Saving Photoshop files in Adobe® Acrobat® PDF is easy, but do you know which options to check for the

best results? Acrobat pro

Ted Padova does.

Adobe Photoshop® version 4 introduced support for exports and imports of PDF documents. You could save a Photoshop image

directly in PDF format and open the file in an Acrobat viewer. Importing PDF files, however, was limited to only those files that were

originally saved from Photoshop. If a PDF was created from another application through PostScript, Acrobat Distiller, or an export to

PDF, Photoshop couldn’t open it. Version 5.5 of Adobe Photoshop included much better support for PDF and permitted opening

multiple-page PDFs as well as files from any PDF producer. When Photoshop 6 was released, PDF exports handled preserving vector

art and type. For an imaging program that is suited to working with PDF documents, you’ll find Adobe Photoshop the best source for

handling raster data while preserving vector objects.

Note: Raster data is comprised of pixels. Scanned images are one form of raster-based images. Vector objects are created in

illustration and layout programs where the objects are not represented by pixels, but rather by math equations. In Photoshop you can

open a scanned image (raster) and add type (vector) and objects. When you save the image as a PDF file, the vector type and

objects are preserved.

EXPORTING TO PDF FROM PHOTOSHOP

Creating a PDF file from Photoshop is nothing more than choosing the PDF format from the Save dialog box. Photoshop supports

many different file formats for opening and saving documents. In versions prior to Photoshop 6.0, you had to flatten all layers before

you could save a document as a PDF file. In versions 6.0 and 7.0, you can preserve layers and vector art. When you save a layered

file from Photoshop 7.0 as a PDF and open it again in Photoshop, all layers are retained. Type and vector art work the same way. You

can create type without rasterizing it and save the file as a PDF. Later, if you want to edit the file, you can reopen it and edit the type.

What’s more, you can search and edit the type in Acrobat when you save the file as PDF from Photoshop.

To save a multilayered Photoshop image, Photoshop document, or flattened image, you use the Save As command. In Photoshop 7.0

choose File > Save As. The Save As dialog box (Figure 1) provides many options for preserving the Photoshop file integrity while

saving in PDF format that include

Figure 1: To export directly to PDF, use the Save or Save As dialog box in Photoshop. Layers are saved in the PDF document, but they do not appear as

layers in the PDF file.

• File name: As when saving any file you supply the filename and destination in the Save (or Save As) dialog box. Note

Save In at the top of the dialog box and the File name field (stpete.pdf) in Figure 6-1.

• Format: From the pull-down menu you can choose many formats for layered documents and documents containing vector

art. However, preserving both can only be achieved with either Photoshop’s native format or the Photoshop PDF format.

• As a Copy: If you use the Save As command, the file you save is a copy of the original document presuming you use a

different filename than the original. If you open a PDF file and select Save As, you can click on the As a Copy check box to duplicate

the file. The filename is automatically extended to include the word copy after the filename and before the extension.

• Alpha Channels: The PDF format also retains all Alpha Channel data. Use of Alpha Channels is restricted to Photoshop

when you reopen the file in Photoshop. In Acrobat, the use of Alpha Channel data isn’t useful.

• Layers: Saving as a Photoshop PDF also preserves all layers. When you reopen the file in Photoshop, you have access to

all layer data.

• Annotations: You can add text notes and audio comments in Photoshop much like when using Comment tools in Acrobat.

When you add a comment to the file, it is preserved in the PDF file. If you open the PDF in Acrobat, you can edit or delete text notes

and audio comments.

• Spot Colors: If a Spot Color is included in the Photoshop file, Spot Colors are preserved when you save the file as a PDF.
 • Use Proof Setup: Proof viewing can accommodate different viewing options for color separations. Saving as a PDF

displays the document in Acrobat with the Proof Setup enabled.

• ICC Profile: You can embed the current profile used for the respective color mode in the PDF file.

• Thumbnail: Thumbnails are created for Photoshop format images. No Thumbnail preview is embedded in the resulting

PDF document.

• Use Lower Case Extension: Filenames default with an extension. PDF files automatically have a .pdf extension added to

the filename. When the check box is enabled, the extension appears in lowercase.

After enabling all check boxes for the file attributes and then clicking on Save, Photoshop opens a second dialog box where you

handle settings for the compression, font, and security. Figure 2 shows the PDF Options dialog box

Figure 2: After you click on the Save button in the Save As dialog box, the PDF Options dialog box opens.

The first of two choices available to you is the encoding method.

• ZIP: ZIP compression is lossless. Files will not be compressed as much as you have available from JPEG, but the data

integrity will be optimal. ZIP compression is usually preferred for images with large amounts of a single color

Acrobat 5.0 eliminated use of LZW compression in favor of the more efficient ZIP compression. No access to LZW compression

exists in either Photoshop 6.0 or Acrobat 5.0

 • JPEG: JPEG compression in this dialog box corresponds to the compression amounts you observed in Chapter 5.

Depending on your output, the compression amount corresponds to the examples discussed in Chapter 5.

• Save Transparency: A single-layer image may have transparency on the layer. If you select Save transparency, the PDF

viewed in Acrobat appears with the transparent area white — regardless of the background color you used in Photoshop.

• Downgrade Color Profile: If you selected an ICC (International Color Consortium) Profile (Windows) or Embed Color

Profile (Macintosh) for a version 4 profile, checking this option downgrades the profile to version 2. The option is available only when

a profile has been saved with version 4 and, you need to use it only when an application doesn’t support version 4 profiles.

• PDF Security: When files are saved from Photoshop to the PDF format, you can secure the files with either 40-bit or 128-

bit security. The same options available in Acrobat for securing files are also available when you click on the Security Settings button

adjacent to the check box.

• Image Interpolation: Anti-aliasing is applied to lower resolution images. If you use higher compression on files, you can

somewhat improve appearances by using interpolation.

• Include Vector Data: Vector data may be in the form of vector objects or type. When either is used, the data are not

rasterized. Vector data and type is preserved in the PDF and recognized by Acrobat and Photoshop.

• Embed Fonts: Font embedding will occur much as it does with Distiller. If you create a Photoshop file and preserve the

type layer, embedding the font will eliminate another user from needing the font if the file is opened in Acrobat

• Use Outlines for Text: Text is converted to outlines (or paths) when the check box is enabled.

Note: Many designers have resolved themselves to always converting type to outlines regardless of the program or fonts used. This

habit has developed due to many continuing font problems found when using imaging service centers. Converting type to outlines is

not a panacea for resolving all the problems. Fonts converted to outlines put undue burden on RIPs and imaging equipment, not to

mention your desktop printers. Avoid converting to outlines whenever possible and reserve the procedure for only those fonts where

a known problem exists.

From “Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF Bible” by Ted Padova. Copyright © 2003 Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduced here by

permission of the publisher. To buy this book, visit www.wiley.com