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Nora_Nora
Nora_Nora
Inspiring
July 25, 2022
Question

InDesign Stroke Weight Ignored in Exported PDF

  • July 25, 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 3171 views

I have thoughtfully chosen very fine hairline strokes (e.g. 0.125) for certain artworks in my design portfolio in inDesign, however, when I export to PDF the resultant doc shows a uniformly thick line for every image that has a stroke.  I have tested both print PDF and interactive with various settings. I have also tested different stroke weights. The thick PDF stroke is identical (ugly) in every iteration.  I have also opened the PDFs in both the apple Preview and in Acrobat but the strokes are thick in both cases. 

 

When I preview in inDesign the strokes are exceedingly fine. How do I get the PDF to match the inDesign preview?

 

And why is this always so difficult?  If I spend months perfecting a document intended for primarily digital viewing the document quality should not be dependent on the recipient's acrobat settings and they cannot be expected to adjust the settings themselves.  All my work is completely for nothing when the PDF looks so horrible and Acrobat defaults to thickening the lines. it's maddening. 

5 replies

Willi Adelberger
Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
June 1, 2023

It is a screen issue. If a stroke does not fall exactly into the screen pixels they are antialiased or made thiker to fill the pixel lines. Depending on the screen resolution if will show up different. There is also a setting in the preferences as other mentioned how to handle it. 

R
Ralf302090418l5p
New Participant
June 1, 2023

Export as jpg in high-res. Then combine jpgs to pdf. It's not vectorized anymore (obviously) but this is one way of getting around it. The quality is absolutely fine. 

Rishabh_Tiwari
Community Manager
Rishabh_TiwariCommunity Manager
Community Manager
July 25, 2022

Hi @Nora_Nora ,

 

Thanks for reaching out. In addition to the suggestion shared above, I also found this similar discussion which you can refer to https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/exporting-to-pdf-makes-line-weights-appear-thicker-cad-plan-pdf-indesign-pdf/m-p/10638719

 

Let us know how it goes, we'll try our best to assist you.

 

Regards

Rishabh

Nora_Nora
Nora_NoraAuthor
Inspiring
July 25, 2022

Update: I just changed the stroke color from black to very very light grey.  Even medium greys appear like bold lines, but  210-210-210 achieved the hairline effect in a digital PDF full-page view. 

    Derek Cross
    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    July 25, 2022

    Which application are you viewing your PDF in?

    Geоrge
    Geоrge
    Brainiac
    July 25, 2022

    Did you uncheck this checkbox in your Acrobat settings?

     

     

    Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner
      Nora_Nora
      Nora_NoraAuthor
      Inspiring
      July 25, 2022

      Hi George, 

      Thanks for the reply but acrobat settings is not a solution for me.  Firstly, I have checked and unchecked that box and it has not made a difference in this case.  Also, as I mentioned in my post, the line weight issue in this case appears in both Acrobat and Preview, so to the extent that its a PDF viewer software setting, it seems to be a default one accross platforms.  Furthermore, the fact that it can be addressed in the acrobat settings is not a solution for me because I am sending this portfolio to employers and I cannot be in the room to see what their acrobat settings may be, nor can I expect them to adjust their settings at my request.  

       

      I am not concerned with my own ability to view a document correctly as an individual user, but how to ensure that a document I send out will be viewed correctly by the recipients.  I cannot expect them to "find a workaround" or even to realize that my document is being rendered incorrectly. 

       

      If there is a way to manage that type of setting as one of the interactive behaviors in the inDesign export dialogue or something I'd love to know.

        Willi Adelberger
        Willi Adelberger
        Community Expert
        July 25, 2022
        1. Is the problem a screen only problem or also when you print?
        2. What width has the problematic stroke?
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