Rasterize a PDF With Photoshop

Open the PDF in Photoshop

  1. Find the file in Windows Explorer.
  2. Right-click the file.
  3. Click Open With.
  4. Click Adobe Photoshop.
  5. Photoshop will open with an import menu.

Verify that the following fields have the following values:

  • Crop-To: Media Box
  • Width: Document Width
  • Height: Document Height
  • Resolution: 150-300 Pixels/Inch. Numbers outside this range are almost impossible for the human eye to detect when printed.
  • Mode: RGB Color.
  • Pages: Select all the pages you want to import. 
    • Hold shift and click on the pages you want to import. The selected pages will have a thin blue outline around them. Photoshop will open each page as its own file in a new tab. 

  • Click OK

     

***Perform the following steps on each file/tab Photoshop created***

Flatten all layers.

  1. Open the Layers menu by hitting the F7 key
    • You can also surface this menu by navigating to Window > Layers.
  2. Click on the hamburger menu,, in the upper right of the layers menu.
  3. Click on Flatten Image.

Change the color profile

You can skip this step if color accuracy is not particularly important for your project or if you have chosen a specific color profile and don't want to use the Adobe RGB (1998) profile.

  1. Navigate to Edit > Convert to Profile…
  2. Match the following fields in yellow and click OK. The other fields can have default values.

Resave the file as a Photoshop PDF.

  • Go to file > Save As.
  • Select Photoshop PDF from the Save as Type menu.
  • Check the Color box ideally; it should read: ICC Profile: Adobe RGB (1998)
  • You can and should change the file name to differentiate it from the original file.
  • Match the fields in yellow and click Save PDF.

The resulting PDF(s) should now be fully rasterized and free of issues when printing.