Pixelated/low res images when exported as PDF

[Slingshot Creative]

I've been dealing with this issue for months now and can't figure out what's going on.

I've got IDCS2 and have been working on a series of documents for a client. In each one, I'm placing small icons on the page. They look fine when the display is set to "high quality" in IDCS2. BUT, when I export the file as a PDF they look really bad - pixelated and choppy.

The icons are originally from a .AI vector file I downloaded from IStockPhoto...so they are fine quality-wise. I've placed both the .AI image and also a 300dpi PSD. Both PDF'ed equally horrible.

But, the weird thing is that if you export one page from IDCS2 as a JPG - they look fine. Then, you can even open the JPG in PhotoShop and then PDF and they still look fine.

So, the issue is something in IDCS2 and on export to PDF. I've even exported as a "high quality print" PDF in IDCS2...same no matter whether the PDF quality is for print or web.

I've got to get this resolved for my client...any help or advice anyone could provide would be great!

Thanks so much in advance.

Kevin

[Tom Usrey]

In the PDF, if you zoom in really tight, does the vector art look okay?

If the answer is Yes, then nothing is wrong. That's just the way vector art is displayed in PDFs.

[Slingshot Creative]

acutally, i figured out the problem this morning.

couldn't find anything causing the issue in InDesign, so decided to poke around in Acrobat prefs. i found a pref section in Acrobat called "Page Display" and a few check boxes called "smooth line art" and "smooth images".

that did the trick like a champ! kind of lame though...the viewer of the pdf will not know this and its not something i can really fix for them easily - so it will look bad for them. why in the world these would not be defaults is beyond me!?!

anyways, thanks for the help.

[unknown]

They are the defaults. You must have turned them off.

Bob

[Slingshot Creative]

don't think i did...never even knew they were there before.

actually, my client had the same problem with a fresh install of Acrobat. he's a total computer noob so i know he would never know how to get in there and turn them off himself.

weird. well...thanks anyways.

[unknown]

Very odd.

The default for all three smooth settings is on. The last version that
didn't default to on was, IIRC, Acrobat 5 and that was for line art only.

Bob

[B***@adobeforums.com]

One thought--turning on the Smooth Line Art preference will make the on-screen display much more pleasing, but it will also increase the chance that you'll see stitching lines around transparent elements. That doesn't mean those lines will print, but it could trouble your clients when they see them on-screen.

[unknown]

When sending PDFs for on screen client proofing send exported files
using Acrobat 5 compatibility to avoid that issue.

Bob