I hope this question is on topic.

I have been trying to use the "Graphics Select Tool" in (the free)
Adobe Acrobat Reader v. 5 to try to copy graphics from .PDF files.
So far, though, I've been unsuccessful.

I've used the Text Select Tool, usually successfully, so had hoped the
Graphics tool would be just as easy. But, alas, no.

The Help file says that "the graphic is copied [to the Clipboard]
using the WMF (Windows) ... format." But all I can see in the
Clipboard is a black box.

What is a WMF file? Are there any freeware graphics editors or
viewers that handle such files? Any freeware that can convert them to
other formats like .JPG or .BMP?

Sorry to be so clueless, but I am at a loss here.

TIA for any info you can provide.

Ben

wrote:

Windows Metafile

IrfanView
http://www.irfanview.com

Hope this helps.

--
Google is your friend.

| I have been trying to use the "Graphics Select Tool"
| in (the free) Adobe Acrobat Reader v. 5 to try
| to copy graphics from .PDF files.
|
| So far, though, I've been unsuccessful.
| ...

Ben ....

I also have Adobe Arobat 5 and use the Graphics Select Tool
as follows ....

Click on the Graphics Select Tool Button to activate ....

Left-Click and Drag to outline the image ....

Edit .... Copy ....

Open IrfanView ....

Edit .... Paste ....

File .... Save As .... WhatEverFormat is desired ....

--
Cousin Stanley
Human Being
Phoenix, Arizona

On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 18:05:19 -0700, "Cousin Stanley"
<CousinStanley@hotmail.com> wrote:


Thanks to both Boomer and you.

But I am still "stuck" somehow.

All I am getting/saving is a black rectangle.

Irfan says at the bottom "Not a file."

It also says something about 1.39 Megs.

When I try to do "Save As" I'm presented with an alphabetical list of
formats that starts with BMP and ends with TIF. Do I need to d/l an
Irfan plugin to handle WMFs?

When I try to save it as a JPG, it just saves it as a 4 KB file that
shows a black rectangle.

If you want to see the original PDF that I am trying to work from,
you can find it at:

www.burnt-tn.org.moses.com/anvil-sign-file.pdf

The PDF itself is about 65KB.

Sorry to be so dense about this.

I must be missing something somewhere.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Ben

benalias@hotmail.invalid wrote:

or right-click and choose select all (both worked for me)

You should see the image in the IrfanView screen. Don't try to save
anything *until* that happens. I just tried the file you are working
with and was able to paste the image (I also use Acrobat Reader 5) - so
now we know that it can be done.

It's not a file until you save it.

No - just pick the format you want from the list IrfanView shows you.
The image I pasted is 749.14 KB in size - the size of the file you save
depends on the format and options you choose when you save it.

HTH,
Susan

benalias@hotmail.invalid:

Ben: We do not have to know Thing-101 about WMF. And the steps you're
following with the progs are right.

There is no civilized cause for the failure to see the graphic turn out
correctly. To me it sounds like you're unfortunately experiencing some
kind of system problem... You should try a few other graphics copy-paste
operations, with other progs, to gather general data.

The black rectangle situation, the only time I've heard that symptom, it
involves moving media (where it then pertains to things like direct-x,
hardware acceleration, that kind of thing). I've never heard of black
rectangle symptom with simple clipboard bmp/wmf pastes. So can't tell
you. Other than the old standby, of course: Uninstall and then reinstall
your latest available video drivers.

Once you've noted down a few variations, beyond Acrobat + Irfanview, where
your copy/paste of graphics fails, then you might try posting the situation
into one of the news.microsoft.com groups for your OS, and ideally someone
there would know what steps to take.

For instance, maybe they would know a way to make sure that the native
graphics filters that come with windows (for bmp, wmf, etc) are installed
and registered correctly? If that's even a useful initial direction.
Hopefully someone there will know.


--
Karen S.