck out.   Bluebeam for instance has a "flatten" feature that is unlike the term Flattening as used in Adobe's world.  With one button it flattens the PDF and things like images are no longer easy to pluck out individually, among other things the feature does.  It is one "flat" document.

Might have to just go back to securing the document and calling that best case scenario.  At least the text looks good again.

[Bernd Alheit]

Why does you print to Adobe PDF?

[metallums18]

Bernd, check my other explanations, I think I covered why I was going that route in those posts.  Thanks

[Luke Jennings3]

Printing to a new pdf is rarely a good idea, a better work flow would be to place the page into a new InDesign or Illustrator file, add the new image and export to a new pdf, you can use the replace page tool to replace the original page. As for making it harder to re-purpose the image, you can add Acrobat security to make editing harder (as Brad has suggested) and/or you can add several blank tiffs directly on top of the new image* (named to match the image with the opacity set to 0 in InDesign), when the miscreant tries to edit or right click the image, they will come up blank, with luck they will be deterred by your magic and take a lousy screen shot instead.

*make the blank image frame 99.5% smaller than the protected image, so it will be selected in Acrobat.