PDF to Shapefile

25837
7
09-13-2016 12:32 PM
AndrewMartinez4
New Contributor III

Any suggestion on how I could transform blueprints in a pdf to a shapefile in ArcMap10.3.?

7 Replies
ChrisDonohue__GISP
MVP Alum

In most cases PDFs cannot easily be transformed directly into shapefiles as the process to create most PDFs rasterizes the data.  So the big question then is, for your pdf, has it been rasterized?  One way to check is to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat and then use the pointer tool to click on something that in theory is linework.  If the whole pdf gets selected ,or you get rectangular or square "blocks" of selection instead of the linework, it probably has all been rasterized.

Chris Donohue, GISP

AndrewMartinez4
New Contributor III

Someone suggested this process, has anyone tried this?

Corel Draw is a good solution. However, a combination between Corel Draw and Wintopo will enhance your products.

1. Make use of Corel to select extracted features. By the way, delete unnecessary things such as text, symbols and some other labels.
2. Export this Corel Draw to TIFF file
3. Use of Wintopo to vectorize the image
4. Use of Wintopo to register the output into the designed coordinate system (just input 4 corners of X,Y)
5. Use of Wintopo to export results into Shapefile.

NeilAyres
MVP Alum

Just had a look at WinTopo. Looks good. Just doing the vectorisation process from image to vector.

Report back on its capabilties. It will really depend on the quality of the image inputs.

Go for it....

NeilAyres
MVP Alum

I have sucessfully used udc (universal document converter) to translate pdf pages to image files like jpg or tiff. Even in batch mode.

After that then you will have to georeference the images and capture the data either manually (by editing) or with tools like ArcScan.

Sorry, no auto magic solution.

AndrewMartinez4
New Contributor III

Thanks, Im just trying to learn of some process that can work.

0 Kudos
NeilAyres
MVP Alum

Just be aware of this bit of course...

"4. Use of Wintopo to register the output into the designed coordinate system (just input 4 corners of X,Y)".

How do you know where those 4 corners are in real world coordinates?

And are the 4 corners marked on the image??