Terrible Graphic Quality with PDF Export from FM9

I'm using FM9 unpatched on Windows XP Pro.
I cannot get the PDF export to work properly with graphics. Everything else looks great in general, but the graphics lose quality, both upon import into FM and even more so upon PDF export.
I have tried every option for importing, both working with native files (ex. .ai) and with JPEG or other format exports, as well as importing the files themselves directly and importing by reference.
I have also tried tweaking the PDF "Image" settings, removing any and all compression to see if it would help, which it did not.
In the end, the best results actually come from imported JPEG files, which are a bit blurry, but (relatively) usable, considering the alternatives. The Illustrator files I want to use are just awful, they are completely bitmapped upon export to PDF.
It is also worth noting that I do not encounter this problem when using the FM drawing tools. The output of those graphic files on printer and in PDF is excellent, vector-quality art.
I find it unusual that I am having this problem and see no other mention of it in the forums. It is causing serious pain and delays on my project, so if someone has any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
Douglas

First and foremost, you mention using FM unpatched, but you don't mention any specific reason you haven't applied the patches, can you elaborate on that? What version are you running, then? The latest version is 9.03 aka p250, as shown in Help > About.
There were several fixes to PDF generation in both the .02 and .03 update, so that would be the #1 recommendation.
Second thing is to tell us
1) how you're creating the PDFs, are you using Save As or are you printing to a print file,
2) what printer do you have set as your default printer (in FM) when you create the PDF
Sheila

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The common theme I'm seeing here is that the setting edits you make in
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Do you know if that is true or could you elaborate on the notorious nature
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>
There are too many potential and transient problems to list. The only thing
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Hi All,
This is a strange one, which has taken up a lot of time to try to solve.
I crreated a package of variants on the company logo and exported them from Illustrator as PNGs. I even tried them at 150dpi - then 600dpi.
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johnivanwhite wrote:
Hi John M,
Microsoft .WMF format. [.WTF?] is pretty good in the resultant PDF. However, when you zoom in to the PDF, the curves get a bit rounded-polygonal, in a smooth-bumpy way. Odd - not a huge issue unless people zoom in. However, it is evident if they print it. And they will.
Right. What you're seeing there is the Windows Metafile format's lack of support for bezier curves. Close inspection reveals curves that are made up of many small straight line segments.
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Typical!! - I solved the problem right after posting this.
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I'm on a local network, built on Apple's Airport Extreme. but I'm the only computer user on it. I use it for transferring files between the desktop computer (Apple Mac Pro) and laptop (Apple MacBook Pro) and, occasionally, to print from the laptop to a Xerox Phaser printer.
About a year ago, I added an Apple Airport Express to the network, allowing me to play iTunes music from the laptop through a Panasonic BluRay player connected to a home theatre sound system. No problems of this nature appeared with that installation.
About four months ago, we connected a DirecTV satellite receiver system to the D-Link router that carries wired network service from the desktop computer to the Xerox printer. The satellite TV system includes a series of modems that allows DVR recordings to be accessed and played from any of the TVs in the house. (As you would now perceive, I run my publishing business from my home). However, this set-up has been functioning for about four months, and I did not encounter the PDF problem until last weekend.
Now -- about the fonts.
Because of the many ads that I publish from various sponsors, it is possible that different versions of the same fonts have invaded my system. In the "missing font" alerts I get, InDesign frequently is seeking TT or T1 versions, which I replace with Adobe fonts when possible. Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium included a fairly large collection, which it keeps in one folder. The Apple OS also includes a bunch in a separate font management folder; and there are carry-over fonts that came with the business when I acquired it 10 years ago. Some of those fonts may go back 25 years to the book's inception. However, in the past several years, I have generally rebuilt all the ads that appear in my publications, substituting newer versions of fonts. Hence, the preflight program has been able to locate and include all the necessary fonts in the packages that go to the printers.
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So... I guess the complexities involved in the network and/or fonts could be part of the problem, as you suggest, but golly -- I hope not. The last thing I want to do is disrupt and rebuild the network or font collections. The font situation especially would set back production for months if not years, because so many individual ads and off-site clients would be involved in the process.
I'm sorry if I provided more details than you expected. I didn't mean to take so much of your time.
Thank you.

Terrible Graphic Quality with PDF Export from FM9

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