topic Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

DavideBollo — Mon, 25 May 2026 09:57:23 GMT

Good morning to everyone, I think I've found a serious problem with halo, annotation and *.pdf export.

In my printed pdf, halo is completely disappeared. The same occurs with "simulate overprint" option enabled on exporting.

Tried with ArcGIS Pro 3.5.x and 3.6.x on Win11.

I tried everything:

export resolution up to 1200dpi;
enabling and disabling color management;
different type of compression.

Now i'm approaching to v3.7. Hope it will works.

Has anyone encountered the same problem?

Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

Laura — Tue, 26 May 2026 19:32:01 GMT

Have you tried png instead of pdf?

Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

TomBole — Tue, 26 May 2026 22:53:13 GMT

Hi @DavideBollo

What font are you using for the annotation? Also, are you embedding the font when exporting to PDF?

Thanks,

Tom

Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

DEAF_PROBERT_68 — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:31:08 GMT

In PDF, go down to Fonts section, turn on Embed fonts.

I had the same thing that if you don't turn that on, then I get weird fonts ....

See if that works for you.

Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

DavideBollo — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 13:03:13 GMT

thank you all for your replies!
Yes, fonts are already embedded (NGA_Topo)

a little update:
- exporting as *.tif, no problem occurs, but it takes a lot of time!
- printing pdf directly from printer driver works fine! I find my halo visible!
- printing pdf with HP Click interface i get the same result obtained with "simulate overprint"...halo disappears!
- tried with ArcGIS Pro 3.7...no changes...

Re: Annotation Halo disappears on PDF export

TomBole — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 13:36:44 GMT

@DavideBollo

Thanks for the information. Sorry that you are running into this issue. I have been unable to reproduce the issue you describe using my own test data and am unaware of any issue concerning lost annotation halos when exporting to PDF. It certainly sounds like a bug. Unfortunately, I can think of any other things that might help you work around this.

This issue is likely specific to either the data, the font, or workflow. Could be a combination of the three. Can you contact Esri Support? They are better equipped to handle troubleshooting steps and gather bug data. They can be contacted at https://support.esri.com/en/contact-tech-support.

Thanks,

Tom