CAD drawing color faded when opening in Photoshop

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I’m new to AutoCad, using the 2018 Mac version.

I’ve converted my drawing to PDF using the DwgToPdf command, then opened it in Photoshop and witnessed a major color change. The colors seems faded and very deferent than the original drawing in AutoCad.

Somebody suggested me to add a background to the Photoshop layout but it didn’t help.

I’m not sure I’m asking in the right forum but I’ll really appreciate any help with that.

Thanks,

Tom.

[maxim_k · Accepted solution]

Hi Tom,

When you open PDF in Photoshop (File -> Open), you should be presented with this window:

What color settings are you using in this dialog window?

Have you tried to change them?

Can you attach here PDF file you are trying to import to Photoshop?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay, thanks for the quick reply.

I saw this window you are talking about - The settings Photoshop sets for me by default are "RGB Color" and "8 bit" - I've tried to change it to "16 bit" but no luck.

The strange thing is that while Photoshop is loading the file it seems great, but once it's loaded it loses color.

Here attached one of the PDF files I've tried to load into Photoshop.

Waiting for your response, Thank you again,

Tom.

[maxim_k]

What if you will try to uncheck "Antialiased" option also?
Can you attach here a part (I don't need all drawing area) of the imported PDF you attached after you save it in Photoshop? I want to look at color changes you have.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

This option is already unchecked for me, I attached the settings window is see in my Photoshop.

I also attached a screen print of the file opened in Photoshop, you can clearly see the deference in color.

Thank again,

Tom

[maxim_k]

Tom,

Look at the results of the conversion in my side:

I saved file in Photoshop as 16-bit RGB PSD file.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I appreciate your help,

I don’t know how this is working out for you but as you can see in my previous replies’s attachments I see a very noticeable deference between the PDF saved from AutoCad and the opened one in Photoshop (see for example the trees drawing which are extremely faded in the Photoshop view). When I print this it looks like I see it in Photoshop and like I see it in AutoCad. 

Do you have any other idea for me ? I really need this to work. What I’m trying to do is to organize a few Cad drawings in Photoshop for printing, but the faded color thing really make it difficult.

Thanks,

Tom

[maxim_k]

In Photoshop they may seems to be faded because it imports PDF without background. Have you tried to create background with color 255,255,255 (RGB)?

>>>>When I print this it looks like I see it in Photoshop and like I see it in AutoCad.
So you want to say that they it look the same way in Photoshop and in AutoCAD, but differently in PDF?

Have you tried to forget for a moment about Photoshop when you convert PDF to raster image and use Preview.app for conversion? You can Save As PDF opened in Preview to JPG, PNG, TIFF and other raster formats - use menu File -> Save as (keep Option key pressed and you will see "Save as" option in menu File in Preview.app)

[Anonymous]

I’ve tried adding a background but again no luck.

In the Preview app it seems fine (same as in AutoCad), that’s the weirdest thing. Only when I open the pdf in Photoshop it seems faded.

I attached a video showing exactly what I’m doing.

Thanks again for the help.

Tom

[maxim_k]

I think I understood what do you mean by "faded" colors.

You mean that when you look at the image on screen: in Photoshop thin lines from your drawing looks lighter then in Preview.app with the same zoom level. If so, then it is just a "feature" of Preview.app, which make thin lines "bolder" for better viewing experience.

Look at this screenshot - I opened your PDF in Acrobat Reader and in Preview:

And you can see that PDF in Acrobat looks the same way as it looks imported in Photoshop.

[Anonymous]

The things is that the way it looks in the Preview.app is the correct way (same as AutoCad), and this is the way I need to print it.

Is there a way to open it in Photoshop that way (Bolded) ? 

Again, I need to organize a few AutoCad drawings (same as I uploaded earlier) in the same plot and I’m going to print them all together with a plotter printer.

I did this before and got the same issue, but then I just loaded the same pdf several times on top of each other and it did the job. But now even this workaround doesn’t work for me.

[maxim_k]

In AutoCAD try to increase lineweight for objects that seems to be faded, then save to PDF.

[Anonymous]

I can’t change line weight in AutoCad because it’s an architectural drawing and line weight is like it is for a reason.

Is there anything else I can try ? I get from your suggestions that it is probably something to do with the creation of the pdf from AutoCad, right ? 

[maxim_k]

Why not to change lineweights only for the moment when you export to PDF for Photoshop, you don't need to change lineweights in the drawing, but rather use custom Plot Style table file for printing.

[Anonymous]

The line weight in my drawing is fixed for print. Unfortunately I can’t change line weight.

Is there any other workaround to try ?

Sorry for complicity, but I really need this that way only.

Thank you for all the help

[maxim_k]

>>>>line weight in my drawing is fixed for print
Using Plot Style table with different lineweight for specific color in the drawing (assuming you are using AutoCAD Color Index colors) doesn't change anything in the drawing itself, including lineweights. Use this Plot Style table only once for particular print case.
After all - create a copy of the drawing file, change the lineweights in it and create PDF for Photoshop, your initial drawing will be preserved.

[Anonymous]

Hy I'm facing the same problem like you.

[maxim_k]

Welcome to Autodesk Forums!

Hi @Anonymous ,

Can you provide more details about your problem?

The thread is rather old and many different issues have been discussed in this thread.