saving as png out of Acrobat PRO

[thokitts@adobeforums.com]

Hi everyone:

I am trying to convert an Acrobat .pdf file into a .png with a transparent background using Acrobat 7.0.7 PRO. Seems like a simple thing to do with the "save as" command but the .png file that is generated inherits a white background.

I know I can do this with Photoshop CS2 easily but for reasons I won't go into here, I cannot use that simple workflow. My client's corporation doesn't have the PS CS2 capability company-wide.

So the current workflow is this:

1. The original Illustrator CS2 file is a vector graphic, a logomark with white type on a blank artboard, no background. My intent is to end up with a .png of the logo with a transparent background which can rest on a colored background in Powerpoint.

2. The native .ai file is saved as an .eps and then Distiller is used to create the .pdf. (A .pdf file is what will be distributed throughout my client's company divisions.)

3. My client is to open the .pdf file in Adobe PRO and save copies of it as a .png, as needed.

4. Then my client inserts .png file into MS PowerPoint (aack!). But in every case the .png comes in with a white background with a boundary the exact size of the original graphic. No way to see the white type. Ugly white rectangle.

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So I guess my questions are:

Can a Acrobat PRO use a .pdf file to generate a .png with a transparent background?

Is there some setting I may be missing in the work flow which will maintain a separation of the vector art and art board itself?

Or am I just dreaming and is this will never work?

Any help you can offer me is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Thomas

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

>Can a Acrobat PRO use a .pdf file to generate a .png with a transparent background?

I don't know for sure but it seems unlikely. A PDF displayed as a page
is defined as having a white background, not a transparent one.

Aandi Inston

[Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com]

Why don't you just Save for Web as a PNG from AI?

[thokitts@adobeforums.com]

Hi Larry:

Quote: "Why don't you just Save for Web as a PNG from AI?"

Because that's not how my client will actually do it.

I could export a png directly from ai as you say, or raster an eps file into PS and generate a png file with a transparent layer. That would be the correct and easiest way to do it because I have Illustrator and Photoshop CS2. But my issue is that I won't be the one doing this on a regular basis for the company nor are those applications widely installed on their computers. They are an old-tech industry. They manufacture steel. Their only standard is MS Office.

I am an outside design consultant who will be moving on after this project is completed. The plan was for the new Corporate ID to be distributed company-wide as eps and pdf files and for individual users to generate bitmaps as they are needed.

So I was surprised to learn that Powerpoint doesn't play nicely with pdf or eps file formats, as ubiquitous as they are. In fact, now my ID distribution concept to what is a very large and geographically scattered company is hinging on this issue, to my frustration.

I suspect the white background is being added when the png is being generated by the "save as" function in Acrobat PRO or it is being added as I create the pdf file one step earlier, but probably not. I don't really know since I can verify the pdf file has transparency. I do know that the final png file has a white background equal to the Illustrator art board, making the reverse type and logo un-seeable in Powerpoint. The same this is verifiable when I crack the png file open in PS. No transparency.

So:

1. I know the native Illustrator file has a transparent background as I am using a single layer for the vector and font based artwork.

2. I can confirm the 6.0 pdf file generated from Illustrator has a transparent background because I can place it into an ai documents on a tinted color and confirm this.

3. But I don't know if after launching the pdf file in Acrobat PRO, as my client will, if the white background is being added then by Acrobat PRO itself, or when the file is saved as a png.

I just want to carry the transparency foward from AcrobatPRO on to the png and don't know if this is possible.

Does that help clarify my situation?

And thank you for any help in advance,

Thomas

[thokitts@adobeforums.com]

Okay, an update:

I have confirmed that all the native ai, eps, and pdf files maintain transparency when placed into applications except in powerpoint and word. And a pdf generated via illustrator then opened and re-saved in Acrobat PRO still maintains its transparency in everything except Word and Powerpoint.

So this leads me to believe that the white background is being added when Acrobat PRO generates the png. The "save as" function is ignoring the transparency existing in the pdf file.

Which is bad. Doesn't look like there is a fix for me. ARRRG!

Adobe: Why give your user-base the ability to "save as" or export a pdf to png with such limited ability? Seems pointless. Maybe someone will fix this some day.

Thomas

[Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com]

When you converted to EPS - all transparency is lost ... postscript does
not have transparency in its dictionary ..

Jon

[Steve_Werner@adobeforums.com]

Jon is correct. Saving as EPS, saving as PostScript or saving as PDF 1.3 (Acrobat 4) all lose transparency. Saving as AI, or saving as PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5) or higher preserves transparency.