Issues with PNG Graphics in PDFs Exported from Google Slides

[Maudy5E2C]

Hi everyone,

I'm encountering an issue when I download a PDF from a Google Slides file that contains PNG graphics created in Adobe Illustrator. The images often show up with blurry or blackish edges, and the colors appear brighter than expected (see below for an example). From what I understand, this might be related to how Google Slides exports to PDF, but I’m wondering if I might also be missing something in my Illustrator color management settings.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

• The problem seems to occur mainly when viewing the PDF in Apple Preview, where the colors appear too bright or with a blackish edge.
• When I open the same PDF in Google Chrome or Adobe Acrobat, the images display normally, though the colors are still slightly brighter. At least, the PNGs and the colors added within Google Slides remain consistent.
  
  

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

• Tested different PPI settings (75, 150, and 300) for the PNGs when downloading the file at 1920x1080 px resolution.
• Resized the images to 980x540 px to avoid any compression issues.
• Switched from RGB to sRGB to ensure better monitor compatibility.
• Tried using JPGs instead of PNGs, but the colors changed again when downloading the PDF from Google Slides.
• Exported the presentation from Google Slides to PPT and then converted it to PDF.
• Enlarged the Page Setup in Google Slides to 1920x1080px.
• Checked Apple Preview settings, but I can’t seem to assign a color profile when opening the file.
  
  

Has anyone else experienced similar issues or have any advice on how to resolve this? Any tips or insights would be appreciated!

[Ton Frederiks]

That looks like jpeg compression. How does Google Slides create the PDF? Can you see the settings?

[Maudy5E2C]

I'm afraid I can't view or change the settings they use. I've also posted a message on the Google community, but I haven't received a response yet.

[Ton Frederiks]

Try if SVG export is better.

[Maudy5E2C]

SVG files are not supported  in Google Slides. I've tried to export as SVG and convert to PNG after, but I'm still getting the same blurry / black-ish lines. The strange thing is that when I open the file in Apple Preview, the large slide shows the wrong color and blurry lines, while the thumbnail on the left seems the right color. 

[Ton Frederiks]

I tried File > Download > Scalable Vector Graphics and got a reasonable result from Google Slides.

[Maudy5E2C]

Downloading from Google Slides to SVG, PNG, or JPG works fine, but the issue only arises with the PDF, especially when opened in Preview. One option could be to download each slide separately and combine them into a single file in Acrobat, but that’s not ideal for the client, who needs to download the presentations directly as a PDF (just thinking out loud...).

Are you suggesting that the PNGs were exported correctly and the issue lies with the PDF download from Slides or with Apple Preview? It’s odd because I’ve never had this before. Any other ideas?

[Ton Frederiks]

The png files do not seem to be the problem, but the horrible compression that Google uses in the PDF export is.

[Monika Gause]

That workflow is so convoluted and Apple Preview is just so bad at color (or anything else), that Illustrator issues probably would not matter anymore.

But: if you export a PNG from Illustrator, there will be no color profile embedded in it.