Parse PDF?
 

Hi,

I mainly use OmniGraffle to annotate plots made with other programs (e.g., IDL) or to create figures that combine plots and images made elsewhere. I'm generally very pleased with what I can do with OmniGraffle, but it would be fantastic if OmniGraffle could parse PDF files so that the individual elements (e.g., plot labels, line styles, etc) could be edited with OmniGraffle. Since Quartz can parse PDF, perhaps this wouldn't be such a tall order?

I've seen, but not tried, the website that will transform EPS to OmniGraffle. And I know that I can edit PDF with Illustrator. But Illustrator is really overkill for my needs, and OmniGraffle is such an elegant program to work with.

Todd

OmniGraffle Professional can directly open PDF files, however there are still many many kinks to be worked out.

Cheers,

Hi Joel,

Thanks for the prompt reply. That's great news! I've only used the standard version of OmniGraffle, so I'll take a look at the Pro version. (I don't remember seeing anything on the web pages about the Pro version parsing PDF. Did I miss something, or is this a brand-new feature?)

Todd

Hi Joel,

I downloaded the latest (beta) version of OmniGraffle Pro (4.2 beta 1) and dragged a PDF plot (made with IDL) into the program. However, I couldn't figure out how to have OmniGraffle Pro parse the plot into its constituent parts (i.e., lines, text, symbols, etc). OmniGraffle always seems to treat the plot as one figure. Just as a sanity check, I opened the plot in Illustrator, and Illustrator did decompose the plot into many editable pieces.

I've looked through manual, but I can't anything about parsing PDF.

Todd

P.S. I tried to attach the PDF to this message, but it's too big. I'd be happy to email it to you if you're curious.

If you drag the PDF onto a canvas, it'll treat it as a single image just like a JPEG or PNG. If you use "File>Open", or drag the PDF onto the application icon, then it'll pull apart the PDF and try to make an equivalent Graffle document.

[QUOTE=Wim Lewis]If you drag the PDF onto a canvas, it'll treat it as a single image just like a JPEG or PNG. If you use "File>Open", or drag the PDF onto the application icon, then it'll pull apart the PDF and try to make an equivalent Graffle document.[/QUOTE]

Ah, that did the trick! Thanks! As Joel warned above, the parsing isn't perfect, but it's certainly a very promising start.

Todd