topic Re: ArcGIS Pro ExportToPDF Print Quality Aliasing in ArcGIS Pro Questions

ArcGIS Pro ExportToPDF Print Quality Aliasing

ZacharyUhlmann1 — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:34:24 GMT

Strange issue, probably been going under my radar for two years. I export a pdf from a layout, it looks crisp in my PDF Viewer (BlueBeam or Adobe). But when I print, it's aliased everywhere: the labels, annotations, legend, even the linework from lines and polygon symbology. What is going on? It appears to be a Pro thing, as I printed a downloaded map exported from Desktop, and it looks crisp and prints great.

HOW IT LOOKS IN PDF VIEWER

HOW IT PRINTS (printed then scanned; I understand scanning involves loss of quality, but this fairly close to print)

As you can see, the red lines are clearly aliased. I've tried all combinations of checkboxes in ExportToPDF from the GUI, including 1) Embed Fonts 2) Compress Vector Graphics 3) Turning off Halos 4) [there is no Transparency]. 5) Printing at original PDF size too.

I also printed some old figures; same deal. Does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks,

Zach

3.0.2

Re: ArcGIS Pro ExportToPDF Print Quality Aliasing

Whereaboutz — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 16:30:55 GMT

@ZacharyUhlmann1 , did you ever find an answer to this? I've started having the same issue where it looks great in Bluebeam on the screen, but the resolution is much lower when printing.

Re: ArcGIS Pro ExportToPDF Print Quality Aliasing

ZacharyUhlmann1 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 16:59:15 GMT

Hi @Whereaboutz - it's a Bluebeam / ESRI coexistence thing. My resolution is not a solution, but it works. Find someone with Adobe (or I believe there's a free basic version you can download?) to open and print from. That works, oddly enough. Just Open and Print using Adobe product. Bummer because I like Bluebeam way more than Adobe for text editing, markups, accessing various layers and other workflows.