Importing artwork from PDF files


    Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) is a versatile file format that can represent both vector and bitmap data. You can bring artwork from PDF files into Illustrator using the Open command, the Place command, the Paste command, and the drag-and-drop feature. The method you choose depends on how you want to edit the artwork:

    • To import a PDF file into an Illustrator document as an image object, use the Place command with the Link option selected. You can modify the linked image using transformation tools; however, you cannot select and edit its individual components. If the PDF file contains multiple pages, you choose which page to import and how to crop the artwork.
    • To edit the contents of a PDF file, use the Open command or the Place command with the Link option deselected. Illustrator recognizes the individual components in the PDF artwork and lets you edit each component as a discrete object. If the PDF file contains multiple pages, you choose the page from which you want to import artwork.
    • To import selected components from a PDF file, including vector objects, bitmap images, and text, use the Paste command or the drag-and-drop feature.

    Note: If you are color-managing artwork in a document, embedded PDF images are part of the document and therefore color-managed when sent to a printing device. In contrast, linked PDF images are not color-managed, even if color management is turned on for the rest of the document. (See About color management.)

To import artwork from a multiple-page PDF file:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Choose File > Open, select the PDF file, and click Open. (See Opening existing files.)
    • Choose File > Place, select the PDF file and placement options, and click Place. (See Placing artwork.)
  2. Select the page you want to import.
  3. For placed artwork, select an option from the Crop To pop-up menu to specify how much of the PDF page to place:
    • Bounding Box to place the PDF page's bounding box, or the minimum area that encloses the objects on the page, including page marks.
    • Art to place the PDF only in the area defined by a rectangle that the author created as placeable artwork (for example, clip art).
    • Crop to place the PDF only in the area that is displayed or printed by Adobe Acrobat.
    • Trim to identify the place where the final produced page will be physically cut in the production process, if trim marks are present.
    • Bleed to place only the area that represents where all page content should be clipped, if a bleed area is present. This information is useful if the page is being output in a production environment. Note that the printed page may include page marks that fall outside the bleed area.
    • Media to place the area that represents the physical paper size of the original PDF document (for example, the dimensions of an A4 sheet of paper), including page marks.
  4. Click OK.