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Apple Preview Fast Transparent PDF Output

Apple Preview Fast Transparent PDF Output

I usually use the latest version of Acrobat Reader for printing PDF files, however the humble Preview application that leverages the underlying power of the Mac OS X graphics and print architecture unexpectedly came to my rescue today.

A client supplied a 200 page PDF file created direct from MS PowerPoint. Many pages contained transparency - where raster "3D embossed" text was rendered over the background image. MS PowerPoint did not flatten the PDF, therefore the transparency would require flattening before or during printing. As this was a digital print job, the RGB PDF did not present CMYK colour separation issues.

The printing/flattening process was unacceptably slow on MS Windows XP or Mac OS X Tiger using Adobe Acrobat (Reader or Pro). There is also the option to print as image (raster) rather than PostScript, which I was reserving as my last resort due to the speed and print quality issues associated with this option.

Before using Acrobat Pros transparency flattener option, I launched Preview to see if printing would be faster than with Acrobat. I was amazed at how fast Preview processed the pages which contained transparency.

Test Results - G5 2 Ghz Dual PPC Processors, 2 Ghz RAM, Mac OS X Tiger:

Adobe Acrobat: 10 pages - 7 min. 20 sec. print time, 179 mb PostScript file
Apple Preview: 10 pages - 0 min. 11 sec. print time, 74 mb PostScript file

I will continue to use the latest version of Acrobat Reader as my default for PDF file output, in order to avoid possible feature compatibility issues (Preview can have issues with more complex transparency from Adobe products). That being said, I will now make a point to try Preview when the print flattening in Acrobat becomes a productivity issue.

Even though the .ps file from Preview printed significantly faster and is smaller in file size than the same pages printed from Acrobat, the quality of the final print was slightly better quality than with Acrobat and the colour was the same from both applications, which was not expected.

Preview and the underlying Mac OS X graphics and print architecture can be very fast when it comes to printing PDF files that contain transparency. If Adobe Acrobat becomes a productivity issue - Apple Preview may save the day.


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