Is there still a Rasterized tool

[Andrew Mac]

Hi There-

I recall in previous VW versions there used to be a rasterize tool for taking PDF's drawing and creating vector lines from the pdf drawings.

Does this tool still exist?

[PVA - Admin]

Well Rasterizing is usually the opposite, taking vector lines and text and making an image from them.

 

However, might you mean Modify > Trace Bitmap? It can be used to try to automatically trace images and image-based PDFs (sometimes you need to ungroup them first) with Polylines and Lines.

[Andrew Mac]

Yes, sorry That's exactly what I mean, however, when i select the PDF, then elect trace bitmap, it says I must select a bitmap object

[PVA - Admin]

If you select the PDF, then use Modify > Ungroup, it should give you a bunch of objects, one of which should be an image. (I think its Ungroup, might be Decompose?)

If that fails, you can save the PDF as an image and then import it into Vectorworks that way, but usually that's not needed.

Trace Bitmap mainly works with stark lines on a blank background however, if there are real life photos or complex background patterns/geometry it can have a really hard time.