Participating Frequently

Answered

Background and image colors different in different Adobe readers

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
August 13, 2021
4 replies
4531 views

When I create a PDF by exporting to PDF from a Microsoft PowerPoint:

If I view the PDF on Adobe Reader on a PC, it has a white background with gray images.

If I open it on Adobe Reader on my phone, it has a gray background with white images (looks terrible).

See screenshots below.

That can’t be right.

The Adobe people tell me it's Microsoft's fault, and the Microsoft people tell me it's Adobe's fault.

Can someone please tell me what is wrong with the PDF that is causing it to appear differently on different readers?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Okay. I've looked at your PDF, and it IS your background. It has a transparency of 50% White on it that's affecting what's behind it. PowerPoint doesn't write a "white page" background the way InDesign would, so your file is transparent.

This is your file opened into a Photoshop file (left) and Placed in InDesign (right) overtop of a black and red background.

The quick solution is to go back to your PP file and add a white background behind your background.

The other way (but you would have to do this in every PDF you've made), in Acrobat, is to Edit PDF > Edit Image (selecting the background) to open it in PhotoShop; flatten the image and close and save. The flattened imaged will replace the one in your PDF and all will be good!

Brad @ Roaring MouseCorrect answer

Inspiring

Okay. I've looked at your PDF, and it IS your background. It has a transparency of 50% White on it that's affecting what's behind it. PowerPoint doesn't write a "white page" background the way InDesign would, so your file is transparent.

This is your file opened into a Photoshop file (left) and Placed in InDesign (right) overtop of a black and red background.

The quick solution is to go back to your PP file and add a white background behind your background.

The other way (but you would have to do this in every PDF you've made), in Acrobat, is to Edit PDF > Edit Image (selecting the background) to open it in PhotoShop; flatten the image and close and save. The flattened imaged will replace the one in your PDF and all will be good!

B

boukasaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks very much for figuring that out. I appreciate it. I’ll take your advice and put a slide-sized white image at the back in every powerpoint template.

Do you have a though about why it shows up on white in some Adobe readers and on gray in others? Does Adobe put a default gray background in some readers and not in others?

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Inspiring

I choose File/Export/Create PDF or XPS Document

This is what I have found (I did a test file on a Win10 machine because I wasn't able to reproduce the issue on my Mac, so it seems this a PC-specific issue);

If you save a PDF using any of PP's built-in methods (Save As > PDF, Export As > PDF, etc), the file keeps the transparency of your background and will screw up. However if you use the Acrobat Save as PDF plugin (which you should have if you have full Acrobat), select that instead and, in Options, check PDF/X-1...: it forces a flattening to the file and the resulting PDF works fine!

Still, it would be better to fix the background image and replace it in your PP files to avoid the problem altogether going forward.

As for fixing existing PDFs, open them in Acrobat and "Save As PDF, Optimized..." : Click Settings and check Transparency and select one of the options (High-Res is best, of course). This will flatten your file and then it will work properly.

JR Boulay

Braniac

MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER MOBILE FORUM

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

B

boukasaAuthor

Participating Frequently

I'm really frustrated by Adobe support, which says this is a "feature" of the mobile reader and that the solution is to "recreate the PDF" which of course does nothing.

"

Thanks for your mail. We also tested the files that you shared with us on the mobile application and it gives the same result and the file displays with a grey background instead of white background as per the actual document that opens fine on the desktop application. The pdf features varies to desktop and mobile version. Hence it does not give the same output on the mobile version. As confirmed earlier, recreating the document by printing to adobe pdf is the solution for this issue."

JR Boulay

Braniac

Be sure that the "night mode" is not enabled.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

B

boukasaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Adobe support says they get the same issue. I also gave a presentation out of town and sent the PDF in advance to the conference center. When they showed the PDF on their large screen - from a Mac - it also looked this way.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Inspiring

Can you upload one here?

Does your background image have any sort of effect applied?

B

boukasaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Yes, here is the PDF: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:a5991f6a-c1a9-4f28-8cf7-75f428dd94d7

There's no special background - it's just the white default of a plain PowerPoint slide.

B

boukasaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Now that I uploaded the document to Adobe Document Cloud to share with you, when I open it there in a web browser, in the preview it has the gray background. But when you download it and open it with Reader, it looks correct with a white background. How is this possible? Surely this is not a "feature" as Adobe says - why would anyone want to have their documents show up randomly different at different times?

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded