Fine lines around things when exporting PDF

[jee7]

3 hours ago, lineweight said:

Thanks for posting this. Helped me solve a similar problem.

I had some scanned b&w images (as pixel layers) with white background laid out, all on a white artboard, but fringe lines were showing up in PDFs when viewed in some PDF viewers.

Making a white rectangle, same size as artboard, and placing it behind everything didn't work by itself, but merging it with the various pixel layers, then exportinh from this, did.

 

Glad to see my answer has helped at least a few people solve this issue. I should perhaps clarify that the white rectangle I used was a bit larger than the artboard itself. Thus the rectangle itself did not create these lines. Also, did you try the different PDF export options? The preset called flatten will both merge the layers and rasterize. It looks like a preset called press ready will only merge the layers and will not rasterize (you can see the configurations in the More... PDF export settings). I'm thinking that if you use a preset like press ready, it should merge your layers automatically and thus save you the trouble of doing it manually. But I haven't tried it myself.

[lineweight]

10 hours ago, jee7 said:

Glad to see my answer has helped at least a few people solve this issue. I should perhaps clarify that the white rectangle I used was a bit larger than the artboard itself. Thus the rectangle itself did not create these lines. Also, did you try the different PDF export options? The preset called flatten will both merge the layers and rasterize. It looks like a preset called press ready will only merge the layers and will not rasterize (you can see the configurations in the More... PDF export settings). I'm thinking that if you use a preset like press ready, it should merge your layers automatically and thus save you the trouble of doing it manually. But I haven't tried it myself.

I tried the "flatten" preset (this was before adding the background rectangles) and it didn't work - actually it made it worse.

However - it sounds like maybe it would have worked to add the background rectangles, then use the "flatten" preset, without having to do the merge on each page prior to export, which would have saved a bit of time.

[jee7]

24 minutes ago, lineweight said:

I tried the "flatten" preset (this was before adding the background rectangles) and it didn't work - actually it made it worse.

However - it sounds like maybe it would have worked to add the background rectangles, then use the "flatten" preset, without having to do the merge on each page prior to export, which would have saved a bit of time.

I see. Thanks for your explanation. Yes, this is what I meant. First add the white rectangle, which is a bit bigger than the artboard. Then, secondly, export using either the "flatten" or "press ready" presets to merge the layers.

[gomako]

I am getting this issue. Have tried the solutions but am still seeing a very thin hairline white line around my exported pdf, see attached file.

My export settings are also attached. I am rasterising images, have the background rectangle extending beyond the bounds of the artboard. Have tried setting the background to transparent and non-transparent and still get the same issue. Anyone any ideas? When exporting as png there is no border.

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @gomako

Are you absolutely sure that the white border is part of the PDF rather than it being a rendering artefact of your PDF reader software?

Have you tried viewing the PDF in a different application? Which one(s) have you tried?

Does the white border only appear at certain zoom levels, or is it visible no matter what the zoom level is?

Have you checked to see if your PDF reader software is deliberately putting the white border there, maybe because of some user-defined setting that you might not know about?

Does your Artboard have an integer X/Y pixel location? If not, what happens if you make it so?

If nothing above fixes the problem, have you tried any of the things already mentioned in this thread?

Note: This thread is for the old V1 software. Is that what you are using? If not, which version, of which Affinity application, are you using? (Because you mention Artboards I’m assuming it’s Designer but it’s best to check.)

Note: When posting screenshots, please give us full-screen screenshots (showing the whole application UI) where possible.

[gomako]

Hi @GarryP thank you.

Firstly, sorry I think I've posted in the wrong place entirely. This thread came up after a google search, and on joining and browsing the forums a bit more (after I posted) I realise now I should be posting in the Mac thread in the correct version. Would it be best to put together a new post? Delete this one and start afresh there? 

For completeness, I am using Affinity Designer v2.5.7 on MacOs Sonoma 14.7.2 (23H311).

The border is only at the top and right of the pdf, not bottom and left.

Quote

Are you absolutely sure that the white border is part of the PDF rather than it being a rendering artefact of your PDF reader software?

Have you tried viewing the PDF in a different application? Which one(s) have you tried?

I think you may be right. I have never noticed it before, but when I view in Preview (the mac default viewer) the lines are there. If I open the pdf in chrome or firefox, the lines aren't there. Sorry about that! I do have some more real issues with export to DXF, which has nothing to do with this, but I'll make sure I open a thread in the right place next time! Thanks for replying.

 

[GarryP]

You’re welcome.

24 minutes ago, gomako said:

Would it be best to put together a new post?

If you think the issue doesn’t need further consideration then I don’t think you need to re-post elsewhere, especially as this is a V1 thread.

On the other hand, if you think it still needs looking at then it might be best to start a new thread in the appropriate place (maybe mentioning that you've also posted elsewhere by accident).

26 minutes ago, gomako said:

I do have some more real issues with export to DXF, which has nothing to do with this, but I'll make sure I open a thread in the right place next time!

There have been some issues about exporting to DXF reported already so if you search for them you might find the answer you are looking for without needing to create a new thread.

Exporting to DXF is pretty new functionality for the Affinity applications and, because it isn't used by as many users as other functionalities, Serif don't get as many examples to test with. The more examples they get the better the chance they have of making the functionality work better.