How do I create multiple artboards to make a single pdf file without images becoming pixellated?

[JessP84]

Hi. I need to send my portfolio to clients as a pdf file containing about 8 artboards of illustrations in illustrator, every time I save them and attach the pdf to an email the images become pixellated when I view them. I have tried the images as jpegs and pdf format to make the file size small enough for email but they are always pixellated.

Is there something I can do to stop the pixellation? 

[John Mensinger]

It will help if you provide more information as to exactly how you're going about this. If your illustrations are vector based, apparently they are getting rasterized at inadequate resolution somewhere in the process. Without knowing more, one could only say that in theory, you should be able to just Save As PDF and preserve your artwork as vectors, but that's not what you're doing.

[JessP84]

Hi John

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the images are vector based, some of them have used different imported swatches and effects, Not sure if this makes a difference? 

[JessP84]

Hi John, thanks for your reply. Yes the images are vector based. If I use the illustrator images and save as a pdf, the file size is far too big to add to an email so I have tried adding the images as a jpeg format, then saving the page as a pdf but the images just become pixelated when I view the attachment on an email.

[tonyharmer]

What PDF settings are you using? If you're using Smallest File Size then the images will be compressed quite harshly.

[JessP84]

Hi, I am using smallest file size, to be honest I don't really know what the others mean! Is there another one I should be using?

[Monika Gause]

WHen you convert your images to JPEG you are generating pixel formats, so you have to expect that there are pixels in your image. That said: The artworks should be converted to pixels at the exact needed size, so you don't need to enlarge them.

[Test Screen Name]

Let's take this a step at a time. You say you attach the PDF to an email and the images become pixellated.

1. Are they pixellated in Illustrator?

2. Are they pixellated in the PDF when you save it (NO email involved yet)?

Your work is almost certainly too big to email directly. This is true of everyone working in professional design. Everyone uses services like http://wetransfer.com/ instead. Just as easy as an email for both sender and receiver.

[chrisl41501719]

The bad part of using PDF's for proofing is that the screen image you see is not the print image for the press. The PDF screen image is rasterized. That forces all the graphics into pixel locations instead of the precisionof the vector version (for press saved in the PDF also). You will get a lot of variance in line width - especially on ascenders and descenders onscreen. You just have to look at the Illy file and be sure YOU didn't have a brain fart, then inform the client of this anomaly. We get this question all the time from new customers.