Vosje Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 Hello, there's something strange with the PDF that I just made using Designer... In Designer, all lines are very sharp and crisp. But when I export my file to PDF, the line belonging to the SAME vector object is sharp and crisp in one place, but kinda blurry in the other one... It's a straight vertical line and when the PDF is viewed at a certain zoom it even seems that it's not even straight but has a "break" point. I suppose it shows this way because the part where it gets blurry sits under a shadow effect of a different object (orange stars). I guess the line is blurry where shadow overlays it... But, I am not quite sure how to "fix" this. Is this a bug or just the way Affinity export works? Below are attachments (zoomed in greatly) so you can see the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bruce Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 I am going to wager that that will be from the Drop Shadow(s) on the Star(s). You could try and rasterize them first. Do so on a duplicate and hide the originals. Quote Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.6 Affinity Designer 2.5.5 | Affinity Photo 2.5.5 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.5 | Beta versions as they appear. I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vosje Posted December 9, 2022 Author Share Posted December 9, 2022 26 minutes ago, Old Bruce said: I am going to wager that that will be from the Drop Shadow(s) on the Star(s). You could try and rasterize them first. Do so on a duplicate and hide the originals. Thanks for your reply! You're right in the fact that rasterizing the whole image makes the line exactly the same for the whole object. However, rasterizing it makes it pretty burry at the zoom level that I've used to produce the screenshots. 😆 I guess the difference won't be noticeable if you print it anyway... Old Bruce 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 7 hours ago, Vosje said: I am not quite sure how to "fix" this If your print shop accepts it, export based on PDF/X-4 or PDF Press Ready. Those formats support pixel alpha channels, and your vectors under the shadows should remain intact. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 In fact, here's my own analysis of Affinity's PDF export problems with transparencies: As it seems though, this is likely primarily a shortfall of the 3rd party PDFLib that Serif is using. It's rather pathetic compared to Adobe PDF Library even a decade ago. Vosje 1 Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacerto Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Obsolete. Vosje and loukash 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vosje Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 Thank you very much for your replies! You're right, @loukash, using PDF/X-4 or PDF Press Ready fixed that, the line is now perfect! And @lacerto, thanks for your comment, I did indeed use PDF/X-1a:2003 the first time, because for whatever reason sometimes Affinity fails to export to PDF/X-4 (couldn't figure out why yet) and PDF/X gives more consistent results color-wise compated to PDF Press Ready when you need to keep a certain color profile... So I figured it's easier to just use PDF/X-1a:2003 for most stuff, but now I see that it also has its limitations! lacerto 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 1 hour ago, lacerto said: live transparencies are still out of reach of many print shops Pehaps it's just me, but I'd expect a professional print shop to have a license for Acrobat Pro or a professional equivalent. And in all my tests so far, even the old Ac Pro X can convert any PDF/X-4 from Affinity to a correctly flattened PDF/X-3 on a simple click of a button… But thanks again @lacerto for your competent explanations in all details. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacerto Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Obsolete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacerto Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Obsolete. loukash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.