Bring in PDF's without changing the formatting
PDF's, sometimes, when brought in, NOT as an image, but embedded, changes font style widths, etc. This was another issue for me, with a client who built their file in ID and saved as a PDF and I brought it in and embedded it. I did not catch it, but it's clearly changed. I have the font, so that was not an issue, it just change the "BOLD" to "REGULAR". Picture attached shows the "original" PDF as a pic on the right. I have it at 50% opacity as I was comparing.
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Jeffrey, PDF is not a native format for both Illustrator or InDesign. PDF was never developed as an interchange format as well. PDF is a 'final form' format, something that is used only for viewing and printing. There are PDF editors, that allow directly modifying the contents (Acrobat being one of them), but both Ai and InD IMPORT these, converting the contents (which can be far more than both apps allow inside) into their respective native formats — that’s why the alteration can happen. Ai allows to 'save PDFs', but what it actually does is saving a native copy inside of a PDF, and tries to keep these parts consistent. A PDF imported from any other application is a risk to have it being altered.
While this is how things go, perhaps something can be improved in this case you are having.
To study it, the team would require to see the actual files: the original one and those that got exported and imported, along with all the font files used. Package these all and send over to sharewithai@adobe.com (and please mention the link to this report for tracking: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/49770665). Also share the specific settings / parameters you used to produce the file, as well the the build version for all apps involved, and your OS specs — all these can matter. -
Jeffrey Mertins commented
I use PDF's all the time.