Preview app becomes blurry after upgrade to EI Capitan

From the Preview menu bar, select

Preview ▹ Preferences... ▹ PDF ▹ Smooth text and line art

Do you have this problem with all PDF's, including those you create yourself?

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This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

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Preview seems to be working as designed. You just prefer the Adobe rendering, which is slightly different.

I'm noticing the same issues and it is driving me crazy because I spend most of my time reading/writing texts. Only extensive users will probably notice.

See my post here Preview - PDF sharpness (Yosemite vs El Capitan), it includes a comparison of the same PDF opened in Yosemite and El Capitan.

Notice that there has been a similar issue during the switch from Mavericks to early release of Yosemite (later it was fixed in Yosemite). It was possible to solve it by copying some pdf-rendering package from Mavericks to Yosemite. However, the same trick does not work for El Capitan (preview will freeze).

I rolledback my Mac to Yosemite and will stick with it unless the problem is fixed in El Capitan. The blurry text causes me a heavy eyestrain.