Georeferencing PDFs in ArcGIS Pro

[KetiKonstantinova]

Hi,

In my line of work, I need to be able to georeference PDFs in ArcGIS Pro. We already have significant library of all the PDFs that we need (more that 100,000). For us it is a waste of space and money to convert all of these (and future) PDFs in TIFF or JPEG files.We will need additional space to store them. We have other programs that are using the same PDFs and will not work with other format of raster files. In other words, we need to be able to georeference PDF.

Thanks!

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[wayfaringrob]

@KoryKramer  I would say yes, that would be a great addition, but being able to pull or trace vectors from a PDF into a feature layer would be even better - similar to a CAD import. Right now I can open a PDF in AI and save as DXF, and that works pretty good, but the georeferencing for CAD files isn't the greatest -- limited to 2 control points.

[wayfaringrob]

@TomDe_Leus1speaking of QGIS's georeferencer, have you had any luck with the new vector capability? I can't find much documentation (3.26 is so new) but I'm not able to select my PDF. Some PDFs expand and show frames, but not this one, which is a CAD drawing.

[MichHouse]

Checking in again - will this be available at 3.1?

[Kevin_Dohner]

This post has 23k views? If you see this post and want this implemented, please give a kudos.

Also, any update on this? Would be a great addition

[LarsArneson]

@Kevin_Dohner A few months ago the development team was reaching out to people and doing little interviews to get a better picture of how people wanted to use this feature if it was created. 

@KoryKramer might have have the most up-to-date info!

[HenriBrillon]

I would also like to see this feature added!

[MeganGreen]

When you click on the export tab and it brings up properties, scroll down to PDF settings. Ensure that "export georeference information" is checked.

[RobertBergmann]

This should not be that hard... 

[KevinDohner]

@MeganGreenYes, that is for when you want to export a PDF and preserve georeference information. This post is talking about taking a PDF that was generated from something like a CAD drawing and bringing in that PDF to georefrence rather than have to export that PDF as a tif or jpg and then bringing it into Pro.

[KoryKramer]

@RobertBergman and @KevinDohner This is something that we're looking into. To help us understand your personal use cases and pain points, can you let us know why the PDF to TIFF tool doesn't work for you? I have good information from conversations I've had with other users on this thread - and I'd like to make sure that the reasons you are looking for direct read of PDF match up with what we understand from others.

Thank you in advance for elaborating on your needs for this functionality!