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pdf output from inDesign too large

Forum Index > Rich Media/Flash > pdf output from inDesign too large
2010-09-30 04:28:55
simonzebu
Registered: Sep 29 2010
Posts: 8

Hi,
 
Outputting an interactive PDF from inDesign CS5 of 900x600px. When opened in Acrobat 9 regular (where is the Mac trial of Acrobat 9 Pro?) it opens at 1200px wide with expected pixelation, claiming to be at 100%. If reduced to 75% view it displays correctly.
 
Am I missing something?
 
cheers

My Product Information:
Reader 9.3, Macintosh
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2010-09-30 06:18:39
#1
UVSAR
Expert
Registered: Oct 29 2008
Posts: 1357
PDFs always use physical units for page size, so the idea a PDF is "900 x 600 pixels" is meaningless.When IDCS5 exports a document to PDF that's been created using the "Web" settings, it applies a 72ppi conversion factor, so your 900-pixel page width becomes 12.5 inches - as you can see if you look at the PDF's properties in Acrobat by pressing CMD-D. Of course on almost every monitor and LCD display these days, resolution is way more than 72ppi, so when Acrobat displays it at "100%", it is indeed correctly-sized in a physical sense*, but it uses a whole lot more pixels and therefore encounters resampling issues. The "Web" pixel dimension settings in IDCS5 are intended for export to SWF, PNG etc. and not to PDF, and you can't change the 72ppi conversion factor.

*Acrobat will normally use the physical resolution reported by your operating system to work out what "one inch on screen" means, but you will almost certainly need to calibrate it via the General Preferences / Page Display dialog to get an accurate 1:1 result.


There's no trial for Acrobat 9 Mac, just as there wasn't for 8 - there are several reasons for the decision, not least that key-restricting software on OS/X is a lot more work.
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