Pdf's are rendering as black rectangles in Preview.app. Notice the thumbnails in the screenshot. They also render thusly if I tap the spacebar in finder for a Quick Look. I have tested 20 or so pdf's. I have not tested all of the pdf's on this system, obviously (far too many). Opening the exact same file in, e.g., Firefox displays it properly.
Mac mini, macOS High Sierra (10.13)
Cmetzendorf wrote:
As for the others where this was tested. So what could be the reason? Preview using the graphics hardware - Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB - in strange ways?
Possibly.
I guess there is a way to test that hypothesis, if you have at least temporary access to another mac (that does not show the problem with these PDF files).
Start your mac in Target Disk Mode, and use it to boot the other mac (using a Thunderbolt or Firewire cable, depending on the mac models in question).
This way you would be using your own mac's OS and user accounts, but running on the other mac's hardware, including the graphics card.
If the pdf look fine, then it pretty much guarantees that it is related to Preview and your mac's graphics card.
If they show black, then it is something in your mac's software installation.
(You can also do the same test in reverse, in which case black pdf means something with the graphics card.)
consider posting an etrecheck report for analysis of your system
www.etrecheck.com
I have downgraded the system to Sierra. My pdf's are rendering properly now, no black rectangles.
Yes, but do the black areas render on other machines?
For example, the black areas the original poster was seeing on his machine rendered properly on my machine and that of another responder.
Report the issue here:
Be as thorough as you can when mentioning which hardware exhibits the issues.
I have the same problem. Documents from Canon scanner or attachment of mail etc. Under Sierra OK, High Sierra problem on some documents.
Resolved by converting to PNG and then back to PDF.
Would it be possible to upload one of the problematic pdf to dropbox or similar?
Here ya go. I have edited the sudoers file. Flash is out of date.
EtreCheck version: 3.4.5 (455)
Report generated 2017-10-06 07:35:05
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 2:07
Performance: Excellent
Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Problem: No problem - just checking
Hardware Information: ⓘ
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
Mac mini - model: Macmini5,1
1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2415M) CPU: 2-core
8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Proxy: HTTP
Proxy: HTTPS
iCloud Quota: 158.15 GB available
Video Information: ⓘ
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
SONY TV 1920 x 1080
Disk Information: ⓘ
HGST HTS721010A9E630 disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
HD (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (746.21 GB free)
(disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information: ⓘ
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
Microsoft Microsoft 3-Button Mouse with IntelliEye(TM)
Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
System Software: ⓘ
macOS High Sierra 10.13 (17A405) - Time since boot: about one hour
Configuration files: ⓘ
/etc/sudoers, File size 1333 but expected 1563
/etc/sysctl.conf - File exists but not expected
/etc/hosts - Count: 2
Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ⓘ
/Library/Application Support/PeerGuardian
[not loaded] xxx.qnation.PeerGuardian (1.1.11 - SDK 10.2) [Lookup]
System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 9 Apple tasks
[loaded] 165 Apple tasks
[running] 114 Apple tasks
System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[failed] com.apple.rpcbind.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-02)
[failed] org.apache.httpd.plist (Shell Script 4f12bccd - installed 2017-07-15)
[not loaded] 33 Apple tasks
[loaded] 184 Apple tasks
[running] 111 Apple tasks
Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.privateinternetaccess.osx.PIA-VPN.plist (? 87063a21 53eb995e - installed 2017-09-23) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.Libmacgpg.xpc.plist (Lukas Pitschl - installed 2016-06-28) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.enable-bundles.plist (Shell Script d032aea - installed 2015-09-21) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid-user.plist (? 84ce07f2 410547e5 - installed 2015-09-21) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.fix.plist (Shell Script d7ac5146 - installed 2016-06-28) [Lookup]
[running] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.shutdown-gpg-agent.plist (Shell Script df7bd0cf - installed 2016-06-28) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.updater.plist (Lukas Pitschl - installed 2016-07-17) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2012-09-27) [Lookup]
Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2016-05-12) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2016-05-12) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 bba28f1 - installed 2016-06-28) [Lookup]
[not loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (? 1963bf56 0 - installed 2017-09-29)
[running] homebrew.mxcl.tor.plist (? cedfb48b 43fad70c - installed 2017-09-22) [Lookup]
[loaded] net.waterroof.rules.plist (Shell Script 85162d8e - installed 2013-05-04) [Lookup]
[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid.plist (? 42fc83f8 410547e5 - installed 2015-09-21) [Lookup]
[not loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2012-09-27) [Lookup]
User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[running] homebrew.mxcl.privoxy.plist (? f44f8877 668cd273 - installed 2016-09-25) [Lookup]
[running] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist (? ef87e93c dbc058f8 - installed 2014-04-18) [Lookup]
User Login Items: ⓘ
Caffeine Application
(/Applications/Caffeine.app)
iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-09-30)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
Silverlight: 5.1.50709.0 (installed 2016-09-21) [Lookup]
FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.209 (installed 2016-07-13) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-02)
Flash Player: 22.0.0.209 (installed 2016-07-13) Outdated! Update
Safari Extensions: ⓘ
[enabled] 1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (installed 2015-07-03)
[enabled] Ghostery - GHOSTERY, Inc. - https://www.ghostery.com/ (installed 2017-04-16)
[not loaded] DuckDuckGo - DuckDuckGo - http://duckduckgo.com (installed 2015-07-10)
[not loaded] Blur - Abine, the online privacy company. - http://www.abine.com (installed 2015-08-20)
3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
Flash Player (installed 2016-06-28) [Lookup]
GPGPreferences (installed 2016-07-17) [Lookup]
MacFUSE (installed 2008-12-19) [Lookup]
Time Machine: ⓘ
Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 253.13 GB
Destinations:
WD drive [Local]
Total size: 2.00 TB
Total number of backups: 14
Oldest backup: 10/1/17, 9:17 PM
Last backup: 10/6/17, 6:50 AM
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 253.13 GB X 3)
/System excluded from backup!
/bin excluded from backup!
/sbin excluded from backup!
Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
6% WindowServer
1% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
1% kernel_task
0% TextEdit
0% ruby
Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
671 MB kernel_task
558 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
289 MB Safari
206 MB WindowServer
193 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
157 MB 9 MB openvpn
189 KB 37 KB mDNSResponder
0 B 141 KB ypbind
10 KB 3 KB netbiosd
16 B 16 B ruby
Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
10.96 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
6.24 WindowServer
1.28 com.apple.WebKit.Networking
0.90 ruby
Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
3.63 GB Available RAM
60 MB Free RAM
4.37 GB Used RAM
3.57 GB Cached files
0 B Swap Used
Software installs: ⓘ
GeoGebra 5: 5.0.386 (installed 2017-09-23)
1Password: 6.8.2 (installed 2017-09-23)
Install information may not be complete.
Diagnostics Information: ⓘ
2017-10-05 23:05:52 ScreenSaverEngine.app Crash [Open]
Standard users cannot read /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.
Run as an administrator account to see more information.
I have exactly the same problem, and I believe it is somehow related to the new file system of High Sierra, APFS. This is why I am almost sure about it:
I have Dropbox installed on my iMac and MBP, both machines upgraded to this buggy High Sierra. However, on my iMac, the home folder is on a separate drive (that is placed in an OptiBay frame in the place of the dead Superdrive), and that HDD is still in HFS+, only the OS is on a separate SDD, which was turned to APFS. So, my Documents folder is still on a HFS+ drive. And the same (Dropbox-synchronized) file opens from HFS+ (iMAc) and appears black from APFS (MBP). So, I will downgrade to Sierra-HFS+, and think million times before upgrading again...
I have seen this problem too. MacOS High Sierra, Mac mini 2011. PDFs created with a scanner are a problem. Preview fails and any other MacOS attempt to render the PDF. My bank website shows scanned copies of the checks. These images are shown as black in Safari. BUT ARE CORRECTLY SHOWN IN CHROME! The PDFs are shown correctly in MacOS Sierra.
Same issue here. All B&W scanned PDFs display black in Preview.app. I scanned a document on 3 different scanners, and got the same result, all black. My machine that has this problem is MacBook Pro Early 2011, hard drive replaced with 500GB Samsung SSD, running High Sierra. Other PDF viewers on the same machine such as PDF Expert display it correctly. My another mac iMac 2015 5K can display the same PDFs with no issue. I already report this bug to Apple.
I noticed that all reported the hardware configurations, mac-mini or MB pro have the video card in common: Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB.
Could a video card be responsible for such strange behaviour?
Hmmm, that seems to indicate there's something in particular that Preview may not like about those PDFs; can you find one that renders improperly out on the web somewhere, or is it only ones generated by Image Capture?
I was unable to reproduce this problem with Sierra or High Sierra.
I suggest you contact the developer of the software making the PDF and see if they can provide an answer because the problem is not caused by Preview,
My printer/scanner just set itself up the first time I plugged it in. I tried to download an updated driver from Canon but they don't have a High Sierra version and all the versions they have say they can't install on this OS.
If I print the image it's fine. The black seems to be an issue with rendering on screen only.
If I choose print and save as PDF I get a black image again with 'Mac OS X 10.13 Quartz PDFContext' as the PDF producer in the general info window after choosing Tools->Show Inspector. It shows the actual image for a split second when opening and then it goes black. If I save as Postscript I get a PDF which opens OK showing 'PSNormalizer.framework' as the PDF Producer in the inspector. If I open and save that file as a PDF the resulting file is fine and shows 'Mac OS X 10.13 Quartz PDFContext' as PDF Producer in the inspector. So I suspect it's something with the scanning process and a driver doing something odd when creating it.
Acrobat Reader DC seems to show the files OK so I am just going to use that for the time being.
That one also looks fine here. I see it was also created with an earlier version of XQuartz. All of me scans pre-High Sierra are fine here but only ones that I just created.
Can you try the image here:
It's newly created yesterday and flashes up OK for a second before changing to a black rectangle on my computer.
pdf rendering as black rectangle
