Bringing PDF into Other Applications

Even though PDF is supposed to be a "final format," there are those who want to bring PDF pages or elements into other applications. In this section, we summarize some different ways you can do this.

Using the CS2 Applications

Just as the CS2 applications are optimized for creating PDF, as we discussed at the beginning of this chapter, they are also well designed for placing or opening PDF files.

Placing PDF Files in InDesign, Illustrator, and GoLive

You can place PDF files in InDesign and Illustrator documents as linked graphics. You can also create Smart PDF objects in GoLive that allow you to place PDF files. We discuss both of these subjects in Chapter 9, "Smart Objects and Intelligent Layouts."

Opening PDF Files in Illustrator

To open a PDF file in Illustrator, choose File > Open, and select a PDF file. If the file is multi-page, you'll be prompted to select which page to open, because Illustrator can work with only one page at a time.

Occasionally, you can use this feature to edit text in Illustrator, although there are no guarantees as to how successful you will be. Adobe has never claimed that Illustrator was a PDF editor, so you're on your own. Any fonts in the PDF file must be open on your system to enable editing the text without substituting fonts.

It's likely that the text blocks in the PDF file are broken into "chunks." You can Shift-select multiple type pieces with Illustrator's Selection tool and copy them to the Clipboard. If you choose the Text tool, drag out a frame, and paste, sometimes you can reconstitute the text into a single frame.

To update the document after editing the text, choose File > Save.

Opening PDF Files in Photoshop

Sometimes you may need to rasterize a PDF file turn it into pixels. You might do this, for example, if you were asked to produce a JPEG file of a PDF page. You can rasterize a PDF file in Photoshop by choosing File > Open. The fonts in the PDF files must be installed on your computer, or others will be substituted, changing the appearance. (You can also rasterize a PDF file by saving it from Acrobat in a raster format; see the following section, "Saving PDF Files in Other Formats.") File > Open brings up the Import PDF dialog box.

In the Import PDF dialog box (Figure 14-30), thumbnails of the PDF pages appear on the left. You can Shift-select or Command/Ctrl-select to choose multiple pages. On the right, choose an image resolution, cropping, color mode, bit depth, and whether to anti-alias the image. Click OK to rasterize one or more pages and open them as separate Photoshop images. This is fairly memory-intensive, so be patient, and have lots of RAM available if you're creating high-resolution images. When opened, you can save the files in any Photoshop format.

Figure 14-30. Choose the Photoshop Open command and select a PDF file to rasterize one or more pages of a PDF file.

Placing PDF Files in Photoshop

The Photoshop File > Place command lets you choose a PDF file to import as a graphic. In the Place PDF dialog box (Figure 14-31), use the Select menu to choose to place a PDF page or an image from a page. You can select only one image or page, and, unlike the Import PDF dialog box, the only options available are to select a page and crop it. Click OK to create a new layer in the current Photoshop document, and place the graphic. After it's been placed, you can scale the bounding box of the placed graphic. Press Return/Enter to rasterize the image at the current resolution when you're done scaling the bounding box.

Figure 14-31. Choose the Photoshop Place command and select a PDF file to place a page or image.

Saving PDF files in Other Formats

Most applications cannot place PDF files directly. Acrobat lets you select from a number other formats, using File > Save As. Here's a quick list of what's possible:

• Microsoft Word and Rich Text Format. Use these formats to open a PDF file in Microsoft Word or another word processor that can read Word or RTF files. Keep in mind that your success will depend on how well the PDF file was created. If it was saved with Tagged PDF (see the preceding section "Editing Text"), the conversion will work better than if the text were untagged.

• Encapsulated PostScript and PostScript. Use these formats in some printing work-flows, when a RIP or an application cannot read PDF directly.

• HTML 3.2, HTML 4.01 with CSS 1.0, XML 1.0, Text (Accessible), and Text (Plain). These choices give you options for text encoding and image formats.

• JPEG, JPEG2000, PNG, and TIFF. These formats will rasterize the pages. The Settings dialog box lets you select image-compression and color-management options.

Tip: Use PDF to Convert an InDesign Document into HTML

You may want to convert your InDesign documents into HTML files that can be posted on the web. While the best way is to use InDesign's Package For GoLive feature, you can also export the InDesign document in PDF. Then, in Acrobat, use the Save As HTML 4.01 With CSS 1.0 option to convert the file.