How to import a PDF file

[Andrew Mac]

Does anyone know how to import a PDF file in to Vectorworks Arch?

i am trying to bring in a template/coversheet and the only thing they can provide me is a PDF file.

[Ramon PG]

Use FILE>IMPORT>IMPORT IMAGE FILE. At least in VW 12.0

[BandA]

FILE>IMPORT>IMPORT IMAGE FILE isn't working for me... I've upgraded to 12.0.1 (not sure that matters), but it dosen't seem to support importing PDFs either.

Could be a iMac advantage? Perhaps.

[Thom]

Unfortunately, those of us with PC's cannot import pdf files. It is a Mac advantage.

[jan15]

But you should be able to import anything that's in the PDF file into any version of Vectorworks. In Acrobat, select the image with the Graphics Select Tool, then Copy, and then Paste into VW.

[BandA]

Of course, copy and paste!

It may not be to scale, but I just tried it and it worked. Just a little zooming-in, measuring, and scaling object and PRESTO!; a usable (reference) image.

[Steve Hausz]

I've had the same problem, and have more than one solution, depending on what you need to end up with.

The newest version of Acrobat Reader (7.x) has a "snapshot" tool, with a camera icon in the toolbar. You can set the resolution of the copy so it will be crisp and legible in VW. If you tinker with it, you may not even have to resize in VW. The downside of this it that it is a .bmp, and adds to file size.

Sometimes, I just prefer to scan it and OCR it, assuming it's letter size to fit in my scanner. Even the OCR software bundled with my Epson 3170 scanner is awesome compared to the early days of OCR. Then I just copy and paste the text into VW, and now have the option of editing and formatting it as I like (the prehistoric text editing capabilities of VW aside.....hint, hint).

Steve

[tonytong]

I've had the same problem, and have more than one solution, depending on what you need to end up with.

The newest version of Acrobat Reader (7.x) has a "snapshot" tool, with a camera icon in the toolbar. You can set the resolution of the copy so it will be crisp and legible in VW. If you tinker with it, you may not even have to resize in VW. The downside of this it that it is a .bmp, and adds to file size.

Sometimes, I just prefer to scan it and OCR it, assuming it's letter size to fit in my scanner. Even the online OCR software bundled with my Epson 3170 scanner is awesome compared to the early days of OCR. Then I just copy and paste the text into VW, and now have the option of editing and formatting it as I like (the prehistoric text editing capabilities of VW aside.....hint, hint).

Steve

have you resolved it? i have the same issue.

[Benson Shaw]

tonytong - Those earlier posts are from 2006. Depending on your Vectorworks version, you may have a pdf option in the main menu. Look at File>Import.

Drag and drop is also supported in newer versions. Drag/drop the pdf icon onto the Vectorworks drawing area.

If you are trying to make editable text, and the source pdf is not rasterized (eg a non-OCR scan of a paper with text), open the pdf in a reader (Adobe Reader, Apple Preview, etc) and use the text selection tool to to select/copy some or all the text. In Vectorworks, invoke the Text tool, click or drag to open a text box and paste.

Or are you trying to do something else?

-B