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Feathering from Word PDFs just grey


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This is a problem with the release version and the beta version. When I open a PDF supplied by a customer which contains feathered images the feathering part comes out as a grey image rather than coloured. If I flatten the supplied PDF by printing to PDF/A-1b:2005 (CMYK) the feathering stays coloured when opened in Publisher. It looks like Publisher is struggling to handle the layers.

image.png

Windows 10 Pro, I5 3.3G PC 16G RAM

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Sorry - maybe I sent the wrong files. I've just sent 2 new files. One created by saving the Word file as PDF. The other by printing to PDF. Both are feathered on screen. The feather on the one created by saving Word file as PDF has a greyish colour when opened in Publisher.

image.png.630385d4668420783614a7d19f597497.png

 

Windows 10 Pro, I5 3.3G PC 16G RAM

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It looks like Word 2010 uses a premultiplied alpha, whereas the 365 one uses a "straight" alpha. Nothing wrong with either, but the pre-multiplied one needs more attention and a bit more work. You would need to divide it by alpha (Filters > Colours > Divide by Alpha). 

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Hi Gabe - Thanks for that tip. It sort of works but I have apply that filter quite a few times to get the feathering as it should be. It does have the advantage of not segmenting the image (this seems to happen if I print the Word file to a PDF file).

Windows 10 Pro, I5 3.3G PC 16G RAM

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Yes, I think that's right. To be honest I'd never heard of these alpha channnel options before but it seems a badly implemented pre-multiplied alpha channel can give a grey halo around the object. Saving a CMYK converted Photoshop image must convert it to straight alpha. So I'd guess the problem is in how Word creates its image effects. The learning curve goes on!

Windows 10 Pro, I5 3.3G PC 16G RAM

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