Ungrop PDF rasterizes lines

[bcd]

Hi,

I thought I could ungroup a vector-based pdf to use the vector information directly.

New File

I create a 2d polygon - export PDF.

New File - import above PDF

Snap to points works etc. but when I ungroup PDF it rasterizes the lines.

Can anyone help - what am I doing wrong. Thanks.

- edit - I found the vector information below a raster copy, but circles become rounded squares

Edited March 19, 2010 by bcd

[Pat Stanford]

When you ungroup the PDF you usually end up with a group. Inside that group is an image file and a blank rectangle that are hiding all of the lines etc.

Just ungroup (or edit group) and delete the image object and the blank rectangle and you should be good to go.

[bcd]

thanks Pat,

going good!

[Benson Shaw]

I was also surprised that basic circles and arcs become faceted geometry when created in VW, then printed or exported to pdf, and then pasted or imported to VW. I played around with the resolution and conversion settings to no avail.

Anyone know what happens to imported pdf objects (circles & arcs esp) created in Adobe Illustrator?

I imagine that fully functional interoperability through pdf was never the intent on the CAD side or on the pdf side.

-B

[propstuff]

Anyone know what happens to imported pdf objects (circles & arcs esp) created in Adobe Illustrator?

-B

I tried a Rounded Rectangle from Illustrator CS3

Yes, they get smashed, however what appeared to happen was that verticies which should have been arcs got turned into corners.

PS it also turned it into 2 identical Polys (as well as the bitmap parts etc.)

Using the 2D reshape tool to convert the errant corner verticies and the other curve verticies (which were Beziers) to Arcs made it *appear* correct

Edited March 20, 2010 by propstuff

[Benson Shaw]

Thanks, Nicolas, for taking the time with AI and reporting. The pdf vectors seem to have limits, but it sounds like the AI ones fare better than the VW ones.

In case anyone is interested, here is my experiment:

I drew two concentric VW circles with color fills, printed to pdf, and imported the pdf back into VW. Ungroup pdf reveals the expected page boundary rectangle, the expected bitmap, and the vectors. The vectors return as a double set, stacked, of squarish, wavy, open polylines. These polys have stacked endpoints- they are not polygons. Extra vertices were included along each "edge". And these polys could not be readily reshaped to circles. At best, elimination of extra corner vertices and extra endpoints, and conversion of remaining corner points to arcs yielded a squarish poly with rounded corners.

Export (rather than save) of circles to pdf returns same dbl set of polys with stacked endpoints and extra verts. No easy conversion to approximate orig circle.

Changing resolution does change the result.

The stack of vector polys seems to consist of one for orig circle perimeter, and an identical one for the orig circle fill (but it has no fill). Unfilled circles present only one poly for each of my orig circles.

Enjoy

-B

[Pat Stanford]

I can confirm the same result in VW2010 SP2.

Have you filed this as an official bug report?

[Benson Shaw]

Thanks, Pat, for looking at the VW2010 process - I'm happy to file, but am not sure this rates as a bug. Is there some claim that pdf yields exact same vectors? That would be a Wow moment if VW and others pulled it off!

If the export/save as pdf vectors were same as CAD vectors:

Interoperability would be nearly solved.

We would not need the readers for each flavor of CAD

Adobe products such as Acrobat and Illustrator could be used as architectural CAD (in a pinch)

Etc

[Pat Stanford]

It seems to me that it is a bug somewhere, I just don't know where.

Is it a bug in the PDF output so it is writing a funky pdf?

Is it a bug in the PDF import so it is reading the pdf wrong? I don't think so as I have imported lots of PDFs this way with circles in them and they have all seemed to be OK.

If is a bug that only shows when you both export and import?

I don't know.

Submit it as a bug and let NNA decide if it really is an if so where.

Good Catch by the way.

[Benson Shaw]

Bug report submitted.