Dim and Highlight Mark-Ups/Mask SOLVED

[lamensterms]

Hi

Just wondering if there is a way to create dimming and highlighting mark-ups similar to below? For some cluttered PDFs using a simple coloured highlight can be difficult to see, and it can be a good alternative to dim or occlude the other areas and leave the highlighted area bright

The below example was achieved by using 4 shaded rectangles, but it is not a very efficient method. Hoping for maybe a combination of blend modes to do this?

image.png

image(1).png

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, lamensterms

It is not a perfect solution, and playing with the exact color values manually might yield better results than in my screenshot, but the best result i found involved the background image using an "off black" color, such as dark grey (40,40,40) with the "hardlight" blend mode enabled:

image(1).png

And then smaller focal rectangle inside, with and off white, light gray (192,192,192) with the Color dodge blend mode:

image(2).png

The result was fairly close to the original, if a smidgeon lighter than originally intendeed, as you can see below.

image.png

Playing with the exact values for these may help but I do hope this sets you on the right path.

I should also note that sometimes blend modes can sometimes cause issues with printing and flattening (such as becoming opaque when using "print as image"). Since these items are easily removed (being comments) there is little need for worry, but it is good to keep in mind.

Kind regards,

[lamensterms]

Hi Dan thanks very much for the reply and for experimenting some options with me

I've done a quick test on your suggestion and it's quite a good option!

PDFs I would generally be working with are architectural floor plans, and for this example the PDF contains quite a bit of coloured hatching, and sometimes those colours are unfortunately lost when applying the combination of hardlight + colour dodge. But for the exercise/use-case I think still effective for what I need!

Thanks again for your help

image.png

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]