topic Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing in Documentation

PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Vojtech Slavik — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:58:34 GMT

I have a strange bug. When I move PDF to Archicad it lost a scale and I have no clue why, also when I explode the pdf scale also missing.

Export to Archicad

Exploded

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

hevi — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:12:00 GMT

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

hevi — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:47:25 GMT

I was mistaken it doesn't have to do with scale being a vector object in the pdf (obviously) but there seem to be some buggy behavior, not sure if its AC or the PDF. Perhaps something for @Minh Nguyen to look into.

If you open the PDF and just change the objects position in the content structure (doesn't matter where, it can even be the same position), save and update the drawing in AC it will import the scale graphic. It seems as you just need to do some changes in the structure that gets saved e.g adding text works as well.

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Vojtech Slavik — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 06:35:41 GMT

But for me is much better if the scale stay in vector and explode to lines, because when Do screenshot of vector the scaling is not that "precise"

Here is PDF :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KiWUAy78zvfHy2cydcBV78f7M50hPC6C/view?usp=sharing

I can't see scale in layer than I don't understand what happening from EXPORT to AC:

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

hevi — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 07:15:33 GMT

It will remain as a vector object and can be exploded but if its just for scaling there's really no need for the scale graphic as the PDF page size is correct. Just set the viewport scale to the same as the map (1:2000) before you import and you are set.

Your navigation pane is not showing content. Right-click the pane and add content.

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Vojtech Slavik — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 08:54:24 GMT

Can you please little bit explain what you mean ?
I found it Content and when I moved scale up it also changed size of scale 🤦‍♂️

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

hevi — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 11:07:06 GMT

You have put it as a child in the image object. Just drag it so you see the placement indicator under the text object and place it at the same place it has from the start.

It's a bit wonky and I don't really have any adobe acrobat expertise so it's trail and error. But as said if you don't need the graphic as such - just set the right viewport scale befor importing and the map will be correctly scaled in AC.

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Minh Nguyen — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 14:27:15 GMT

Hi All,

Thank you very much for your report, this is an interesting one!

I have already forwarded this issue to our colleagues for further investigation. As soon as we have the result, I will let you know here.

Thank you once again, and have a great day!

Best regards,

Minh

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Minh Nguyen — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:14:35 GMT

Dear All,

I have received an answer from the developer:

The content of the given PDF has an issue: to be more precise, there is a path (this is the terminology for polygon, polyline in PDF) and some text objects nested. This is not a standard way of constructing PDF content, and this issue is handled differently in different PDF rendering software. The library used by Archicad ignores the lines, while Adobe Reader displays all of the objects. Other readers can behave the same way like Archicad, for example, embedded viewer in Firefox.

Unfortunately, this is the limitation of the PDF engine implemented in Archicad. The only workaround we can think of is manually drawing the missing lines from the PDF.

I hope this answers your question. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your understanding. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

Best regards,

Minh

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

hevi — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 17:25:23 GMT

Yes, it seemed likely to be caused by the PDF content structure and by extension how the PDF was created (its generated by the Swedish surveying authority).

What was strange was that AC imports the path if you save an edit to the PDF eg. adding a text box. It also imports if you moved the path in the structure, even to the same position, and save. But perhaps Adobe Reader does fix the underlying issue when saving?

Re: PDF after export to AC I'm losing scale drawing

Minh Nguyen — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:16:40 GMT

Hello,

That's an interesting finding!

Since the structure of the PDF file is modified via Adobe Reader, there is a chance that the PDF is "fixed" upon saving, thus importing the PDF into Archicad is correct again.

Thank you once again for your finding! I will keep that in mind next time it happens!

Best regards,

Minh