View Full Version : Import PDF's?
patricks
2006-01-23, 08:32 PM
I have several sheets of standard State Dept. of Transportation details in PDF format that I need to put on our title block. What would be the best way to go about this? It appears that you cannot import a PDF into Revit. Should I somehow convert the PDF to a JPG image and import that? Let me know what you all would suggest.
aaronrumple
2006-01-23, 09:07 PM
I know the full version of Acrobat has a save as feature to export as jpeg. I don't think the viewer has that capability. I'm not sure about the free versions out there.
I often use the feature to go from Word->PDF->Jpeg->Revit. A bit of a kludge, but the print is good.
patricks
2006-01-23, 10:09 PM
I'm just opening the PDF's in Photoshop and cropping as needed then re-saving as jpeg... seems to work pretty well.
blads
2006-01-23, 10:33 PM
As Aaron mentioned, with the full Acrobat version you can actually select a graphic and it converts to a JPG and saves it to the clipboard... works like a treat
Tom Dorner
2006-01-23, 10:39 PM
I'm just opening the PDF's in Photoshop and cropping as needed then re-saving as jpeg... seems to work pretty well.
As you have discovered PDF files work well in Photoshop (or PS Elements). That is because they are really Postscript files at heart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format
It would be nice if Revit could link or read them in directly. Until then the JPG solution seems to be the consensus.
patricks
2006-01-23, 10:42 PM
Now is there a way to link to an image instead of importing it? I have about 12 or so of these sheets to put on our titleblocks and as JPEG images they're 3+ MB each, whereas the PDF's were only about 200KB each :shock:
patricks
2006-01-23, 11:02 PM
Well this is rediculous... the Revit file size is only 10MB, and I have an image imported that is around 3 MB, and it is completely unusable. If I try to do anything to the image, move it, size it, anything, it sits and sits and sits and sits and takes several minutes to do each individual operation. I definitely can't work like this. I've got a bunch of these things I have to place on titlebocks, perhaps another file type? Can Revit import TIFF files?
I surely don't want to resort to *gasp* AutoCAD if at all possible.
blads
2006-01-23, 11:25 PM
Well this is rediculous... the Revit file size is only 10MB, and I have an image imported that is around 3 MB, and it is completely unusable. If I try to do anything to the image, move it, size it, anything, it sits and sits and sits and sits and takes several minutes to do each individual operation. I definitely can't work like this. I've got a bunch of these things I have to place on titlebocks, perhaps another file type? Can Revit import TIFF files?
I surely don't want to resort to *gasp* AutoCAD if at all possible.In PS surely you could dropped the resolution of bit for the JPG's... besides TIFFs are much larger...you could try PNGs but I don't know if they're supported
Justin Marchiel
2006-01-23, 11:26 PM
i tiff would be even worse. Tiff is an uncompressed file format, so your jpg would blow up 5x or larger. when you save the jpg you can turn down the resolution. this should make a smaller file size and make it more useable.
Justin
aggockel50321
2006-01-24, 12:49 PM
As KingBlads stated, you've got to cut down that file size.
Another way to convert, using the free Acrobat, is to open the pdf in Acrobat, use the snapshot tool to copy a portion or all of the pdf to the clipboard, paste it into Paint, Microsoft Photo Editor, or any other graphics program, & save it as a jpg or bmp.
Granted, it's an extra step (over the paid Acrobat version), but I find it more efficient than using Photoshop.
rkmcswain
2006-01-24, 01:11 PM
Not sure if Revit can read DWG/DXF, but if so here are some suggestions.
http://rkmcswain.blogspot.com/2005/04/pdf-dwg.html
patricks
2006-01-24, 02:06 PM
We have the full Acrobat 5.0 so I can do whatever features it offers.
We have some scans of half-size sheets from another project in TIFF format that are around 200KB each. I converted one of those to JPG and it was over 3 times larger. That's why I was thinking of maybe using that file format.
I don't want to cut it down too much, because it needs to be legible when printing.
SCShell
2006-01-24, 02:46 PM
As KingBlads stated, you've got to cut down that file size.
Another way to convert, using the free Acrobat, is to open the pdf in Acrobat, use the snapshot tool to copy a portion or all of the pdf to the clipboard, paste it into Paint, Microsoft Photo Editor, or any other graphics program, & save it as a jpg or bmp.
Granted, it's an extra step (over the paid Acrobat version), but I find it more efficient than using Photoshop.
Hey there,
I have used this technique several times, as well as trying my Printkey2000 program; however, the resolution gets pretty bad when done. But, it is better than nothing.
Next time, I will try the Photoshop Elements method since I own that program.
Thanks
Steve
patricks
2006-01-24, 04:38 PM
I have noticed something else about imported images, it always brings them in at 72 dpi. So in Photoshop if it says the image is 24x36 200dpi, then when I import it into Revit, it comes in at 67" x 100" and I have to resize it down again. It would be nice if Revit would support higher image DPI's.
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