(Urgent) Colors Washed Out after exporting to PDF

[ccheng28]

Hello,

My document in Illustrator, is original in RGB color mode, because the purpose of the project is not for printing. But when I exported it to PDF, I found that the colors were a bit "washed out", colors were not as sharp as the color shown on the Illustrator document. When I tried to export it in JPG, it shows the exactly same colors as the original document. 

My project will due on Sunday, and I was supposed to submit the PDF file. So I hope I can find the solution as soon as possible. Thank you.

[Doug A Roberts]

What PDF settings are you using? What are you using to check the colour after exporting?

[ccheng28]

Thanks for reaching me out! 

I used Adobe Acrobat and Preview(Mac default) to view the PDF, the color were still not as sharp as the JPG. I am not sure what is PDF settings, can you explain a little bit?

Thank you

[ccheng28]

1st is a screenshot of the PDF, 2nd is the screenshot of the JPG.

[Doug A Roberts]

Depending on how you export exactly (Save As, or Export for Screens etc.) you should see a PDF settings window like this, with colour settings and other information about what exactly you're exporting.

[ccheng28]

Thank you for the explaination, I used "save as" as my method. So what should I do right now?

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

What happens when you include profiles?

Also: Apple Preview can show you if there's something in the file (but I wouldn't even rely on that). It won't be able to show you correct colors or anything like that.

For Acrobat: you need to check its color management settings.

Also: how are your color management settings in Illustrator?

[ccheng28]

Yes, the problem was solved when I included profiles. Thank you so much!

[Monika Gause]

That's good to know. Good luck for your project!

[nourhanb14076350]

Which profile should I include? 

[Doug A Roberts]

It depends on your intended use. Is it for screens? Probably sRGB.

[Pat Maguire]

I had the same problem with saving PDFs from illustrator and I went to OUTPUT when saving the PDF and set "Color Conversion" to "Convert to Destination" and it fixed the pdf colors. 

[Sharkpa]

https://youtu.be/nHjfh0DXbVc

Recent Updates seemed to change my PDF Export Presets. I cut a tutorial video for you.

• File » Save a Copy

• Save File as a Photoshop PDF

• Change Adobe PDF Preset from [HIGH QUALITY PRINT] to [PRESS QUALITY]

• Problem Solved

Tim Schmidt

Founder

Agency511 Marketing and Advertising 

[Monika Gause]

This is the Illustrator forum. You can't save a Photoshop PDF out of Illustrator. And BTW: the issue has been solved.

[nice_Wonder5CAB]

Hi can you please tell me how to fix? When exporting files inllustation to PDF and colors appear washed out, 

[Monika Gause]

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@nice_Wonder5CAB  schrieb:

Hi can you please tell me how to fix? When exporting files inllustation to PDF and colors appear washed out, 

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PLease create a new thread and describe what's happening step by step. Including the color mode of your Illustrator document and the color mode your are converting to when saving the PDF.

[braam_8774]

I had the same issue whe exporting from Acrobat 2024 to Jpeg. My workaround was to open each page in PS then save as jpeg or PSD, to use in video editor. 

[nice_Wonder5CAB]

Hi i have a same issue how can i fix?