Problems exporting to PDF? Not looking right? Troubleshooting Guide.

Hi Class:

If some of you are exporting to PDF and it is just not coming out quite right, or if your colors look off and your text looks pixeled (as opposed to pickled), below are some suggestions on how to improve this.

I find the best way to make a PDF is to use the original program -- Adobe Acrobat. But it is expensive. If you are lucky to own it, instead of Exporting your document via FreeHand, instead go to File-Print. Choose Adobe PDF as your printer, and select Options. In here you will do what is recommended below for those that are Exporting from Freehand.

If you do not have Acrobat Maker on your computer, you still have options to make your exported map look much better.

If you are using Export:
PDF files are merely compressions of images and text that are meant to make large files not only easily readable but also smaller. They are for visual documents what mp3s are for CDs. They compress the image so that it is more efficient and smaller sized and portable, but in doing so one loses some of an image's properties and clarity. Like mp3s, though, you can decide how much you want to compress the image. If you over compress it, you will get pixels and ugly colors. If you under compress it, you will get an image every bit as sharp looking as your FreeHand one, but your file will be large. For this class, you do not need to worry about how large your file size is; so you want to minimize compression (or reduce distortion in the PDF). Here's how:

There is a way to NOT compress your colors, imported JPEGs (e.g., if you brought in a Brazil flag), and text in the final PDF.

Once you have gone to File-Export and chosen PDF... Select the "Setup" button. A dialog opens in which you can manage whether colors will be exported in CMYK, RGB, or both. It is important to choose the color scheme you used to create your map! You should also DESELECT "Compress text and graphics," which is selected by default. You can also tell it not to compress the colors.

Your PDF file size will be significantly bigger, but the quality will be well worth it! It will be publishable quality then, and I am hoping the weird problems will disappear. Often such discrepancies occur because the PDF is trying to compress and save space -- like an mp3 does a CD track. The finer details will be lost, just as they are in music. The problem is, sometimes on maps details are crucial for it to look good.

Finally, if all of this is failing for you, another good idea is to export your map as a TIFF. These are uncompressed raster images that retain extremely high quality. Though insanely large, this is the type of file that publishers will typically ask for. They are high enough quality to be used by printing presses. The problem with TIFF files is that they are not nearly as universally usable as PDFs or JPEGs. But still, this is an option. Only turn in your assignment in TIFF form if PDF is absolutely not working. Also, please email Ben and let him know why you turned an assignment in using TIFF. Thanks!