iOS: PDF file not readable on iPad/iPhone/iPod touch

Have you ever had trouble reading a PDF file on an iOS device such as an iPad? A PDF file that was emailed to me wouldn’t open on iPhone or iPad, and not even the file name showed up correctly. The file opened normally on my computer, so I knew the PDF file wasn’t completely corrupted. While it’s still a mystery why the PDF file didn’t work on iOS, in the end I did fix the problem. Here’s how.

I didn’t have access to the original document, so I couldn’t export the PDF file again from the source. I had to try and fix it on my side. I started by opening it in Adobe Acrobat X Pro, where I tried choosing File > Save As > PDF to write out a new copy of the file. After that didn’t work, I tried Reduced Size PDF on the same submenu. That didn’t work either. It didn’t help to open the PDF file in Apple Preview and choose File > Save As.

At this point I was stumped. Knowing that the file worked fine on a computer, I was still convinced that there had to be a way to fix it.

I next used Acrobat Pro X to save it to PDF-X/1A, a standard for high-end prepress. This time it failed even to convert, which turned out to be a good thing because the failure showed me an error message. The message suggested that I run the PDF through the Preflight feature using the Convert to sRGB preflight profile. That was a great idea; I should have thought of using Preflight sooner since the purpose of a preflight feature is to catch file problems before they cost time and money later down the line.

In Acrobat X Pro, Preflight is buried in the Print Production panel in the Tools pane on the right side of the Acrobat workspace. I selected Convert to sRGB, and then clicked the Analyze and Fix button.

Acrobat Preflight Convert to sRGB

That worked! The next time I transferred the PDF file to iPad, it was perfectly readable.

In the end, my troubleshooting guess was correct: Find something that can rewrite the PDF file radically enough to change whatever was causing the error, even without knowing the exact problem.

Of course, not everyone has Acrobat Pro and it is not cheap, but if you have access to some versions of Adobe Creative Suite, Acrobat Pro is included and so you have it. Keep Acrobat Pro in mind if you run into problems like this one. [Edit: As of 2013 Adobe Creative Suite is now Adobe Creative Cloud.]

While Apple Preview on a Mac doesn’t have the variety of production tools available in Acrobat Pro, there is another way to do something similar: Open ColorSync Utility, choose File > Open and open the PDF file, and then choose Create Generic PDFX-3 from the Filter pop-up menu at the bottom of the document window. I did not try that in my case, though, since I had already fixed mine.

What might have caused the problem? I may never know for sure, but based on what fixed it, I’d guess that there was a problem with at least one of the color images in the PDF file. It looked like it had been created in Word with maps pasted from Windows screen shots. Maybe there were indexed-color BMP or GIF images in it. While that should not have been a problem, what we do know is that the Convert to sRGB preflight profile did fix the problem.

While this solution solved my problem, it may not fix every problem with reading PDF files on iOS devices. If it doesn’t solve your issue, I hope that describing a successful troubleshooting process helps point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Where did that software put my photos?

If you’ve always managed photos in folders on your computer desktop, you may feel a bit disoriented when working in applications such as Lightroom, Aperture, or iPhoto that seem to impose their own organization on your images. In this article, I’ll first talk about how to find your photos on your computer even when they’re organized differently in a photo application, and I’ll also talk about why spending your time on the desktop may not be the best or fastest way for a photographer to find images.

(more…)

Watch my free Photoshop CS5 webcast, October 19 on CreativeEdge

Register now for the free Creative Edge webcast: Real World Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers

A lot has happened in the Photoshop universe since I published Real World Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers, so get caught up by joining me for a free CreativeEdge webcast on October 19, 2011. In addition to talking about some of the latest developments in Photoshop land, I’ll show you some of my favorite performance and productivity tips to help you get the most out of Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Camera Raw, including features that I feel have been overlooked and under-appreciated. I’ll also talk about Photoshop and social media, and protecting your images online.

That’s Thursday, October 19, 2011 at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Be sure to register by clicking the link below or the banner above. See you there!

Register for the Real World Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers webcast on CreativeEdge

Combining photos and location audio: “Palio di Siena: L’Atmosfera”

In an earlier post, I put together a quick-and-dirty Flash-based slide show of photographs from Il Palio in Siena, Italy just to give you an idea of what kind of work came out of that trip. But I didn’t want to leave it at that. I wanted to convey a more complete sense of what it felt like to be in Siena during Il Palio, so I created a two-minute video focused on the atmosphere of the Palio.

Note: If you view this video full screen (which you really should), be sure to change the resolution at the bottom of the full-screen view to 720p or the highest resolution your internet speed can handle.

I think of this video as like a movie preview trailer for this personal photo project, generating interest and setting expectations for the larger project in progress. The video helps communicate why I went there, as well as the tone of the place, time, and culture.

And I’m happy with it. Read on if you’re interested in the decisions I made and things I learned while planning, capturing, organizing, and editing the media for this piece.

(more…)

New work: Palio di Siena 2011

I just returned from a trip to photograph the centuries-old Palio di Siena horse race and festival, which is held every summer in Siena, Italy. While tourists tend to show up just for the final race, that’s only the conclusion of days of test races, processions, feasts, blessings in churches, and other colorful pageantry and ritual that have always been part of Il Palio. We arrived earlier in the week so that we could take it all in, and this was definitely the right way to do it because we could see how the traditions that make up the Palio come together to form a dramatic final event.

In the final race of Il Palio (The Prize), there is no money to win, only first place counts, and there are no stopwatches. If you win, you take the trophy banner that represents Il Palio for that race, and more importantly, you bring your contrada (neighborhood) extreme prestige and serious bragging rights over the other 16 contrade until the next race. In Siena, that’s worth so much that each contrada enshrines every one of its Palio victories for all time.

I wanted to find a photo workshop this year, and when I was invited to photograph the Palio I realized it would be like creating our own workshop. And it kind of turned out that way, with such a rich cultural background to explore. Here’s a preview sampler of my images from Siena (requires Flash):

Keep in mind that these images are works in progress, so what you see in this slide show may not represent the images in their final form. In fact, just as with each exhibition, I ended up editing each image’s appearance to make them all appear consistent with each other, within the format of this small slide show. For example, many are cropped much more tightly than they would be on a large wall print.

I’ll soon be telling stories with the images through photo essays, prints, blog posts, and other content. While I’m working on all that, I’ll continue to roll out more digital media/Mac tips over the coming weeks.

Many thanks to my friend Céline for inviting me to the Palio, an event she has photographed for several years; and for providing all kinds of valuable assistance, advice, and background information about Il Palio.

Preview image