Saving and Exporting Files > Exporting PDF files

 

Exporting PDF files

You can export FreeHand documents to the Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF).

The PDF format supports RGB, grayscale, and monochrome bitmaps. The PDF format supports most objects or formatting that can be created or placed in FreeHand, with some exceptions. An alert message will appear on exporting any incompatible objects.

You cannot export the following effects to PDF format:

Custom and PostScript fills and strokes, arrowheads, and textured fills.

Alpha channel transparency.

EPS images. If an EPS image has a TIFF preview, FreeHand exports the preview instead of the EPS file.

Text effects.

Overprinting. Overprinting applied to objects is turned off when exporting to PDF.

In addition, the maximum page size maximum for a PDF document is 3240 x 3240 pixels (about 45 x 45 inches). A larger page will be clipped to fit the maximum PDF page size.

To export a PDF file:

1

In the Export Document dialog box, choose PDF for format, and click Setup (Windows) or Options (Macintosh) to display the PDF Export dialog box.

2

In the PDF Export dialog box, select All to export all pages, or select From and enter a page range.

3

Choose Color or Grayscale Image Compression options to compress images in JPEG format and reduce file size. A higher compression setting yields a smaller file size, but may reduce image quality.

For print, choose little or no compression. For onscreen display, choose higher levels of compression for small files that are easier to transmit and download.

4

Select an option for Convert Colors To to maintain color consistency among applications: CMYK for standard CMYK output and color separations, RGB for use in Fireworks or Photoshop, or CMYK and RGB for print applications with a PostScript RIP such as Illustrator or Photoshop 4 or later.

5

For Compatibility, choose an Acrobat version to determine which additional options are available.

Acrobat 4 converts gradients to PostScript 3 linear and radial gradients and envelopes as flattened vector graphics.

Acrobat 3 and 4 support compressed text and graphics, the ASCII text format, notes, URLs, and the Editable text format.

Acrobat 2 supports ASCII format and Editable text format.

Acrobat 1 supports only the ASCII format.

6

Select additional options, depending on the Acrobat version you chose in step 5:

Select Compress Text and Graphics to compress these elements in the PDF document (using the PostScript language imaging model).

Note: If you selected a Color or Grayscale Image Compression option in step 3, bitmap images are compressed in JPEG format.

Select ASCII Format to export documents as 7-bit, to prevent problems when sharing PDF files on older networks and e-mail systems. Deselect this option to export ASCII documents as 8-bit.

Deselect Editable Text Format for screen and print output. Select this option only if you plan to edit the document in FreeHand or Illustrator; or to prevent FreeHand text blocks from breaking into several text blocks during export. When selected, this option produces a larger document.

Select Export Notes to export notes you added in the Note text box in the Navigation panel as PDF annotations (see Adding names and notes to objects).

Select Export URLs to export URLs as rectangular, hyperlinked annotations.

Select Embed Fonts to embed TrueType and Type 1 fonts in the document.

7

Click OK.

8

Name the file and click Export in the Export Document dialog box.