Preview - PDF Text Box - font color and background reverts back to black and Helvetica when reopening file.

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Desflurane Author

Level 1

9 points

Preview - PDF Text Box - font color and background reverts back to black and Helvetica when reopening file.

Using Preview

>Markup PDF

>Text Box

>enter text

>change text color and font

>change text background (places solid any color box around text)

...close/save pdf.

Next time I open the PDF, the text box reverts to color black fill, with black font, Helvetica, size 12 font. Essentially becomes a black box with hidden black text.

Any ideas to a fix for this? Quite annoying as when I reopen PDF files all the text markups with backgrounds are just black boxes.

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on May 25, 2019 11:27 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

112,451 points

May 25, 2019 1:12 PM in response to Desflurane

I guess it would have been instructive to look at the original creator and encoding lines for the PDF before you saved your annotations. Once saved from Preview, it will be changed to the current Quartz PDFContext, covering its tracks.

I very much doubt exporting a problem PDF will make it better, since the causal agent remains.

The PDFKit framework behind Preview has an aging issue, and may not be able to properly process certain PDF documents. Adobe likely has Apple over the barrel with modernization royalty costs.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

208,117 points

May 25, 2019 2:33 PM in response to Desflurane

Boot into Safe Mode and test the PDF markup from there. Does it work as it should? Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.

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Answer 3

May 25, 2019 12:31 PM in response to Desflurane

Click on that annotated PDF and press option+command+i. What is the Content Creator, and the Encoding software shown?

Presumably, you are reopening in Preview. A PDF that you created, or came from a Windows application source?

If I start with a blank PDF, and repeat your steps, including change the default font (not knowing what Font you changed too), I cannot reproduce what you describe when opening again in Preview, Skim, or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC v2019.*.

Mojave 10.14.5 (18F132).

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Answer 4

Desflurane Author

Level 1

9 points

May 25, 2019 12:47 PM in response to VikingOSX

Hello VikingOSX... thanks so much for your quick feedback.

I am not sure where the original PDF came from, however, when comparing the encoding software using the info shortcut you suggested, there IS a difference between the problem pdf and another pdf which I did the same text box formatting and it seems fine when opening and reopening with Preview. Also, yes, I am only using Preview to edit/open/reopen both files.

Here is the difference in the encoding info:

Problem PDF File:

Version 1.3

Content Creator Preview

Encoding Software: Mac OS X 10.13.6 Quartz PDFContext

PDF file without issues:

Version 1.3

Content Creator (does not state)

Encoding Software: macOS Version 10.14.5 (Build 18F132) Quartz PDFContext

I am using Mojave 10.14.5

I just tried exporting the problem PDF 'as pdf' to see if this fixes the issue but the resulting pdf just ended up with thick white borders around it with lower resolution, so this for me would not be a solution.

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Answer 5

Desflurane Author

Level 1

9 points

May 25, 2019 5:07 PM in response to VikingOSX

Agreed... Adobe has Microsoft over the same barrel as MS never even attempted to create a PDF editor. The best they have is print to PDF and the more recent 'feature' in their Edge browser where you can VIEW pdfs and, at most, scribble on them using a mouse or touch screen. No other editing features.

FYI.. with the problem file I tried the export... and export as PDF functions and both resultant PDF's had the same older version Preview encoders.

Anyhow thanks for your input.

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