[GIS] Color different in Maps exported from ArcMap to PDF and other formats

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When exporting the same map in ArcMap into different formats the color is not consistent.

The map is a roadway network and I use grey 30% solid line as the symbol in ArcMap.

However, when i export it to PDF and all the other formats, only the PDF resembles the color in ArcMap. All the rest appear like a color of grey 10%.

My problem is I have to generate PDF and picture format (which can be directly inserted into Word document) maps at the same time, but the colors appear different.

Instead of spending time to make two different map document with adjusted colors, what can I do?

The first image below is a jpeg format map, you can hardly see the grey color roadways in the background. The second one is the pdf format map, the grey color shows up exactly as the same as what I see in the ArcGIS.

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Best Answer

You are seeing differences between vector and image export formats. Try using one of the other formats, such as SVG. In your case, vector graphics will be more appealing because of the linear road network, whereas mage (raster) format will appear more grainy. The following documentation explains the differences between the formats

  • EMF, EPS, PDF, SVG, and SVGZ formats are referred to as vector export formats, because they support a mixture of vector and raster data.
  • BMP, JPG, PNG, TIFF, TGA, and GIF are referred to as image export formats, because they are purely raster export formats.
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