Images pixelated when exporting to PDF - Why?

I am attempting to export an InDesign CS4 file to a PDF. It is a calendar grid, with 12 pages (months).
I have placed images for the phases of the moon into the appropriate dates.
The images were originally 72 dpi, and I increased it to 3-00 dpi before inserting them into InDesign.
I did not expand the size of the images, in fact I've reduced them by 10% by scaling the image.
I have the display quality set to high.
When I view the images in the file through InDesign, they look fine.
But when I export the file to a PDF, the images appear to be horribly pixelated.
Would anyone know what is causing this issue, and how to fix it?
Any help that anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Upsampling an image will not make it less pixelated. You really should be using vector versions of these symbols.

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Image aliasing when exporting print PDF at 300 ppi (bicubic downsampling)

Hello,
i am trying to describe a problem which persists since version CS3 of InDesign. It's about aliased edges in images in a certain angle; occuring when exporting the brochure as PDF file (at 300 ppi). The placed images are always at a higher quality than needed (for example 780 ppi effective). The aliasing is not there when opening the original image files in photoshop (viewing at 100%).
The PDF export settings are:
- Compression: Bicubic downsampling to300 ppi for images above 350 ppi (for color images, grayscale images and monochrome images)
- Crop Image data to frames
- Marks: Crop Marks and Page Information
- Output: No Color Conversion
- Advanced: Transparency Flattener: High Resolution
- Compatibility: Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)
- PDF /X-3:2002
Below are two screenshots
- The left one was the original image, downsampled to 216 mm in width using automatic bicubic downsampling
- The right one is the result when exporting a InDesign Document with the same width to a PDF with the mentioned settings
Downsampled in Photoshop CS6 to 216 mm width
Exported from InDesign CS6 with mentioned settings
I have no clue what happens here, but it looks like the internal downsampling of InDesign CS6 is not very good.
When i write a PostScript file of the brochure and put it in Distiller (with the same PDF Preset as above), the image looks like the one made with Photoshop. So this problem has to lie somwhere deep in InDesign or it's settings.
Anybody with similar experiences?

Rob Day wrote:
Something about your test looks off. The export from ID and export from PS PDFs are both zoomed at 1200%, but the export from ID vrsion is 90% smaller.
Yeah I noticed that I actually had the image in InDesign scaled @ 90%, so the effective ppi was around 650. I get the same jagged results when I use anything other than a 300 or 600 effective ppi. Whereas if I use a 650ppi image in Photoshop and export to PDF, it downsamples smoothly.
Rob Day wrote:
The diagonal lines in your test are 1 pixel so at 300ppi to an offset press at 150lpi, the lines would be less than a halftone dot so I'm pretty sure you would need a loupe to see any difference. Maybe with a stochastic screen there would be better resolution but still difficult to see. So if the printing is that good I would just export without down sampling. With disk space running at 15 cents a gigabyte there's not much to gain with a downsample.
It becomes noticeable with some images more than others, but I'm printing a lot of images of buildings and drawings with sharp lines that converge to a point, or are distinguishable in the full size image but indistinguishable when downsampled. This can introduce distracting patterns when they aren't downsampled smoothly, something like this:
Unfortunately the printers near me aren't very good, so I'm having things printed online, and this particular printer (blurb.com - for a small job) won't accept large PDFs without compressed/downsampled images :/ I'm making 300dpi versions of the really crucial images for the time being, but I'm hoping there is a better solution!
The other issue is exporting the PDF for use on the web, either as a download or on an online PDF viewer like issuu.com. The two PDFs on the right side of my test look much better in these situations. Is there any disadvantage to using Distiller to make my PDFs for this purpose using the Device Independent setting? I don't have any special interactive elements.

Image Swapping When Exporting to PDF

I am using Crystal Reports 10 Java Reporting Component deployed on Websphere v6.0. I am using the ExportControl to export my report directly to a PDF. So the user fills out a form and submits and then a child window pops up containing the report in PDF format. Pretty simple application. The problem is that I have about 5 different graphics embedded in my .rpt file and when the export to PDF occurs the report will swap the images around randomly. One out of about every 5 requests has the images where they belong otherwise the images are substituted for one another. Also there is no pattern to the swapping...completely random. I have scoured the internet and I've seen nothing related to this issue. I am praying that someone will have a clue because I am completely out of options.

I had the same issue in the version that ships with Visual Studio.Â I finally figured out that the subreports and the main report had images.Â When I added the images to both the subreport and main report I left the default name that the application assigned.Â Unfortunately, because the subreport and main report are independent during the drag and drop creation they choose the same name for the image.Â
To fix your problem, just give each image a distinct name!
Â It worked for me, hope it works for you.
Â All the best,
Jonathon

Grayscale images invert when exporting to .PDF (maybe?)

Hey folks,
I'm the lead designer for a student newspaper. We just made the move to InDesign from QuarkXpress and I couldn't be more thrilled.
I did run into a weird problem with the .PDF process. A brief Google search didn't help.
I created a .tiff file in Photoshop CS6 -- it was Grayscale mode with a transparent background. Exported it with no layers, saved transparency. It looked just fine on the page.
However, once exported, the image's colors were inverted. It looked that way in both Apple Preview and Adobe's own Acrobat. Exporting the image as a .png or a .jpg yeilded the same results. Other images exported with the same settings went just fine.
So I figured I'd just invert the image in Photoshop and then the exported .PDF would invert the inversion, hence correcting it. It looked great.
However, it PRINTED inverted -- the way the image came through in Photoshop and the way it looked on the page in InDesign, but the .PDF looked right.. So now I'm not sure where the breakdown happened. Why are the .PDF viewers not showing what's going to print? How can I avoid this in future issues.
Thanks a lot!
Jeff

The problem is that any Mac application that uses PDF, like Pages for instance, also uses the same rendering software as preview, so if it looks 'negative' in preview, it will in Mac Mail, Pages etc as well.
The workaround is relative simple (if annoying).
Export your document as an .eps from InDesign.
Open that .eps in Acrobat and save as a PDF.
Et voila.
Looks and prints normal in preview and all other Mac OS apps.
Obviously this is not a great solution for a multi-page document, but for the one-pagers I'm doing, it works.
david.

Image problem when exporting to pdf

I have several images on top of each other on the front page of my document. Two large images on top of each other with the the top one being transparent and several small ones on top of the two large. Everything looks fine i pages, however when i export the file to pdf the two large images are gone, but the smaller ones are still there? I have done this several times and never encountered this problem. The desk top icon looks fine though?
Hope someone can help!

Some frames are vector (drawn) and render OK in pdfs.
Others are bit maps using transparency, they have the problems mentioned above.
Experiment using a set of labeled frames on a single sheet and export that to a pdf and see what works and what doesn't.
Some features will only be good for printing to your desktop printer directly out of Pages.
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Images blur when exported to pdf(crystal 10)

Post Author: DAVE G
CA Forum: Exporting
I have a vb executable that uses crystal's automation object(found in craxddrt.dll) to execute then export a crystal report to a .pdf file. The problem that I am having is that if the exported reported loses granularity in any images that are in the report. Example is I have an ole object with a bitmap that is inserted into the report.
If I run the report inside directly inside of the Crystal Reports designer, and then export it to a .pdf file from there. The images are fine.
I did some research, and found several listings of issues exporting reports to .pdf format, but I have loaded what I think are the lastest hot fixes to Crystal reports. Does anyone know of anything else that I could be missing? Is there something the I am missing in regards to the Crystal automation object library??

Post Author: wapper
CA Forum: Exporting
There are plenty of KB articles and forum posts on this subject. Seec2009714 or: http://support.businessobjects.com/forums/message.asp?fid=251&mid=157914 Wapper

Images downsized and converted when exporting to PDF

I have Pagemaker 7.0.1 installed on Virtual XP so that I can help out a family member.
Pagemaker's embedded Acrobat 4 was not working properly so I installed my Acrobat 9.0 on Virtual XP. This unfortunately has not solved the problem, which is:
My images are greyscale and 300 ppi when imported into Pagemaker. When exported to PDF using Acrobat 9.0, the images are being converted to CMYK and exported at about 50% of the actual size. Interestingly, those images that are only at 200 ppi are converted but not downsampled.
This is happening no matter how I fiddle with the settings. Happens to both jpegs and tiffs.
I found an old thread on another forum where this problem occurred but a solution was not found or posted.
Any ideas?
Michelle

This reply is a series of comments and suggestions rather than a definitive answer.
1. Your set up is less than perfect, if not unstable, and will be prone to all sorts of bizarre behaviours.
2. Never copy/paste a graphic or table into PageMaker. Always use the Place command. The only "exception" would be that you can copy and paste a properly Placed graphic from within your PageMaker document.
When placing images in a PageMaker file, the following message appears: “The graphic in the linked file would occupy xxxxxxx bytes in the publication. Include the complete copy in the publication anyway?” The correct answer to this question is always "NO".
(You can permanently avoid this popup in future docs by unchecking "store copy in publication" under Element -> Link Options with no publication open. You can do the same to avoid further prompts in pre-existing documents.)
3. Try updating PM to Ver 7.0.1a which had a better Export… AdobePDF…macro. http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=34&platform=Windows
4. In PageMaker’s Print dialogue, click on the Options button, and check "Write PostScript to File." Select the "Normal" radio button. Set both Type 1 and TrueType fonts to download. As always, set the Send TIF/Images option to Normal and NOT Optimized. Make other settings elsewhere in the print dialog as desired, such as "paper" size, crop marks, separations, etc.
5. With your non-standard setup, try the two stage print then distill process. Create a PS file using a postscript printer file, then load Distiller and convert the PS file to PDF. Note: if you have hyperlinks in your PMD file, they will not appear in your PDF and need to be re-created using Acrobat.
6. It's time to leave PM and move on to InDesign - see it as PM Ver 13.
7. Aternatively, use PM7 on a contemporary Win2K PC. http://bigjohnd.org.uk/PageMakerExportPDF/index.htm

Any ideas on keeping images on master pages consistently high quality display when exporting to pdf?

Any ideas on keeping images on master pages consistently high quality display when exporting to pdf?

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When exporting from .pdf to powerpoint, misinterprets image as table some of the time. Anyway to adjust setting for finer resolution?

When exporting from .pdf to powerpoint, misinterprets image as table some of the time. Anyway to adjust setting for finer resolution?

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Could you please let me know what version of Acrobat and OS are you using.
Have you tried repairing Acrobat?
Hope to hear from you.
Regards,
Anubha

Why does IBA not include the table of contents when exporting to PDF?

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Strange question you ask here. Not sure why that is relevant to "why" IBA won't publish a table of contents in a PDF.
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Any way to reduce the resolution when exporting to .pdf

We are emailing reports. On some reports with a large number of jpegs we are hitting a size limitation. It would be helpful to reduce the resolution on the jpegs when exporting to .pdf. Any way that would be possible?

Hi,
Need more info-
VS version? or the developing application?
CR Version? Are you directly emailing your reports from CR designer?
Also once the image is fetched by the report, we can not make any changes in the image, as a work around you need to do required changes in the image before adding it to the reports, and as far as I know it is not possible through code, but we can wait for other responses though.
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Background missing when export to PDF CS5.5

Hi,
I have seen some similar posts (all non-current) to the one I am writing however, my issues are not solved by the solutions posted in previous discussions.
My problem is that when I am exporting an IND file to PDF, when I open the PDF all of my background images are missing. In most examples this is a full page black box. But since testing this problem I have encountered the same issue with any colour and some photographs.
I am working in CS5.5, with all software up to date (version 7.5.3)
I have tested this in new documents and old documents that previously would have exported the background.
These items are not on master pages. I have tested this on brand spankin new pages and existing ones (with and without any elements on master pages)
I have tested the boxes with and without transparency.
There is no issue with overprint or the overprint preview check box.
I have tried saving the file as an .IDML and reopening to see if it will 'debug' the file. I have exported the PDF as every kind of option. I have restarted the computer and the program several times. I have checked for new updates.
The only way that I have 'cracked' this issue so far is to break the one large background image into at least 3 overlapping solid boxes. It seems that you cant have any box overlap more than 2 page boundaries.
Is anyone else having this problem or any other advice on what to try.
Thank you

Hi Eugene,
The document in question is 1) not using master pages and 2) not using spreads. Its a single page A4 document.
Hi Peter,
Sorry I am not trying to span two pages. My comment was that the graphic box seems to glitch when it touches more than 2 boundaries of the page ie left right top bottom.
I am using the full creative suite CS5.5, no hacks, no substitute programs.
I have attached a few screen captures.
Sample file in indesign:
Screen capture when exported to PDF:
split the background box into 2 (i have used 2 blacks so you can see the boundary). Export to PDF:
Second example - black background with photo over top. In indesign:
Exported to PDF:

Alignement issue when exporting to PDF

Hello,
I'm having some alignment issues when exporting an InDesign file to PDF.
I have a couple of square pictures, touching eachother at the edges. These are aligned bang on in InDesign (the lines overlap), but when exporting to a PDF and viewing in there, it seems that some seem to jump up slightly.
Is this just a display issue or a setting issue when exporting to PDF?
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The detail is cropped too tight for me to tell how many photos are intersecting there. Is there a vertical intersection as well? If not, I think you're looking at a very slightly non-rectangular frame, if there is, then you might still be looking at a non-rectangular frame, or the frames are not perfectly aligned, which doesn't surprise me if you snapped to a guide -- I find that less than 100% reliable since CS6.
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Images pixelated when exporting to PDF - Why?

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