How to vectorize a PDF

Your boss has sent you an image in PDF format to insert in a paper document but, alas, the result during printing is far from satisfactory: the distortions applied to adapt the photo to the size of the paper worsen its quality, making it appear grainy and difficult to appreciate. In this regard, you will be pleased to know that there is a particular category of images, called vector images, which can be zoomed in / out infinitely without any loss of quality, thanks to the particular structure with which they are composed.

How do you say? This option interests you and, now, would you like to understand how to vectorize a PDF to fit a particular size? In this case, you are in the right place, at the right time! In the course of this tutorial, in fact, I will take care of explaining how to transform the illustrations included in the PDF files into vector images, using some software and online services designed for the purpose.

So, without waiting any longer, make yourself comfortable and carefully read everything I have to explain to you on the subject: I am sure that, at the end of reading this guide, you will be perfectly able to obtain the result you had set for yourself, even with the minimal effort. Having said that, there is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and good work!

Index

• How to vectorize a PDF with Illustrator
• Other ways to vectorize a PDF

How to vectorize a PDF with Illustrator

If you have Adobe Illustrator software installed on your computer and you are interested in understanding how to use it to vectorize a PDF file, then this is the right chapter to meet your need.

To begin with, you need to create a new document that can contain the resulting image: to do this, start Illustrator, click on the File menu at the top and select New … from the latter, in order to start creating a new one. image. So use the Graphics and illustration tab, located in the new window opened, to specify the size and orientation of the image and, having made your choice, click on the Create button.

When the worksheet opens, go to the File> Insert … menu and select the PDF document that contains the image you want to import. If the file consists of multiple pages, be sure to choose the page to import and remove the checkmark from Import PDF pages as links for best performance. Once this is done, move the newly imported PDF image to your worksheet and place it with a mouse click.

Once this step is completed, you can start the transformation of the PDF into a vector image: then click on the Object menu and select the items Trace Image> Create from it, to proceed. If everything went well, the image should be converted to a vector and initially appear in black and white.

To color it or change other types of settings, click on the image you just converted, locate the Image Trace panel (located on the right, inside the Properties bar ) and use the Select a tracing preset drop-down menu to apply the type of tracing. color that you like best among those available: for example, using the High fidelity photo option you will create a vector that tries to reproduce the color combination of the original image as much as possible.

Having made your choice, expand the Image Trace panel by clicking on the window-shaped icon located next to the drop-down menu indicating the previously chosen coloring mode (eg. High fidelity photo ), and use the drop-down menus and adjustment bars attached to the Image Trace tab to act on the various vector parameters: the display mode, any palette and the amount of colors to use.

If you are also interested in acting on the paths, angles, noise and other definition parameters, expand the Advanced menu and use the items proposed to apply the necessary changes.

Once your work is finished, all you have to do is save the image you just created in vector format, with SVG extension: to proceed, go to the File> Save as … menu, select the folder in which to save the vector, set the drop-down menu Save as on the SVG option and, after typing the file name, click on the Save and OK buttons to finish everything. Easy, don’t you think?

Other ways to vectorize a PDF

If you don’t have Adobe Illustrator available, know that you can use other software and online services to vectorize a PDF in a very simple way. Here are some of them.

Inkscape (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Inkscape, if you’ve never heard of it, is an open-source, cross-platform vector editing software, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its many features include compatibility with PDF documents, which can be converted into vector images in a very simple way.

To obtain Inkscape, connect to the program’s website and click on the icon of the operating system you are using to access the specific download page: if you use Windows, click on the link that best suits the version of the operating system you are using (for eg 64-bit or 32-bit ) and then on the msi link located in the next screen, in order to start the download of the program installation package.

Once you have obtained the file, start it, click on the Next button, put the checkmark next to I accept the terms in the License Agreement and complete the setup, clicking in sequence on the Next, Typical, Install, Yes and Finish buttons. You can then start Inkscape by calling it from the Start menu or via the icon that, in the meantime, should have been created on the desktop.

If, on the other hand, you use a Mac, click on the .dmg link to obtain the Inkscape installation file and, immediately after, download the XQuartz add-on, which is essential to use the program on macOS.

To proceed, go to this Web page, click on the XQuartz-xxxdmg link and start the .dmg package containing the aforementioned component; now right-click on the .pkg executable that resides within it, click on the Open item located in the context menu and start the software installation, clicking on the Continue button three consecutive times, then on Accept and Install. Finally, type your Mac password and finish the setup by clicking on the Install software, OK and Close buttons.

Once the XQuartz setup is finished, you can finally install Inkscape on the Mac: open the .dmg package you downloaded earlier from the program’s website, drag its icon to the MacOS Applications folder and, when copying is complete, restart the Mac.

At the next login, launch XQuartz by recalling it from the Launchpad, go to the XQuartz> Preferences … menu (top left) and make some adjustments to allow Inkscape to work: in the Input tab, only the Enable equivalent keyboard entries with X11 must be checked e Option keys send Alt_L and Alt_R; in the clipboard, on the other hand, only the items Enable synchronization and Update clipboard must be checked when the clipboard changes.

After this step too, you can finally start Inkscape by recalling it from the Mac Applications folder: remember that, at the first start, you must right-click on its icon and press Open twice in a row, in order to overcome the macOS restrictions against non-certified developers.

From now on, the procedures are the same on both operating systems: go to the File> Import … menu (top left), select the PDF file to be vectorized using the next screen, then select the page containing the image to be to import (in the case of multipage documents), put the check mark next to the items Import with internal library and Embed images and use the adjustment bar immediately below to adjust the precision level of the gradients. Note that the higher the precision, the larger the resulting SVG file will be.

After making the necessary adjustments, press the OK button, right-click on the image just imported into the path and select the Divide item from the proposed context menu; Now copy the separate image by right clicking on it and choosing the Copy option from the context menu.

At this point, you need to paste the previously copied image into a new document: therefore go to the File> New menu of Inkscape, right-click on the new workspace and select the Paste item from the context menu displayed. Then you have to adapt the image to the worksheet, using the adjusters present at the edges and creating the actual vector.

To do this, go to the Inkscape Path menu (top), select the Vectorize bitmap item … from the latter and use the next window to adjust the settings on how to create the path: to create a vector faithful to the original, affix a checkmark next to the Colors and sets the value scans on a number higher than 15.

To preview the resulting vector graphics, click the Update button and, if you like it, click the OK button. Finally, close the Vectorize bitmap window and, to save your work, go to the File> Save menu of Inkscape.

CloudConvert (online)

Another option to consider to vectorize a PDF file is to use an online converter, accessible via any browser to browse online. Among the best solutions of this type I point out CloudConvert which allows you to transform files to and from various formats (documents, photos, presentations, etc.) in a couple of clicks. In addition, it protects users’ privacy by deleting files uploaded to its servers within hours of uploading.

However, in its free form, CloudConvert has limits: the maximum number of convertible files per day is 10 (or 25 if you register by creating a free account), you can make a maximum of 5 conversions at the same time, the total weight of the files it must not exceed 1 GB and the operation must not take more than 25 minutes (otherwise it will be stopped automatically). To bypass these limits, it is necessary to subscribe to a paid subscription, with starting prices equal to 8 € / month.

In any case, to convert a PDF file to SVG (therefore in vector format) with CloudConvert, connected to the main page of the service, set the drop-down menu located to the right of the convert item on the PDF option (if you do not find it, help with the search bar at the top of the panel) and the one to the right of the item to on SVG, then click on the Select File button and choose the PDF document to convert.

Once the upload phase is complete, press the button depicting a wrench to define the conversion options ( engine and, if required, number of pages ), press the Okay button and start the conversion, which should take a few minutes (depending on the size of the file and the amount of pages to be scanned), by pressing the Convert button. When the conversion is complete, you should see a preview of the generated SVG file: to download it, press the Download button and that’s it.

In addition to CloudConvert, there are numerous other websites that allow you to easily transform PDF files to SVG (as well as many other formats): I told you about it in detail in my tutorial dedicated to online converters. Please, take a look at it at least!

Note: Conversions made via CloudConvert or other online converters do not provide results equal to those obtainable using specific software. This type of conversion, for example, is optimal in cases where you need to embed a PDF image within a web page, in the form of an SVG file, but is not suitable for distortion operations on embedded images. Keep this in mind.